In all my time blogging about movies and movie-like news, I’ve learned one thing: people seem to love movie reviews. Whether it’s whenever I post one here on warrenisweird, or on my Letterboxd account, it’s something that people seem to love..or love to hate, which is a good -or a bad- thing. I enjoy writing them, and it gives me a feeling of excitement knowing that there’s at least one person out there that either agrees, or disagrees with my thoughts on a film. Thus, me doing something new during this, and every upcoming, Halloween Season.. I call it: weirdo’ween!
Usually – as an almost tradition – during the month of October, I watch more horror than I usually would, in order to get myself pumped for the 31st, when I usually watch Trick ‘r Treat. [I often consider it the definitive Halloween movie] Therefore, since tomorrow marks the first day of October, I have to prepare myself to watch; I already have a list written up of what I’ll be most likely be watching [as subject is to change at any time] and as someone who enjoys writing reviews [and you all seem to enjoy reading my thoughts on them] I will be watching -and then writing a spoiler filled review- of a movie every night, ending with Trick ‘r Treat on the 31st of the month. Naturally, this means the reviews might come off as long sometimes, depending how much gets said about each one! If at any time during the month you have a suggestion for the next film/review, be sure to leave it in a comment – because I just might watch it! As an introduction to weirdo’ween, let’s start with a direct to TV special that was never released to the general public, at least not on home video: Tim Burton‘s Hansel & Gretel from 1982! I’m a huge fan of Burton‘s, so this should be interesting, right? well – let’s just cut to the review, shall we? We’ll talk about the obscurities afterwards.
Burton‘s Hansel & Gretel follows two children who are lured into the woods and are left for dead by their stepmother, who claims she cannot feed them. When they awaken, they come up to a house made of cake, and comfortably eat, and meet a woman who invites them to enter her “cake home”. Naturally, these two kids agree to go inside… only to find that this woman is actually a witch. It’s nothing new. We all know the fairy tale. Like expected, this version of the story follows the same structure and, in general, a lot of elements, including parts of the story that are often changed, like the swan scene. But, to many people’s surprise, it does change a few things.. and those changes – are fair sized. For some reason, the main cast is Asian, not a bad thing, just not what I was expecting. To add to this obscure piece of ‘art’, there is martial arts sequences – complete with shurikens. [seriously? what the hell am I watching?!] Remember in the original story, the idea was to to get the siblings fatter and fatter so the witch could eat them? Well, what’s used to fatten Hansel is a gingerbread man -that talks- and demands to be eaten.. We also see one of them getting grabbed by the many hands that are seen attached to a marshmallow bed he was seen sleeping in. I mean, it’s Hansel & Gretel, but it’s really not.. Even the wicked women in this are played by the same person, and it’s a man! In case you’re wondering we even seen him eat all of the scenery – whether it’s meant to be sugar, candy or otherwise.
If you haven’t already been able to tell, it’s fairly disturbing. I know you’re probably wondering but before you ask “isn’t this a children’s film?”, the answer is yes, but it is also a Brother’s Grimm story, and don’t forget, it’s also a Burton piece. He’s known for his trademarks, and they’re definitely shown in this short: gothic and surreal set pieces, creative design/visuals, exaggerated features, such as their huge dinner table, and some times, the same object can be both considered creepy, yet cute. In Hansel & Gretel, Father is a toy maker, allowing the viewer to see a lot of wound-up figures, though they’re mostly used in the opening sequence [did I mention that one of these eats another?!] The film is made up of both stop motion and live action; and sadly, you can usually tell where one ends and the other begins.Sometimes, the sets look cardboard-y, and some of the props don’t really feel “real”, although this could be intentional. Lastly, the cinematography is good, showing us how Burton‘s style is going to become in future movies.
Tim Burton‘s Hansel & Gretal is one hell of a movie, and it feels like a dream; you really can’t tell what’s real or not.. it’s obscure, it’s colorful, and it’s dark – and I don’t mean the set pieces. It’s definitely something you have to experience for yourself to get a feel for what I mean, but that could be said about any movie.. So because it’s something that’s only surfaced in the last few years, I have a treat for you: [that won’t be part of the rest of weirdo’ween] Here’s Tim Burton‘s Hansel & Gretel in it’s full obscurity below:
So this was #0.5 of weirdo’ween, with tomorrow being the first official movie review for the Halloween/weirdo’ween season. [weirdo’ween #01] Although I have the first few film reviews planned already, please let me know in a comment or two which movie[s] you want to see reviewed next! If you found yourself to enjoy review – and want to see more – then take a minute and follow me over on my Facebook page [it’s at over 120+ likes almost at 130!] By clicking that “like” button, you’ll see every post from warrenisweird the very moment it’s been posted online; as well as links to articles and pictures/videos that will not be featured here on the blog. Every “like” helps me a ton, giving me the ability to write more posts for you to read, so be sure to tell the horror enthusiast in your life to do the same, and share The Facebook Page with your family and friends!
THANKS FOR READING.
