The opening moments of The Ugly Stepsister (written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt) give the impression that we’re going to see a wacky romantic comedy as Elvira (played by Lea Myren), the titular “ugly stepsister” of the film, fantasizes about Prince Julian (Isac Calmroth). That lasts about 3 minutes before we’re catapulted into the world of the film, a bleak world where forbidden women reside in crumbling castles and only have pain, torture and desire as their constant companions.
So many aspects of The Ugly Stepsister reminded me of Jess Franco and Jean Rollin’s work from the 1970’s, right down to John Erik Kaada’s masterful soundtrack, which has the same melancholy tone of films such as Don’t Deliver Us From Evil and She Killed in Ecstasy.
If you haven’t guessed yet from the title, the film tells the Cinderella story from the point of view of Elvira, one of Cinderella’s stepsisters, who spends the bulk of the film preparing for the fateful night of the Prince’s Ball, where she dreams of winning the Prince’s heart.
Elvira’s mother Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp), whose husband just died, leaving her on the verge of financial ruin and stuck with three daughters, puts every last penny of her money into making Elvira beautiful.
Of course, since the time period is the early 1800’s, plastic surgery isn’t a thing yet. Anesthesia? Nope, that doesn’t exist either. So as Elvira gets her teeth, nose and other features “fixed”, there are some brutal Saw style torture scenes involved. Yep, this is hard R-rated horror. One scene involving Elvira’s eyes had me covering my own peepers in repulsion. It’s a sequence that would’ve warmed Lucio Fulci’s heart.
Surprisingly, Elvira seems to enjoy these procedures. Sure, she screams in agony a lot throughout them, but she keeps her eyes relentlessly on the prize, sure that once all the work is done she’ll be the prettiest girl around and a shoe-in (glass slipper-in?) to be the Prince’s bride. She excitedly waits for the next cosmetic “treatment” even as she’s recovering from the last one. It’s hard to tell who’s enjoying the violent procedures more, Elvira or her mother, who sees a future as a rich mother-in-law.
As for Cinderella? She’s relegated to doing all the filthy work on the castle’s grounds, quietly swallowing the rage she’s feeling toward Elvira and her stepmother. For now. What’s fascinating about the film is how it see-saws between Elvira and Cinderella, both of them having stretches of the film where they’re evil and bullying. This Cinderella isn’t the innocent picked on angel of the original fairy tale. She’s beautiful and she doesn’t hesitate to wield her beauty like a weapon.
The two women are flip sides of the same coin. Had they been wealthy, they might have loved each other and become the most formidably evil duo in the countryside, raining terror on everyone around them. Instead, they wage psychological warfare with each other within the castle walls.
The last act of the film, where Elvira attends the Prince’s Ball, drags a bit, but leads to a climactic Grand Guignol scene where Elvira goes all-out to get what she wants. It’s reminiscent of the climax of The Substance, where the shock and gore comes fast and in layers.
It’s wonderful to see that France isn’t the only European country turning out great female horror directors. Norwegian director Emilie Blichfeldt is a filmmaker to watch, keeping the spirit of those great European grindhouse films of the 1970’s alive in the 21st Century.
The Ugly Stepsister is playing in theaters now.
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