In 1979, the British author Angela Carter published the book The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, leading a movement of rescuing and updating common folklore and fairy tales from their homogenized fate as Disney fodder and children's bedtime reading. The following recommendations (the first one is based on Carter's works) are "adult" fairy tales in that they are unafraid to delve into darker subject matter while still maintaining a spirit of child-like wonder. So, here, in no particular order, are ten adult fairy tales that we think will entertain you a bit more than either Red Riding Hood or Beastly.
The Company of Wolves (1984)Directed by Neil Jordan
A very dark and gory re-telling of classic legends featuring Angela Lansbury as The Grandmother relating these campfire tales.
of Wonders (1970)Directed by Jaromil Jires
One of the most surreal, symbolic stories of sexual awakening ever made. A scary, uncompromising nightmare that gives even David Lynch a run for his money.
********** No Such Thing (2001)Directed by Hal Hartley
Droll New York version of the tale of Beauty and the Beast. A flawed yet still unique take on an oft-told story.
********** La belle et la bete (1946)Directed by Jean Cocteau
Cocteau's filmic poetry was never better than in this magical live action feature that may be the greatest version of the Beauty and the Beast fable ever made. A key work to introduce children to the joys of foreign film.
********** Suspiria (1977)Directed by Dario Argento
A series of murders occur at a woman's music conservatory run by witches in Argento's rainbow-colored masterpiece.
********** Doctor Parnassus (2009)Directed by Terry Gilliam
Undervalued return-to-form for the rebellious, scattershot Terry Gilliam. Not just Heath Ledger's final film, but a fitting send-off into the creative stratosphere.
********** Brand upon the Brain! (2006)Directed by Guy Maddin
Maddin's singular style of co-opting silent film techniques to fit his fetish for archaic subjects and worlds is in full flower in this Oedipal story of a young man, his mad scientist father, his mother constantly perched as the warden of the children's island prison and the female detective out to solve a mystery.
********** The Magic Flute (1975)Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Originally staged for Swedish television, Bergman's mastery of stagecraft is evident in his epic production of Mozart's final opera.
********** Big Fish (2003)Directed by Tim Burton
Before he gave in to excessive bombast, Burton produced this miracle of magical realism and melancholy as an old man recounts his life as a series of tall tales (or were they?).
********** Pan's Labyrinth (2006)Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Today's greatest acolyte of all things fantastic makes his grandest statement yet in a Spanish fable of war, family, and the perils of a child exploring the realms of the uncanny.
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