The Ugly Stepsister is a Brutal, Grimm Fairy Tale of Body Horror and Tragedy
The Ugly Stepsister is a horror version of Cinderella, but we also follow the story of the stepsisters, who are victims of their evil mother. I had no idea this was a Grimm fairytale, and I was so hooked on the movie from beginning to end. The one thing I did not see coming was the extreme violence in this movie.
The body horror was so hard to get through, and I kept looking away from the screen every time. The sound design and practical effects in this movie are some of the best I have seen in a horror movie, and I think The Ugly Stepsister is now one of my favorite horror movies of all time.
It's a really sad story about what beauty obsession does to a person, and the lengths that person is willing to go through.
The Ugly Stepsister follows the story of a young woman who wants to marry a prince.
Two stepsisters named Elvira and Alma, are introduced to their new family, when they mother marries a man with a daughter named Agnes. At first, things seem wonderful between the family, until the father unexpectedly dies at the dinner table.
The family is devastated over this loss, for different reasons.
As Elvira tries to comfort Agnes from her loss, she learns that her mother had married Agnes' father for his money, and they lose it all after his death. Elvira promises her mother that she will find a way for them to make money, to support her family. Elvira vows to herself that she is going to marry the prince, to ensure her family will forever be rich.
He is planning to host a ball soon, to select his future bride.
She dreams of marrying the prince, and this leads to her mother to get the idea to make her daughter even more 'beautiful.'
She has Elvira go through horrible plastic surgery to make sure that Elvira will become a beautiful woman, to create an image that any man would want. Elvira is not against this idea, willing to do whatever it takes to marry the love of her life.
Alma is against this throughout the entire film, but Elvira pushes through, not carrying about what she does to her body...and it's horrible.
She eats a tapeworm to lose weight.
She gets a nose job and experiences horrible pain.
She gets eyelashes stitched onto her face to make her eyes stand out even more, and it was so painful to watch.
Her changes within her body leads to her losing her own hair, leaving behind bald patches.
However, poor Elvira isn't the only one suffering.
Agnes is forced to become a maid for her new family, and experiences even more loss.
Agnes becomes a maid by force, once the evil stepmother finds out that she was dating the stall boy. She was in love with him, and she witnessed her love get run off from her home. To make matters worse, her father is never given a proper burial, and his body is left to rot inside of her home.
Agnes vows to herself that in order for her to escape from her horrid life, she must marry the prince. She also has somewhat of a heart for Elvira as well, once she starts to see the extreme measures she is going through to marry the prince. I don't think Agnes is even aware of the competition for the prince that Elvira forms in her head, because she is so concerned about her own situation.
Elvira and Agnes end up forming a rivalry, when Elvira becomes way too determined to marry the prince. It was so sad to watch her new interactions with her new sister, who actually cared about her. Her mother's influence led to her hatred of her own sister, that she got along with at first during the first half of the film.
And what's even more sad, is that neither of them are aware of how the prince actually is.
He is a straight up piece of crap, who only looks at the beauty of a woman. He wants a hot woman as his bride, and these poor sisters are battling to marry a dude who won't care about them in the end.
The ball eventually arrives, and Elvira goes from happy to insane.
Elvira's dream comes true of being with her prince, but he is taken away from her once he sees Agnes.
The ball goes quite well in the beginning for Elvira. She captures his attention, and she even puts on a dance for him, that also works in her favor. The prince compliments her beauty, and she is thrilled to be dancing with her dream partner.
Then her dream is shattered once Agnes arrives.
Agnes shows up in her own dress, that was created just for her once her dead mother appeared to her, telling her what she must do to survive and escape from her new world. Elvira is outraged once she learns it is Agnes, and her sister runs away just in time once the clock strikes midnight, leaving behind a slipper.
The prince makes his announcement, saying that whoever fits the slipper will be his bride. Once Elvira gets home, she attacks her sister in a rage, but is stopped by her mother, who brings a random guy home to spend time with. Elvira steals the other slipper from Agnes, and gets pissed off when she realizes the slipper does not fit her.
Elvira decides to do the most insane thing.
Elvira makes the decision to chop off bits of her foot to make sure the slipper will fit.
Elvira gets the balls to chop off a part of her foot, and passes out from the pain. Her mother and Alma spot her in this state, and instead of comforting and helping her, her mother decides to help her. She chops off the other foot, because Elvira had chopped off the wrong one.
She awakens to find both of her feet are now gone, and she desperately tries to leave her bedroom when she hears that the prince has arrived. She falls down the stairs, and breaks her teeth and nose. She cries on the floor, as Agnes is the one who gets to leave with the prince.
Alma finds Elvira on the floor, and offers to help her. She removes the tapeworms first, by giving her the antidote.
This part was super disgusting, and I hated this scene with every fiber of my body.
Alma realizes they must leave behind their monstrous mother, and she steals expensive jewelry from her mother, as she is busy with a man. Elvira finally shows some happiness, as she is laughing with her sister at the thought of them leaving their home together.
The movie ends with the two sisters riding on a horse into the woods, ready to start their new lives.
I was so happy to see that the stepsisters got their own version of a happy ending, but poor Agnes got the short end of the stick. She was going to be stuck with an asshole for her husband, while her stepsisters were going to live happily on their own.
Damn, this movie was sad.
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