I've been very happy with the recent The Witch-instigated resurgence in the folk horror genre, but there have more than a few duds to come across since then. Hansel & Gretel, for all the good it has to offer (primarily on a visual level) is ultimately a bit of a disappointment.
Alice Krige delivers a creepy (if a bit obvious) performance, with the girl from the 2017 It handling her central role admirably. But the boy who plays Hansel does a pretty awful job, which does take away from any sense of tension you might be feeling when he's in peril.
The story takes quite a few creative detours from the source material, which was very welcome, but it all fell relatively flat by halfway through, at which point the movie comes to a crashing halt as it drags itself across the finish line, leaving the audience feeling a lot more bored than thrilled by the time the ending finally comes around. Additionally, the music blended modern sounds in a very distracting way.
This is barely a horror movie, more focusing on creating an atmosphere with strong visuals to complement the familiar story. I love visual storytelling, and I don't mind a slow pacing for horror, as long as the movie brings something new or interesting to the table. This really didn't, and strong visuals just aren't enough.
5/10
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