Once upon a time, there were a group of tales full of monsters and evil that were designed to scare children into behaving. Now, of course, they have become colorful candy tales to delight kids of all ages. “Brothers Grimm” takes us back to the idea of the original tales with a literary twists.
As two brothers, played by Matt Damon and Heath Ledger, carry out careers of ridding villages of spooky witches and trolls, placed there through the aide of their ignorant henchmen, they find themselves in the midst of a real scare. Brother Jake takes in all the tales, gathering them into one book, even as he knows the villagers have been duped by he and his brother. Under French occupation, Cavaldi (Peter Stormare) causes them to go to a village cursed by an evil queen in a tower who steals the young maidens for their youth and beauty by incorporating many of the fairy tales we have grown to know and love. Hansel and Gretle, the gingerbread man, even Cinderella is referred to in dark ways.
Director Terry Gilliam, spins us a tale in dark period settings, with characters that thrill and humor the viewer in ways that give a most entertaining chill. Although not appropriate for the youngest audiences, this is a wonderfully suspenseful film for most audiences. Everyone should have it on their Halloween horror film list.