n Snow White: A Tale of
Terror (15) (PolyGram, to rent from Monday)
The original tales by the brothers Grimm are notoriously nasty and bloody, so the idea of making a faithful version of Snow White is an interesting one; unfortunately, this gruesome, ridiculous movie fails on almost every level. As a fairy tale it doesn't generate any sense of mystery or wonder; Ye Olde Ooh-ar Dialogue is made doubly ridiculous by being delivered in Yank accents; plotwise it suffers great inconsequential longueurs; and the sexual subtext of the story (a Grimm fairy essential) is glanced at then hurriedly shied away from. One has to wonder what Sam Neill, Sigourney Weaver, and Brian Glover were thinking of. This wants to be more Hammer House of Horror than Disney, but it ends up hammy house of hokum - and at least Disney's tales are fun.
Black humour
n Grosse Pointe Blank (15) (Hollywood Pictures, to rent/buy - #12.99 - from Monday)
One American tradition that I'm glad hasn't made it across the pond is the
high-school reunion, those atrocities of one-upmanship where the scent of failed promise hangs heavy in the air. John Cusack plays a freelance assassin whose business takes him back to his home town of Grosse Pointe, just in time for the high-school reunion; his unwilling psychiatrist (a great cameo from Alan Arkin: ''Try not to kill anyone today'') recommends he go. Cusack's kind of dissatisfied with killing people for money (and can't be won over to rival Dan Aykroyd's idea of an assassins' union), and dreams of a new life - and romance with the love of his life, Minnie Driver, who he stood up on prom night 10 years before. This isn't as off-the-wall as it'd like to think it is, and it's as hard-hearted as a raw egg, but it's great fun, due to the wittily black-hearted script and straight-down-the-line playing.
Your chance to win a boxed set
n It's 30 years since The Prisoner arrived on British TV, and to celebrate this, a special two-volume boxed set of all the episodes plus a Companion documentary (said to explain many of the show's unanswered questions; our breath is bated) is released on Monday (by Vision Video and PolyGram, at #24.99 per volume). It's the epitome of British sixties cool (those chalk-stripe blazers, oh my); the fact that it never made much sense only adds to its appeal. We have one boxed set to give away; to enter the prize draw answer these questions.
1. Where was The Prisoner filmed?
2. What was the name of the white sphere which stymied so many of Number Six's escape attempts?
3. Which four actors played Number Two?
Entries on a postcard marked ''Be seeing you'' to Kevin McCardle, Herald Features, 195 Albion Street, Glasgow G1 1QP, by June 15. Winner and answers on June 20.
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