EVER AFTER: A SLASHING JAUNT FEATURING
YOUR FAVORITE FAIRY TALE VILLAINS
Written by Steph Cannon 9.9.2026
Every few years, a new trend in horror films surfaces, and subsequently permeates the genre. From masked, psychotic killers in the 1980s, to teenage slashers in the 1990s, there’s always a crop of similar styles and plot points for a period of time, before a new one emerges. Recently, a movement that has been gaining steam is that of twisting public domain cartoon and fairy tale characters.
It’s easy to understand why. After all, the thought of our favorite childhood characters re-imagined into bloodthirsty, rampaging lunatics is a terrifying concept, and makes for great entertainment value. Ever After, written and directed by László Illés, goes all in with this, utilizing some of the most well-known fairytale and folk characters, backed up by an impressive cast.
In celebration of their upcoming nuptials, Amy (Maria de Sá) and Helen (Lara Sas) bring five of their friends to a remote lodge in the forest for an epic bachelorette weekend. What could possibly go wrong? While the setting isn’t anything new, this isn’t your typical haunted cabin in the woods tale. In this story, the looming threat comes in the form of bloodthirsty maniacs who dress up as, and seem to believe they truly are, famous storybook characters.
The film spends only a small amount of time on the main heroines, and with there being seven of them, it’s difficult at first to discern one from the other. It’s clear from the beginning that the main purpose for this is simply to have a high body count and ensure copious amounts of kill scenes.
And oh, do we get plenty of kill scenes. The party has barely begun when the first few ladies meet their gruesome demise at the hands of three killers dressed as pigs and an over the top Prince Charming (Phillipe Reinhardt). From there, the ladies are chased through the night by an increasing number of costumed freaks, including Little Red Riding Hood (Riana Emma Balla), the Big Bad Wolf (voiced by Kane Hodder), the Frog King (voiced by Malcolm McDowell), a Ringmaster (Mark Sheppard), and Prince Charming’s witch mother (Bonnie Aarons).
That may seem like a bloated cast of villains, but all are so eccentric and varied, that the film never feels bogged down. The use of prominent horror icons like Aarons, Hodder, McDowell, and Sheppard definitely helps as well, and we are even treated to an appearance by Michael Berryman as The Huntsman. All of them throw everything into their roles, but Sheppard’s rhyming Ringmaster and Aarons’ witch are particularly impressive. Reinhardt, to his credit, gets very into playing Prince Charming and leans heavily into the character’s abundant mommy issues, but does come across as over-acting in some scenes.
Where Ever After stumbles slightly is with the protagonists. With so little time spent on their character development, it’s difficult to care enough about any of them and their respective plights. At times, many of them come across as downright unlikable, and as mentioned earlier, it’s difficult in the beginning to tell them apart. With a runtime of two hours, more time could have been spent introducing them. Then again, it seems as though that’s not the type of film this is. After all, the main focal point in this type of genre is the hacking and slashing.
From a costuming and makeup standpoint, the movie shines. The use of practical effects is always enjoyable to see in an age of heavy CGI, and there’s more than enough blood and gore to go around to keep horror buffs happy. In the end, that’s really what matters, because this clearly is a movie that was made as an homage to a filmmaking trend that’ll likely stick around for a while.
EXCLUSIVE REVIEW
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