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* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:
** Lili is seen as a bratty little thing for not accepting Claudia's friendship at the start of the story. While it's very bratty at the beginning (throwing oil in her face for instance), don't forget that Lili saw Nannau being killed by something when she looked into Claudia's mirror. As it turns out, she had valid reasons to be suspicious of Claudia.
** Frederich with regards to if he loved Claudia when he married her. Claudia seems to think she was just there to produce an heir, and desperately wants him to love her. But he does seem kind to her and could potentially have loved her too; it's just that the first Liliana's death was on his mind. His reaction after learning that not only was his son (who he had waited at least nine years for) stillborn but Claudia could never bear another child again also raises this trope. Is he angry at Lili for dressing in her late mother's gown to spite Claudia as their relationship had been since she threw the water in Claudia's face during the wedding night? Is he angry at himself for reacting the way he did upon seeing the image of his beloved first wife? [[TakeAThirdOption Or is it a combination of both?]]
* AngstWhatAngst: [[spoiler: In the end, Lili does react with shock at what Claudia has done to the servants of her house, but the death of Peter, her intended husband, doesn't even warrant a mention - especially since Claudia killed him personally]].
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: There's a scene just before the poisoned apple where Peter returns to the Hoffman house to find Claudia alone. She gives him a passionate kiss, but then sends him away saying "what a wonderful husband you're going to make Lilli". Possibly Claudia wanted to ensure that Peter would find Lili and bring her home so she could kill her directly, but he doesn't get any relevant information to set up his finding her.
* EvilIsCool: Once she undergoes her FaceHeelTurn, Claudia has the power to cause cave-ins, knock trees over, trap someone [[AndIMustScream in an ageless paralysis forever]], [[spoiler: resurrect the dead and turn her servants into zombies]]. She's also implied to be omnipresent, thanks to using a raven's eyes. And Creator/SigourneyWeaver is having the time of her life in the role.
* FridgeBrilliance: Why does Lilli take fruit from an ObviouslyEvil old woman? Because after living with the miners and discovering that Will was not just a savage, she had learned that appearances can be deceiving. So she must have thought that the creepy old woman was friendly.
* GeniusBonus: Lili is saved from the poisoned apple [[spoiler: when Will gets her to cough up the piece she ate]]. Fans of the original tale will recognise that as the way Snow White was saved there, rather than the more famous use of TrueLovesKiss from the Disney version.
* HarsherInHindsight: Brian Glover gets crushed to death by a falling tree. He would die in real life before the film was even released.
* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments:
** Some context - when Lili first joins the miners, they mockingly call her a princess. When she leaves them to rejoin her family, one of them says "good journey, little princess." He even smiles at her when he says it.
** A FreezeFrameBonus. When Lili attempts to make amends with Claudia, she's wearing the dress that her stepmother wanted her to wear at the ball.
* JerkassWoobie: Lilli mainly in the early part of the movie. She's bratty and completely dismissive to Claudia's attempts to be friends, but remember that this is a girl who has never known her mother and also watched her nanny die before her. She becomes a full Woobie once Claudia starts trying to kill her.
* MoralEventHorizon: Rolf crosses it by trying to rape Lilli.
* NightmareFuel:
** When the story begins to play out like the classic fairy tale. It's Gustav - a character seemingly benevolent - who draws his knife on Lilli. Notably even Lilli seems to view him as a friend, and it's quite the WHAMShot when he lunges at her.
** The first two attempts to kill Lilli that Claudia tries. The poisoned apple almost seems tame in comparison.
** As part of the ritual to bring her child back from the dead, Claudia rapes Fredrich (who is holed up in bed with a broken leg). It's one of the few times in fiction when female on male rape is not played for laughs.
** The sight of [[spoiler: the hand of Claudia's zombified baby reaching out from his blanket.]] That ENTIRE SCENE is frightening.
* OlderThanTheyThink: A sympathetic take on the WickedStepmother that predates ''Series/OnceUponATime'', ''Series/The10thKingdom'' and ''Film/SnowWhiteAndTheHuntsman''. Likewise, this one features the Snow White analogue in a love triangle between the prince analogue and a troubled peasant man with a dead wife before the latter.
* OnceOriginalNowCommon:
** This DarkerAndEdgier take on fairy tales was pretty new at the time, as the Disney Renaissance was in full swing, and the child friendly versions were what audiences were most familiar with. Now with {{Grimmification}} being everywhere it can be lost on newer fans just how daring this movie was.
** Giving the evil queen a tragic backstory? Again, hugely uncommon in mainstream media in the 90s. Nowadays with the likes of ''{{Theatre/Wicked}}'', ''{{Film/Maleficent}}'', ''Series/OnceUponATime'' etc turning a WickedWitch into a TragicMonster, the trope that the villain was once a genuinely good person isn't as shocking as it was.
** Finally it's a surprise ending that Lili ends up with Will, the TroubledButCute exiled miner - instead of Peter, the PrinceCharming analogue. After hundreds of revisionist fairy tales, about the only thing not surprising here is that Peter isn't a PrinceCharmless.
* RonTheDeathEater: Lili often gets a harsh rep, where her intentional character flaws are overblown to the degree that she's painted as the true villain of the story. She was a child who suddenly had to accept her father remarrying, and her stepmother carries with her an ArtifactOfDoom that killed her nanny (which she had to watch). Once she's older, she has a HeelRealization, especially after Claudia miscarries and she apologises for everything. It's ''then'' that Claudia tries to kill her.
* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: Monica Keena is best remembered for being an annoying FinalGirl in ''Film/FreddyVsJason'', but here she turns in a nice performance that helps the audience understand where Lili is coming from in her initial hostility to Claudia, and then still sympathise with her when she's on the run.
* SpecialEffectFailure: It's rather obvious CGI in some places when [[spoiler: Claudia is burning to death in her room]].
* StrangledByTheRedString: Lili falls for Will quite quickly when she'd been repulsed by him for most of his screen time. Their last actual conversation before their BigDamnKiss actually had her man-handling her and her saying he frightens her. While he does rescue her from the falling trees, and she shows sympathy for his tragic history, they don't seem to form a connection that warrants a kiss. Especially since Lili has a betrothed in Peter.
* TearJerker:
** It's really hard to not feel sorry for Claudia after she loses her baby. Lili's reaction is notable too. She had been tense with Claudia, and seems to have gone to the ball deliberately to show her up, but she is horrified when she hears that Claudia won't be able to have another child. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone This prompts her to try and mend the rift between them]].
** And after Claudia loses the baby, she looks in her mirror and takes a look at her face - realising she is now much older. She tries to rub some lotion on her skin but then screams and throws it at the glass, before collapsing sobbing.
** The death of Lars just after he and Lilli had started becoming friends. She desperately tries to rescue him from the tree, but Will has to pull her away before another tree crushes them too.
** When Lili eats the poisoned apple, she has a nightmare of walking through the halls of her home, looking for her beloved father. As she calls out to him, he responds with "Go away, shade. My daughter is dead."
** When Lili returns to the castle, her beloved dog Odo has been corrupted by Claudia's magic and attacks them.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: Naturally, being an adaptation of Snow White, many parents would assume this is alright to show to children. They ignore the R rating and the fact that it's got "A Tale of Terror" as its subtitle.
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