The Slipper and the Toes

The Ugly Stepsister (Emilie Blichfeldt, 2025)

The trailer for Emilie Blichfeldt's debut feature film, The Ugly Stepsister (2025), unashamedly mimics the visual style of Coralie Fargeat's The Substance (2024). Both films also happen to be grotesque stories revolving around impossible beauty standards and the extreme lengths some would go to in order to achieve perfection. Fargeat monstrously satirises these unrealistic goals in the sun-kissed world of Hollywood, whilst Blichfeldt's provides a horrifying retrospective at archaic treatments and attitudes from the past. The Ugly Stepsister is a twisted spin on the familiar tale of Cinderella; albeit, told from the perspective of the eldest stepsister, Elvira, (Lea Myren). 

Elvira, the naive elder daughter to the broke Rebekka (Ane Dahl Top), daydreams of marrying the dashing Prince Julian (Isac Calmroth) of Swedlandia. Her besotted fantasy for the prince, is a bit of an annoyance to her younger and independently thinking sister, Alma (Flo Fagerli). The trio set off in a horse drawn carriage towards new horizons. Their mother is to wed again; to the (presumably) wealthy estate owner Otto (Ralph Carlsson). Upon their arrival, they meet Otto's beautiful daughter Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss — what a name!). Elvira is instantly in awe of her new stepsister. Agnes incredibly beautiful; the complete opposite to Elvira. For the sake of her devotion to her father, Agnes forms a tenuous friendship with her new stepsister. Whilst mocking Elvira and throwing cake at her face, Otto suffers a fatal haemorrhage during the wedding feast. The creditors immediately arrive. It turns out the recently departed Otto was not the wealthy man Rebekka though, he was  penniless, too. Demoralised, Rebekka thinks it's too late for her to find another rich man to marry and provide the living she is accustomed to. "Do you think it's easy to find a rich man who would want me?" Rebekka asks Elvira, "A widow with saggy tits and two hopeless daughters!"

Fortunately, the King of Swedlandia is hosting a ball to find an eligible young woman for his dashing heir. Agnes and Elvira both receive invites. To Agnes's shock, Elvira being prepped for the forthcoming soiree is of more importance than her father being buried. Otto's funeral is put on ice and has to make do with rotting on a dining table (if only he literally was put on ice). And so Elvira undergoes horrific cosmetic surgery by Dr. Esthétique (Adam Lundgren). The procedures include Elvira's teeth braces ripped out with huge pliers and her nose being reshaped with a chisel and hammer. A decorative metal nose brace is used to protect it. Undoubtedly, the most extreme procedure are the extended false eyelashes being sewn onto Elvira's eyelids. The French surgeon comically whistles the nursery song Alouette, gentille alouette during this utterly graphic scene. Genuinely made me wince. Extreme Horror pass revoked!

Elvira is also sent to a finishing school for girls where the cruel dance teacher, Madame Vanja (Katazina Herman) mocks and bullies her constantly. There, the head teacher and appropriately named for this film, Miss Sophie Von Kronenberg's (Cecilia Forss) offers a radical solution to aid in Elvira losing weight before the royal ball. Von Kronenberg gives our protagonist the 18th century equivalent of Ozempic, a tapeworm egg. The decision to swallow the tapeworm egg represents a pivotal turning point for Elvira. It signifies the exact moment when she turns from being a naive and sympathetic character to a bitter and envious one. Despite this switch in personality, she is still nowhere near as reprehensible as some of the other characters in the film. Even Agnes is a less than purest snow in Blichfeldt's retelling of the classic folk tale. One night, while in the stables, Elvira witnesses Agnes having sex with her true love, the stable boy Isak (Malte Gårdinger). Much to Elvira's delight, she snitches on her goody stepsister. No longer a virgin, Agnes is withdrawn from the finishing school, and forbidden from attending the upcoming royal ball. As punishment by Rebekka, Agnes is demoted to a lowly house servant and given the nickname of Cinderella. 

Apart from Cinderella being naturally beautiful, far more graceful and sophisticated compared to Elvira, an integral difference between the two, are their motives in going to the ball. Elvira, is completely besotted with Prince Julian; in love with his poems and dreaming of being romanced by him. Cinderella, on the other hand, sees the prince as a means of escape from her forced servitude and nothing more. The first chinks in Elvira's perception of the dreamboat occur with a chance encounter she has with him in a forest. Hiding amongst a rocky enclave, she spots him urinating and complaining to his hunting buddies how painful it is; presumably because of an STD. Elvira accidentally gives herself away. "Hey, metal snout! You want some princely cock?" asks one of the prince's friends. "That thing? I don't want to fuck that!". Not exactly the eloquent and sensual wordsmith as shown in his poems.

Worms play a crucial and symbolic part in The Ugly Sister. Beneath the superficial displays of beauty, wealth and power, is a rotten interior within almost everyone. Maggots crawl from Otto's rotten carcass. In one of the best scenes from the film, Agnes is slumped next to her father's festering corpse, holding her ruined ball gown. She is visited by the ghostly apparition of her real mother; the film's fairy godmother. The maggots become silkworms and repair the ball gown. In a disorientating dance scene set to Edvar Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King, worms and maggots appear everywhere to a delirious Elvira; even slithering out of the mouths of party guests. Of course, it's even more emblematic with the parasitic tape worm inside Elvira. Constantly reminding her of its presence by the bellowing rumbles and groans emanating from Elvira's stomach. The dire side of being able to pig out on Danish pastries and cakes during the middle of the night, along with gorging on spaghetti while in the bath. Worms aren't the only symbolic creatures. Birds differentiate both Elvira and Cinderella. White doves for the traditional heroine, while black crows represent her step-sisters; even for Alma, sadly.

Lea Myren's lead performance is a major highlight. Without her talent, Elvira's character arc wouldn't be so intriguing and compelling to watch. Like her amazing physical transformation, Myren does a superb job in portraying a sympathetic young woman becoming a resentful villain, to finally becoming a very tragic figure. 

The Ugly Stepsister is an impressive debut for any first-time feature director. Heads above the usual Shudder releases which occasionally blip their way onto my radar. In all honesty, this indie film could have easily been an A24 release, as it's a suitably dark and twisted fantasy for the alternative film company. Marcel Zyskind's gorgeous cinematography is a perfect visual blend of fantasy and horror, while showcasing the pomp and circumstance of a lavish costume drama. Walerian Borowczyk's erotica films also seem to have inspired the overall tone and aesthetic of the film; namely his Contes immoraux (1973) anthology as well as the infamous La Bête (1975). David Cronenberg is an obvious influence; largely because of the archaic cosmetic procedures featured in the film, along with the unforgettable tapeworm sequence, but that can largely be said of all of today's body horror films. There's a touch of black comedy, too. When Elvira decides to chop off her toes so she can fit into Cinderella's slipper, her odious mother, the real villain in this twisted tale, chops off the toes from the Elvira's other foot, as she cut the wrong ones for the show.

An enjoyable, yet gross spin on the original Cinderella tale. Definitely not for the squeamish.

Salem’s Plot

The Night Visitor (László Benedek, 1971)

Despite the sweltering heatwave around here, winter appears to have come early in the form of  The Night Visitor (1971); a somewhat obscure gem starring the inimatable Swedish actor and chess champion, Max Von Sydow. 

Framed by his relatives and forced to take a plea of insanity by his corrupt lawyer, Salem (Von Sydow) is condemned to a life in a remote, medieval-style asylum for the criminally insane somewhere in the Scandanavian frozen tundra.

Right from the start, The Night Visitor manages to be engrossing thanks to Henning Kristiansen's impressive photography of the beautiful, but bitterly cold Danish and Swedish locations. Von Sydow gives an impressive physical performance; climbing and running through the freezing terrain with an atmospheric howling wind, in only his underwear. Traumatic flashbacks of having to do cross country running for P.E.

 

These feats are accompanied by a suitably twisted score courtesy of film composer Henry Mancini. The off key and bizarre sounds really compliment Salem's mental state.

Other than the wintery conditions, the film's chill factor comes from Salem breaking into his potential victim's homes, while still dressed in nothing but his underwear, and observes them asleep in their beds. The thought of a stranger in his pants breaking into your home and watching you sleep is the stuff of nightmares.

László Benedek spends much of The Night Visitor's running time Salem. Taking account that it's a revenge plot, Salem is almost portrayed as an anti-hero. A highly intelligent and creative inmate; one who is able to carve twisted figurines in his cell and use them as chess pieces when secretly playing against his elderly guard during the nights. It isn't until the final act, where the film goes into more horror territory, that Salem displays his villainous tendencies. Ironically becoming into the very person he was innocent of being.

Another Ingmar Bergman veteran, Liv Ullman, plays one of Salem's odious siblings, but much like everyone else who isn't Von Sydow, she's for the most part superfluous, and it could have been anyone playing her supporting role. That's not exactly a bad thing given the context of the film, as it's blatantly obvious the mental ingenuity and physical effort involved with breaking in and out of the insane asylum to carry out these revenge murders, makes for Salem's perfect alibi and the very allure of the film. This is profoundly the core of The Night Visitor.  

However, something is rotten in the state of Denmark/Sweden; an Edgar Allen Poe style macguffin, involving a comical parrot serves as a convenient contrivance. Therefore, when the game is up during the final moments of the film, it's more of an eye-rolling twist; a stark contrast to the gotcha moment from Martin Balsam's incriminating sneeze in the classic, heist caper The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974). By no means is the feathered annoyance terrible per se, but it does slightly tarnish what's otherwise a well produced and highly atmospheric crime thriller.

Despite the inclusion of several British actors: the esteemed Trevor Howard as the police inspector; Frightmare's Rupert Davies as Salem's shady lawyer; and Gretchen Frankilin, better known for playing Ethel Skinner on the thoroughly depressing, soap opera EastEnders, The Night Visitor was never a British co-production, nor was it released theatrically in the UK. This is all rather odd, as the film has a distinctively British flavour in terms of its visuals and atmosphere. The asylum scenes alone could have come from a Hammer production. That's another reason why I find the film so enjoyable.

Overall, The Night Visitor is a charming and engrossing thriller. Surprisingly shocked to discover this in the very late hours, randomly on TV. At the time of writing, there's a YouTube rip of this film which looks drastically better than the washed out version I caught on the gogglebox. Doesn't seem to be a blu-ray available in my territory, unfortunatley. Definitely one for the wishlist, in my opinion.