It’s the Snow White story where you actually root for the stepmother—if only to see what terrifying thing Weaver will do next.
In 1997, Weaver took on the role of the wicked stepmother in Snow White: A Tale of Terror , a dark fantasy horror film produced by Universal Pictures. Directed by Michael Cohn, the film reimagined the classic fairy tale through the lens of a psychological horror story, heavily inspired by the Brothers Grimm’s original, darker narrative.
So, the next time you hear “Sigourney Weaver” and “Snow White” in the same sentence, don’t picture the actress in a peasant dress singing to birds. Picture her in black velvet, staring into a mirror of nightmares, whispering, “I will have her heart.”
Weaver brought her signature intensity to the role. There are no magic mirrors singing in a velvet voice here. Instead, the mirror is a grotesque, living bronze face that whispers Claudia’s darkest desires. Weaver’s queen doesn’t just cackle—she seethes. Her transformation into the “old peddler woman” is genuinely disturbing, relying on practical makeup effects that give her the wrinkled, haggard look of a witch.