we used to make that analogy of the Hansel and Gretel name when we were kids. for some reason that really scared my female cousin and she seemed to particularly hate that fairy tale always after hearing that. i kind of understood because the analogy gave me the creeps too. although not as much as it seemed to give her.

the whole Hasel and Gretel tale really is a whole lot of jeepers creepers. it's pretty morbid stuff. after all it has a very vengeful sense of morality. personally i don't support capital punishment or revenge, the Testament does advise turning the other cheek, but i suppose the witch here is pretty homicidal and carnivorous and doesn't elicit much sympathy. especially the manicky, greedy way she is portrayed at the hands of Cloris Leachman who does it so fiendishly well.

everything about this delightful Cannon MovieTale is, shall we say, (ahem),well done. although nothing is ever overdone or over-baked. it's all cooked to delicious perfection.

Englebert Humperdink's children's opera has been done successfully, but not in live action movie form. even though Cannon films made their MovieTales on humble budgets, the films looked good and felt like movies, not filmed stage plays like many other fairy tale theaters. fans of Cannon MovieTales also know that their fairy tales are also largely underrated and not often given the attention or credit they so richly deserve.

this particular version of the fairy tale opera is worth something just for Cloris Leachman's outstanding performance as the witch. she is very amusing but she is also rather frightening too. it's also nice to see MovieTale star Nicola Stapleton (Snow White) here as well.

aside from the obviously politically incorrect message of "witch burning", which is pretty morbid, but a inherent problem in the original telling if you want to be accurate, this film is probably more cultured and refined than a lot of the mindless junk that is usually tossed at kids these days in the movies and on television.

this is a good film for kids on a whole but there actually might be some risk of scaring really small children. heck, the movie scared me when i first saw it in the late 80's and i was like, almost thirty.

Being a lover of '80s cinema, as well as an appreciator of all things Cannon and Golan-Globus, I was happily surprised to discover that Cannon had made a series of movies about fairy tales that I was unaware of. I managed to get my hands on this one, my first of hopefully many Cannon Movie Tales. The story is the simple one of Hansel and Gretel, padded out enough to make a movie.

It starts with the worst family ever. The mom sits at home bitching while the wussy dad (David Warner) lets himself be pushed around and underpaid for the wood he cuts without putting up a fight. The two kids are deeply stupid, singing and dancing around like morons who have no understanding of how messed up their situation is. Maybe this is some subtle propaganda for helping the underprivileged and mentally challenged. The mom gets mad at the kids and sends them off into the woods. Soon the dad returns home having finally sacked up and gotten his money. But now the kids are lost and come upon the candy house of a witch named Griselda (a barely recognizable Cloris Leachman in a nice makeup job). Once the kids get lost, the story gets good. There are spooky woods, creepy gingerbread statues, and a scary witch. It's quite a bit of fun and a nice change of pace from today's over-polished kids films.

Despite this being from Cannon, there are no guns anywhere. Nor is there any machismo or heaving bosoms. There are some terrible songs and an often sad story told in the most upbeat manner possible. Also, the most unsettling happy ending ever. It's a good time, though. I will definitely seek out more Cannon Movie Tales and recommend you do the same.

Maybe a little overrated. Mayde not a 6.8. But still a good movie. It has good acting. It is kind of scary. But come on it is not really scary. It has a good story line. It is a good movie. I give it 6 out of 10.