5.
Hansel and Gretel. Back to the structure: as night
begins to fall, only two of the kids remain, Sally and her
wheelchair-bound brother Franklin. They become increasingly
scared as they realize they have no choice but to leave the
van and enter the dark forest to find out where their friends
are. This sequence is so well-filmed it becomes something
right out of Hansel and Gretel. Sally pushes her brother through
menacing twisted branches with only a flashlight to guide
them. They shout the names of their dead friends in vain,
and then that archetypal dialogue: "I think I see a light!"
. . . . "It's a house!" Two more lambs drawn to
the charnel hallway. On this weekend's viewing, knowing the
terror that they were walking headlong into, I found this
sequence to be not only scary but downright tragic.
Then again, I have a crush on Sally, and I couldn't bear to
think about what was in store for her.
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