The Top 10 Best Alternative Fairy Tale Movies

5. Edward Scissorhands

Tim Burton is no stranger to fantastical gothic tales that border on the surreal, which makes most of his films perfect alternative fairy tale movies. However, the one that managed to earn a spot on this list is Edward Scissorhands. Like pretty much every other one of his movies, this one stars Johnny Depp as a weird golem-esque character with scissors for hands. He ventures down from the castle he’s spent all his life in only to discover a strange world known as the Florida suburbs. He has trouble fitting in at first among all the “normal” people, but like every fairy tale, Edward Scissorhands has a moral to it. I won’t spoil it for you, but if you’re looking for a wonderful film with some fairy tale flair to it, then this is one movie you don’t want to miss.  

4. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

Terry Gilliam is an auteur who specializes in the bizarre. His films have popped up on a number of Stars & Popcorn top 10 lists, including asylum movies and drug addiction movies. For this list though, I want to honor his incredible film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. The movie takes place during the “age of reason” where a young girl listens intently to the adventures of a man of an elderly man. The adventures turn out to be much more than tall tales as the girl finds herself whisked off an adventure with the man when war suddenly breaks out. Together they journey to incredible places ranging from the moon to the bottom of the ocean, learning valuable life lessons along the way. It’s a truly magical movie that the whole family is sure to enjoy.  

3. Pan’s Labyrinth

Another Guillermo del Toro film makes an appearance on this list of alternative fairy tale movies. As good as The Shape of Water was, it’s got nothing on the incredible lore at the heart of Pan’s Labyrinth. The film centers around a young girl whose mother marries a sadistic Captain tasked with eliminating Spanish rebels in the countryside. The girl wants desperately to escape along with her brother and finds her chance when a mysterious faun appears and tells her that she is the reincarnation of a princess. In order for her to escape her stepfather and return safely to her kingdom in the underworld, she must complete 3 tasks that pit her against some of the scariest creatures in movie history. If you like your fairy tale movies a bit more on the mature side, you will love this one.

2. The Neverending Story

The Neverending Story is literally a film that takes place in a storybook. A young boy finds an old leather bound book one rainy day and starts reading it which allows him an insight into a fantasy world filled with monsters, heroes and even dragons. There he discovers a young warrior who is tasked with saving his world from a great and terrible nothingness that consumes everything in its path. It’s kinda hard to fight, well, nothing, which means the hero has his work cut out for him. However, The Neverending Story knows that epic stories like this don’t simply exist in a vacuum written on a page. They truly come alive when someone is reading them (philosophy is fun!). Soon the fate of the fantasy world rests on the shoulders of a boy in the real one.

1. The Princess Bride

Anyone who’s seen The Princess Bride knows two of the classic blunders already, the third would be not including it among the greatest alternative fairy tale movies of all time. The film has everything that we adore in a good old fashioned fairy tale, Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles… I could go on, but I’m sure you get the point. Even the best Disney Live Action Remake is going to have its work cut out for it trying to top The Princess Birde. This film was a staple of my childhood and no matter how many great movies I see, it’s always been in my own personal top 10 list. It’s inconceivable that there will ever be a better fairy tale movie than this.    

Honorable Mention: The Dark (2018)

I recently stumbled upon this movie and was shocked at how good it was. The film centers around an undead, cannibalistic girl who murders men that wander into the woods. That is until she discovers a kidnapped blind boy and the two form an unlikely friendship that helps to heal them both. Beware, this is a dark film but an amazing alternative fairy tale movie.

Hopefully, you love these alternative fairy tale movies as much as I do. If there’s one that you think should have made the list, be sure to let me know if the comments below. I’ll keep updating this list as I discover new and exciting fairy tale movies out there, and you can check back from time to time to see how the rankings change. Until then, let me know what top 10 lists you want me to tackle in the future by leaving a comment below!