The Norwegian film "The Ugly Stepsister," which premiered Thursday at the Sundance Film Festival, ramps up the darkness of the original "Cinderella" fairy tale.

If the disheartening lack of creativity in Disney’s live-action remakes leaves one thinking these timeless stories have, in fact, run their course, leave it to Norwegian director Emilie Blichfeldt to find new life (and blood) with the Cinderella tale.

Emilie Blichfeldt's The Ugly Stepsister twists Cinderella into a bloody horror story about the pain and despair of trying to meet beauty standards.

Review: Emilie Blichfeldt's feminist body horror fairytale 'The Ugly Stepsister' isn't more than skin deep, but it's squeamish enough that way.

Most fairy tales were told and retold countless times before Walt Disney ever got his hands on them, and yet, the sensibility behind such animated classics as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Sleeping Beauty" has proven so popular on such an international scale that few know these stories' darker origins.

Emilie Blichfeldt's feature debut "The Ugly Stepsister" is a grim and gruesome affair not for the faint of heart