10 Favorite Fairy Films

Someone asked me what some of my favorite fairy films were. It was actually a little difficult to come up with 10, but here they are:

Labyrinth (1986) Goblins, biting fairies, and a heroine trying to find her way through a maze-like wonderland. And David Bowie as a sinister, elegant Goblin King. Production by Froud!

The Neverending Story (1984) With its fairy-like Child Empress and strange creatures, this film of a boy reading about a young hero in a fantasy land is a modern fairy tale.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006) Guillermo del Toro's gorgeous and imaginative film about a young girl dealing with the brutal circumstances of her life by communicating with a grotesquely beautiful, ram-horned creature.

Mama (2013) The creature in this film could be the ghost of a fairy changeling. The terrifying and heartbreaking battle for the souls of two little girls makes this the perfect fairy tale.

The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit (2001-2014) Elves and orcs who might as well be fairies and goblins . . . what more can you ask for?

The Brothers Grimm (2005) A film based on fairy tales, with the Brothers Grimm as the heroes, who must rescue the children of a German village from an evil and beautiful enchantress.

The Company of Wolves (1984) Okay, this film has no fairies, but it is a fairy tale and as sexy and disturbing as the original fairy tales were.The film is based on Angela Carter's short story of Little Red Riding Hood.

Outcast (2010) This Irish horror film uses the myth of the Tuatha De Danaan, the old gods of Ireland, as a race of supernatural beings who exist in contemporary Ireland. A mother and her son run from hunters as a hideous monster kills people in their wake.

The Ring (2002) This is another film that, although absent of any fairies, has a changeling child, obtained from some unknown place and raised by an affluent couple. Her malign influence infects anyone who views a VCR tape recorded over the well where she was murdered.

Peter Pan (2003) Fairies, mermaids, and a perfect Tinkerbell. And Jason Isaacs as the best Captain Hook ever.