Fairy Tale and Film

The Gift
(Sam Raimi, 2000), which also exposes romantic delusions when a 

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106 
Fairy Tale and Film
lonely widow realises that a seemingly mild-mannered teacher is not all 
that he appears to be. If Bluebeard’s defining feature is that of a mania-
cal control freak, willing to kill to preserve his outward image, Wayne 
Collins (Greg Kinnear) is no different. Once Annie (Cate Blanchett) 
starts to follow a lead that implicates him as a killer (aided by the ghost 
of the woman he killed), he shows his true colours, and although a jeal-
ousy motive is offered in reference to his murdered fiancée’s loose ways, 
the fact that he proves willing to kill again shows the provocation alibi 
to be false. Like the husband of 
What Lies Beneath
we must look beyond 
the outward demeanour or respectable profession of each man (as well 
as their excuses), for these tales dispense with conspicuous features 
like a blue beard and suggest that any man might conceal a murderous 
nature. In both films caution and curiosity are advanced as necessary 
survival traits for female protagonists, making them not only a modern-
day Bluebeard’s wife, but a mature equivalent of Clover’s Final Girl. 
Discovering a capacity for self-reliance they scarcely knew they had, 
they are able to protect not only themselves from danger, but other 
women also. The fact that former rivals assist them from beyond their 
watery graves further adds to their folkloric resonances. If neither figure 
thought she could survive without a man, the experience they undergo 
makes them realise this is not so. The police cannot help in these situa-
tions and dead women serve in their place to warn and instruct. 
Interesting variants in the thriller genre have disentangled the 
romantic aspects of the ‘Bluebeard’ tale, providing us with intrepid 
heroines who actively seek out murderous males in their work as pro-
fessional investigators. 
Silence of the Lambs
(Jonathan Demme, 1991) 
features Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) as one such figure, setting out to 
find the serial killer who has left a trail of female corpses in his wake. 
A kidnapped woman is ultimately saved through Starling’s intuitive 
observational skills and her discussions with best friend Ardelia (Kasi 
Lemmons), as much as the cryptic hints offered by the psychiatrist-
turned-psychopath Hannibal Lector (Anthony Hopkins).
14
We witness 
a number of forbidden chambers in this film, from the hired lock-up in 
which Starling finds a severed head in a jar to the underground base-
ment where Buffalo Bill (Jeremy Sands) keeps his next intended victim. 
Some have suggested links with the Minotaur legend, particularly given 
the labyrinthine nature of this basement, which our heroine is forced 
to explore in darkness, and she notably takes the heroic lead, saving 
the girl and despatching the monster.
15
While imitations would follow, 
including 
The Bone Collector 
(Philip Noyce, 1999), in which a paralysed 
Denzel Washington instructs a novice cop (played by Angelina Jolie) 

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Demon Lovers and Defiant Damsels 
107
in finding a serial killer, female detectives on screen have tended to 
lack the same qualities as Clarice Starling. Interesting exceptions 
include the female investigative duo in 
Copycat
(Jon Amiel, 1995) which 
unites a traumatised serial killer specialist, Dr Helen Hudson (Sigourney 
Weaver), with feisty female detective M.J. Monahan (Holly Hunter), to 
get their murderous man. Other official investigators of interest include 
Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank), the rookie cop in