The Curse of Sleeping Beauty

So... I accidentally watched a horror movie. This Sleeping Beauty modernization is Fairy Tale meets Doctor Who meets Supernatural. With all the originality that should entail, plus maybe slightly too much of the campiness, and a large bonus of extra super creepy. I didn't realize how scary it would be at first, but I guess the fact that I didn't turn it off, but watched all the way through all by my lonesome, is a testament to its decent amount of quality.

At the very least it was visually memorable.

With a elegantly creepy look, and an involving plot, my interest was kept up until the end, but then the ending was disappointing. It could have used another act; 20 or 30 more minutes to finish everything up. It was a hour and a half only if you tack the credits to the number... and then round up a bit. And as freaky as it was (with me being alone and not used to fantasy horror flicks as I am) it was also very enjoyable for the most part, and by the end I was already invested enough that I wanted it to keep going. The ending was too open to be good; leaving off with a twist as most horror movies do, but this one wasn't unforeseen enough to be satisfying on its own. Before the ending came along however, it was a surprisingly well-made movie. Beautifully filmed, very unique visually, and just the right amount of absolutely terrifying.

(It might be worth noting that I might be over-exaggerating the scariness of this film. After all it doesn't claim horror as a genre, and after all, I'm not used to watching scary films, let alone all by myself. Just something to consider.)

The unknown actors were good and believable in their roles. Bad acting was surprisingly absent, and only snuck in when the script got cheap too. The main character was compelling but the rest lacked almost any amount of real depth. They were there to be a sounding board though, and they served their purpose. The lead was the prince character, named Thomas, and played by Ethan Peck. I enjoyed his lead and I really enjoyed that the main character was the "prince." I've always thought since reading the Grimm tale that the prince would be the better character to focus on, seeing as how Briar Rose spends most her time, you know, sleeping.

Like India Eisley does as her here! Although they do meet in dream sequences.

The plot started out very interesting, modernizing the story and building mystery, but threw a lot of that away when the third act started. Things got really dicey for a while and then wrapped up to absolutely no satisfaction. The modernizing of the Sleeping Beauty story was perhaps the movie's biggest recommending factor. I would have loved it if they had stuck to the traditional story even more -- adapting it to a modern setting. The horror elements we're well done and sufficiently freaky but I think the movie makers were carried away with them, and the original idea that was so interesting was lost in the shuffle. I don't even mind that it was a horror film. I thought the tone was very fitting; but once the plot was influenced by horror pitfalls, things derailed fast.

The dream sequences had a nice style to them; very fantasy, and creatively done. I really like the visual aspect of this movie all around. It was very memorable and very indie but felt high quality. The movie knew how to deal with its small budget by limiting special effects and working with practicals. And of course the practical effects helped with the horror's believabillity factor as well.

Here are secondary characters/sounding boards Natalie Hall and Bruce Davison.

Going in I knew that this movie was not very highly rated among viewers and for the longest time I could not figure out why -- but then the movie ended. That really is where it all fell apart. Even the strange stuff that happens around the beginning of the third act could have been easily forgiven if not for what they led to. I don't even have so much of a problem with what happened as I do with what was left out. The movie definitely feels incomplete, like the first film in a three-part series. But I seriously doubt this one will get a sequel. Which is too bad; I might have watched it. If only to get my happy ending.