Sleeping Beauty

"The Curse of Sleeping Beauty" is a strange fantasy-horror film with an intriguing and promising beginning. The mystery is increased with the confused screenplay and holds the attention of the viewer. The beauty of India Eisley is perfect for the role of the Sleeping Beauty and another attraction. Out of the blue, the mystery is solved, evil is unleashed and the movie ends. Actually the movie stops without an ending. Maybe the intention of the writer would be a cliffhanger for a sequel, but unfortunately the film does not have an ending certainly disappointing the viewer that might be enjoying the story. Why didn´t Thomas uncle explain the whole situation of the curse of his family and the secrets of the mansion in the letter he left to his nephew? My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Maldição da Bela Adormecida" ("The Curse of Sleeping Beauty")

There was a great idea for 'The Curse of Sleeping Beauty', one of the more intriguing ones for a less-than-high-budget film, and there was a good, or at least halfway decent, film in it somewhere that had great potential to come out and should have done.

Which is why it is so frustrating and such a big shame that 'The Curse of Sleeping Beauty' was so disjointed and uneven, as someone who was really rooting for the film to work. Do have to agree with the general consensus that 'The Curse of Sleeping Beauty' started off well and promisingly, was really thinking that it would be surprisingly good, but fell apart completely in the second half and kept getting worse. There are definitely far worse wastes of potential and good concepts, but 'The Curse of Sleeping Beauty' was definitely a definition of a waste of potential and a waste of a great idea.

It, as aforementioned, starts off well. Throughout the production values generally were atmospherically Gothic and nicely shot with eerie make-up. The music also has a haunting eeriness that doesn't feel intrusive, one-note or repetitive. Mostly the acting was better than average, having seen some very bad to terrible acting in modest to low budget films recently so that was refreshing.

Atmosphere generated is genuinely creepy, wonderful mysterious and suspenseful going at a deliberate but assured pace.

Sadly, again as already said, the second half sees 'The Curse of Sleeping Beauty' falling apart. And not just slightly, we're talking significantly. Not that the film was perfect already. There was some choppy editing, cheap costuming and Ethan Peck doesn't always look comfortable or engaged in his role.

Really, it is frustrating that the more the second half progressed, the duller, more confused, more clichéd and more predictable it got, and the mystery, creepiness and suspense got lost and instead was replaced by dreariness, ridiculousness and a draggy pace. All capped off by an ending that was far too abrupt and incomplete.

Overall, good first half, disappointing second half with a bad non-event ending. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Thomas Kaiser (Ethan Peck) is always dreaming of a Sleeping Beauty figure (India Eisley). Out of the blue, he inherits the ancestral mansion, Kaiser Gardens. It's apparently cursed and home to a series of tragic incidents over the centuries. Realtor Linda (Natalie Hall) reveals that she's actually looking for her brother who went missing in the house. They are joined by supernatural expert Richard Meyers (Bruce Davison) and edgy techie Daniel.

This relative B-horror alludes to the Brothers Grimm story. It's a haunted house horror. It has elements of Silent Hill. The mannequins have good potential. I would have liked Thomas and Linda to stay in the house. Leaving there to go pick up Richard and Daniel is a waste of time. There could be more done with Sleeping Beauty, both the idea and the character. This horror feels a bit undercooked.

I was more than intrigued by this take on Sleeping Beauty, and it showed a lot of promise. It wasn't fancy or big budget, and the acting had some not-so-great moments, but I still highly enjoyed it. Until the end. It doesn't end, it just stops. It sets up for a sequel, but you can do that without having such an unsatisfying ending. And if no sequel is planned that makes it even worse. There is no resolution, no conclusion...it just stops. And leaves you angry. I liked it otherwise, but I just can't get past the end.

Why would I choose to watch this? The visionary and aesthetic pleasure of fantasy elements in the trailer, along with the take on a classic fairy tale peaked my interest.

The editing was very clunky and slow. Those SURPRISE and WATCH OUT moments were hidden by the lack of fast cutting and a fairly monotone performance by Ethan Peck. All of this in the opening sequence and then continued it's theme through out the film which ultimately led to a dull storyline. So what's left?

The most disappointing aspect was the aesthetic pleasures. This 'perfect' sleeping princess looked like a child in fancy dress. Her scenes were designed too flat. Her extravagant garments lacked UMFF as there was no lighting or exceptional colours on the background nor her dress. I was watching it, shouting at the colour correcter asking him/her why didn't they enhance the colour blue!

This film lacked depth in plot, acting and mise-en-scene. I'd say it's probably an entertaining film for younger teens, 13/14years.. but not for anyone else.