The Curse of Sleeping Beauty (2016)

Wonderful character development!

Undescribable Perfection

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

I swore I would never review a movie I didn't watch from beginning to end, but I can't help myself. I watched it as long as I could stand it but didn't make it to the end. Sorry for that but I have to share my feelings. Out of curiosity I wanted to check what type ratings viewers gave this dumb flick, so I scanned the reviews, which is part of the reason I decided to review it. Did I miss something? I watched a sleeping beauty who never learned to apply make-up in moderation. I watched the 'hero' being tormented with bad dreams and going in rooms he was warned not to enter.I can only guess that those who gave this joke of a film a great review are employees of the film company who were instructed to do so or relatives of the cast. 'Great', 'outstanding' and 'good' are descriptions that have no business being in any review of this 'cursed' cinematic drivel.

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

Okay let me level with you - this movie caters to a particular taste and style of film for certain people. If you're expecting Harry Potter then no, it's not for you. If you're expecting a gory gritty horror movie, no not for you. If you like "Beautiful Creatures"or "Pan's Labrinth" this IS for you and I suggest you give it a shot. There is a scene in the end that haunts me still, the costume and makeup was OUTSTANDING! I really must give props. And Gregory Peck's grandson reminds you of him the whole time - looks like him, sounds like him, and he was a good actor. The Director had a great sense of humor or perhaps the screenwriter as the dialogue was well written and there was some natural laughs. I liked the mystery of it - it really was a mystery. The ending is messed up but not predictable and reminds you that you signed up for a horror movie so that's what you're getting.

This movie has a very interesting take on the various versions of the Sleeping Beauty story. It even references the Brothers Grimm version 'Briar Rose'. It is obviously working with a low budget and is very cheesy throughout. However, unlike other viewers, I feel that it pretty much explained everything; it was just very quick, rushed and could be easily missed. For those who are a little confused and are reading these reviews for a bit of clarification on some parts of the movie: the curse came about because Thomas' ancestors sacrificed a virgin to a version of Satan or a very powerful demon. The sacrificed woman became the vessel for the evil god/demon to enter this world and bring about the apocalypse. Apparently good djinn worked together to keep the woman asleep, which in turn kept the evil god/demon imprisoned. Because of the evil act of sacrificing the virgin to the evil god/demon, the Kaiser bloodline men were born with demons inside them. Presumably, they performed the sacrifice to get some sort of power but in fact were really opening themselves up to be the servants of the god/demon. The Kaiser men were bound to the imprisoned god/demon, and so could not leave the house. Maybe they knew the full truth, maybe not. Most likely not, since the djinn were necessary to guard the sleeping god/demon to keep one of them from awakening it. Since Thomas had virtually no knowledge of any of it, all he could do was go with what he was being told. He thought the Veiled Demon-djinn was evil and found a way to get to the woman and awaken her. He had no way of knowing that she was not a sleeping woman under a curse and that he was the one who was cursed. Therefore, he freed the god/demon and it in turn, freed the generations of demons that had been stored in his bloodline and proceeded to begin the apocalypse. This would be an awesome movie to be redone by a more skilled writer/director/crew/etc and be more fully fleshed out and explored. This movie is worth watching for the interesting story.