Review of Sleeping Beauty (2014) by Bobby L — 22 May 2014

Casper Van Dien's directorial debut is a triumph on all fronts. The Asylum has had a fair bit of success with retelling fairy tales in various ways- somewhat modernized (Jack The Giant Killer; pretty damn great) to full on horror (Hansel & Gretel; creepy as hell). This is probably their most faithful adaptation, and without a doubt their best film to date.

Boasting the greatest score of their filmography, this movie starts perfectly. The slighted fairy Tambria curses Princess Dawn, and then fights three good fairies! She promptly kills them. That is how this movie opens! It's impressive and immediately grabs your attention. Thanks to solid directing, beautiful cinematography, and tight editing it thankfully never lets go.

The bulk of the story takes place 100 years after Dawn succumbs to her curse, and involves a prince and his men trekking to the magical kingdom to save her from Tambria. This involves them fighting wyrms, zombies, booby traps, mind control spells, a sea monster, and themselves. It all works within the story surprisingly well, and the movie isn't afraid to go dark.

The costumes are excellent and don't look like costumes, but actual period wear. The location shoot provides a great deal of production value, especially the castle. The stained glass windows are beautiful.

This was a family affair as Van Dien not only directed but stars as the King, his real life wife the Queen, and eldest daughter Grace plays the titular beauty! His other children also have brief roles. Grace acquits herself amazingly, and is easy to buy as a headstrong but scared princess. Granted, she's sleeping through a large section, when she's awake, she exudes natural charisma.

Olivia D'Abo is the evil fairy Queen Tambria and makes for a wonderful villain. Shamelessly evil (thank goodness) she wields a badass attitude and is quite threatening ("Amazing Spider-Man 2" take notes! This is how an interesting villain is handled!). Finn Jones as Barrow, the whipping boy is excellent. His frustrations at his place in life is shown, but just below the surface, adding some nice layers. Edward Lewis French as stuck up, selfish Prince Jayson plays the cocksure bad boy to the hilt, but restrains himself before it becomes grating! Add on a nice twist reveal of his character's true motivation and you end up with a truly engaging ensemble of actors all playing complex and interesting characters.

Composer Joseph Metcalfe, who has worked on other Asylum productions (and the awesome JCVD vehicle "Hard Corps"), outdoes himself, and bigger released films with his score for this. Ephemeral, eerie, graceful, sweet, and everything else when needed, I can't recall a greater score to an Asylum film, nor one that is utilized so perfectly with the onscreen action.

Having received it a few days after it's release, I was very excited once it arrived. I happened to have seen the two worst films of the year (so far) just days before sitting on the couch and turning this on. This low budget retelling of a classic fairy tale blows " Godzilla (2014)" & "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" so high out of the water it's remarkable! In a year in which the Asylum had already released some their most ambitious and well made productions to date ("Android Cop" & "Mega Shark Vs. Mecha Shark" are excellent) this is their best, by large and far. Real care and effort were extended to every end of the film, and it shows. Absolutely one of the best films of the year!