Director: Rachel Goldenberg
Writer: Naomi L. Selfman (screenplay)
When the King is killed by ferocious reptile beasts, his Queen takes control of the kingdom. She tries to kill her beautiful stepdaughter Snow, but she escapes into the enchanted forest.
We all know Asylum movies tend to suck really bad. I generally don't care. I watch movies to be entertained no matter how campy or dumb the movie is. This movie, while not good, isn't all that bad either. It can get pretty slow in some parts however, but there's some things here that are fairly entertaining.
Surprisingly enough, the acting here is pretty good. I've always been a fan of Jane March, who is a pretty good actress. It must be difficult for her however, to play the wicked step mother as opposed to the beautiful Snow White. Eliza Bennett is not great (and definitely not my type), but I found myself more interested in the peripheral characters as opposed to her. Jamie Thomas King does a good job as well.
The effects are, of course, horrible. I've seen Asylum pull of some better stuff that this. I know this movie is made on the cheap, but come on. I could make a better looking dragon on my lap top, and I don't even know much about computer animation.
The film starts off pretty slow, but picks up towards the end action-wise. The action scenes are not great, but decent.
While the film definitely has a Victorian feel, it's firmly planted in a fantasy world. No guns or machines, so I was ok with it. With the plethora of "Grimm" movies coming out, you'll probably find more of them here. But, hopefully they get better.
Verdict: Well, I didn't turn it off...
The Cast
Jane March ... Queen Gwendolyn
Jamie Thomas King ... Prince Alexander
Alan Burgon ... Orlando
Frauke Steiner ... Mara
Otto Jankovich ... Hugh the Advisor
Sebastian Wimmer ... Runt
Eric Lomas ... Cyrus
Ben Maddox ... Huntsman Beasley
Klara Steinhauser ... Allura
Sabine Kranzelbinder ... Isabella
Bernhard Rusch ... Wally
Joe Toedtling ... Flamekeeper
This has been sitting in my "to watch" pile for ages - the plan being to have a "Snow White" week once Snow White & The Huntsman arrives on DVD.
ReplyDeleteI've always found The Asylum's fantasy films to be amongst their best - even though, as you rightly say, the effects aren't always that special.
Those dog-creatures look almost exactly like the dog-creatures that appeared in their Almighty Thor.