The Curse of Sleeping Beauty is a 2016 American fantasy horror film directed by Pearry Reginald Teo and written by Teo aand Josh Nadler. The film stars Ethan Peck, India Eisley and Natalie Hall. It is based on a comic book of the same name by Everette Hartsoe and the story Sleeping Beauty by The Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault.
The Curse of Sleeping Beauty is a dark fantasy movie that follows a young man named Thomas who inherits a mysterious mansion from his family. He discovers that the mansion is cursed, and he must awaken a sleeping princess and break the curse to restore peace. Along with a group of friends and allies, Thomas navigates the dangerous and surreal world of the mansion, facing off against supernatural creatures and uncovering the secrets of his family's past. Ultimately, he must confront the evil force behind the curse and make a sacrifice to save the princess and himself.
Tropes:
- Apocalypse Maiden: Rose is revealed to be this at the end. Freeing her triggers The End of the World as We Know It, and so the Veiled Demon kept watch over her to ensure that she never was freed. Interestingly, Rose may be the one to start the apocalypse, but she herself does not have the means to fully carry it out—that dubious honor goes to Thomas, whose bloodline stores the horde of demons that will help Rose destroy the world. In his own way, Thomas is just as much of this trope as Rose is.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Unable to wake Rose with a kiss, Thomas uses his blood. Rose awakens then kisses and attacks Thomas. Rose kills the Veiled Demon, but before doing so, it tells them that Thomas' bloodline 'stores' many demons, which Rose will summon to unleash upon the world. Rose states she will not kill them so they can see the darkness to come and begins to awaken the demons in Thomas' bloodline. Meanwhile, after the full text from the book is deciphered Daniel reads the curse that awakening the demons in Thomas' bloodline will trigger the Apocalypse.
- Black Eyes of Evil: When Briar Rose's true nature is revealed, and she announces her intention to unleash the demons upon the Earth, her eyes turn completely black.
- Catapult Nightmare: The first night Thomas sleeps at Kaiser Gardens he dreams of the sleeping girl and this time is able to kiss and awaken her. She tells him her name is Briar Rose and that they can communicate now that they are close in the physical world. He has a false awakening to an attack from the Veiled Demon. He wakes up from the nightmare sitting bolt upright in bed.
- Curse: The males of the Kaiser family are under a curse dates back to the Crusades when a djinn put Rose in an eternal sleep. The group deduces that Iblis wants her and they must kill the Veiled Demon and awaken Rose.
- Decoy Damsel: Thomas believes that he must awaken Briar Rose with True Love's Kiss in order to break the Curse on his family and banish the Veiled Demon. However, Briar Rose actually is the curse on the family, and the Veiled Demon is there to prevent her from being awoken: something Thomas only discovers too late.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Thomas has recurring dreams in which he sees a beautiful sleeping girl, but is unable to wake her. When he attempts to kiss her, he is always distracted by a vision of a strange building and wakes in sleep paralysis. One day, he receives a phone call from a law firm informing him of an inheritance from his estranged uncle, Clive. Thomas is startled to find out the inherited property is the very same building from his dreams.
- The End of the World as We Know It: At the end of the film, Rose awakens then kisses and attacks Thomas. Rose kills the Veiled Demon, but before doing so, it tells them that Thomas' bloodline 'stores' many demons, which Rose will summon to unleash upon the world. Rose states she will not kill them so they can see the darkness to come and begins to awaken the demons in Thomas' bloodline. Meanwhile, after the full text from the book is deciphered Daniel reads the curse that awakening the demons in Thomas' bloodline will trigger the Apocalypse.
- Faux Death: A djinn put Briar Rose into an eternal sleep. Thomas becomes convinced that he must locate her and awaken her with True Love's Kiss in order to break the Curse on his family bloodline.
- Genuine Human Hide: The Veiled Demon is making Murderous Mannequins from the skin of he people who vanished near Kaiser Gardens.
- Murderous Mannequin: Thomas and Linda open a book with seals they find in the hidden room and are attacked by the mannequins in the house. Later Billings returns to the property and is killed by the mannequins.
- Old, Dark House: Kaiser Gardens, the property Thomas inherits, along with the family Curse, is a decaying old mansion that has existed for longer than the county property records.
- Our Genies Are Different: Richard tells Thomas they were attacked by a djinn and that the djinn can possess inanimate objects. The rest of his explanation is straight out of classical Arabian mythology.
- Psychic Strangle: The Veiled Demon does this to Linda and Richard. It reaches out both hands and closes them as if grasping a pair of throats and, across the room, Linda and Richard start choking.
- Talking in Your Dreams: While sleeping at Kaiser Gardens, Thomas dreams of the sleeping girl and this time is able to kiss and awaken her. She tells him her name is Briar Rose and that they can communicate now that they are close in the physical world.
- Targeted Human Sacrifice: Rose awakens then kisses and attacks Thomas. Rose kills the Veiled Demon, but before doing so, it tells them that Thomas' bloodline 'stores' many demons, which Rose will summon to unleash upon the world. Rose states she will not kill them so they can see the darkness to come and begins to awaken the demons in Thomas' bloodline. Meanwhile, after the full text from the book is deciphered Daniel reads the curse that awakening the demons in Thomas' bloodline will trigger the Apocalypse.
- True Love's Kiss: Through his prophetic dreams, Thomas believes that his kiss will awaken Briar Rose from her eternal sleep. Thomas, Linda and Richard return to Kaiser Gardens and open a second door behind the shrine room. Linda and Richard distract the Veiled Demon while Thomas finds and attempts to wake Rose. He finds her and kisses her. But he is unable to wake Rose with a kiss, so Thomas uses his blood.
- Unexpected Inheritance: The plot kicks off kicks off when Thomas receives a phone call from a law firm informing him of an inheritance from his estranged uncle, Clive. Thomas is informed his uncle committed suicide, leaving him a letter and a property known as Kaiser Gardens. The letter tells him to never go to the lower levels of the building and that the family is cursed.
