I seem to be in the minority here, so let me give some brief background information about myself. I am in my 30's and have been an avid horror fan for most of my life. I know Lamberto Bava from his films such as Demons, Demons 2, Blade in the Dark, Macabre, etc. It wasn't until a couple days ago that I found out he directed a bunch of fantasy films for Italian television throughout the 90's. Luckily, I found the first eight chapters (four films) of Cave of the Golden Rose on YouTube in their English dubbed versions.
I also grew up with a bit of the fantasy genre, ranging from everything like the old Sinbad films, Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, and TV shows like Hercules The Legendary Journeys. So Lamberto Bava taking on the fantasy genre had lots of potential for me.
Unfortunately, this is not the type of fantasy I really enjoy. I get the most enjoyment out of the imaginitive sets and creature designs in fantasy worlds, which I felt this film was severely lacking. The one scene I liked the most was near the very beginning when the princess wanders into the forest and realizes the trees, rocks and fish can all talk. This was the most creature design I saw in the film's 3+ hour runtime (aside from a giant mouth). It was also lacking in action, in my opinion.
That isn't to say that the story wasn't engaging. I did somewhat enjoy the first chapter of this film, it was mostly fun, so I was hoping it'd end with a more thrilling climax. If I had to rate just the first chapter alone it'd probably be a 4 or 5 out of ten. I absolutely hated the second chapter though, which explains why I ended up gaving this a 2 instead. It turns into nothing but a love story. Love stories are not my thing, and I almost completely tuned out at this point.
I will still continue on with this series, in hopes that maybe they get a bigger budget to create more interesting creatures with, and stray from the romance stuff. I see the user ratings drop every time a sequel was released, which is a good sign for me, seeing as how I usually end up liking the stuff that's generally disliked. No offense to fans of this series! It's just not for this horror buff (so far).
I also grew up with a bit of the fantasy genre, ranging from everything like the old Sinbad films, Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, and TV shows like Hercules The Legendary Journeys. So Lamberto Bava taking on the fantasy genre had lots of potential for me.
Unfortunately, this is not the type of fantasy I really enjoy. I get the most enjoyment out of the imaginitive sets and creature designs in fantasy worlds, which I felt this film was severely lacking. The one scene I liked the most was near the very beginning when the princess wanders into the forest and realizes the trees, rocks and fish can all talk. This was the most creature design I saw in the film's 3+ hour runtime (aside from a giant mouth). It was also lacking in action, in my opinion.
That isn't to say that the story wasn't engaging. I did somewhat enjoy the first chapter of this film, it was mostly fun, so I was hoping it'd end with a more thrilling climax. If I had to rate just the first chapter alone it'd probably be a 4 or 5 out of ten. I absolutely hated the second chapter though, which explains why I ended up gaving this a 2 instead. It turns into nothing but a love story. Love stories are not my thing, and I almost completely tuned out at this point.
I will still continue on with this series, in hopes that maybe they get a bigger budget to create more interesting creatures with, and stray from the romance stuff. I see the user ratings drop every time a sequel was released, which is a good sign for me, seeing as how I usually end up liking the stuff that's generally disliked. No offense to fans of this series! It's just not for this horror buff (so far).