It's going to be a busy year for breadcrumb-chasers and candy-makers, and The Asylum have managed to pull the trigger first with their spin on the classic fairy tale HANSEL & GRETEL (coming to Blu Ray/DVD and VOD January 8). Close behind are at least three other titles in 2013, HANSEL & GRETEL in 3D, another project titled simply HANSEL & GRETEL and finally the film that holds most of the hype right now: HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS—a pretty clear ride on the coattails of old Abe and his vampire hunting. While it's still uncertain which film will capture the imaginations of audiences, The Asylum's early entry is worthy of a closer look.

HANSEL & GRETEL has always been a gruesome tale. Two children lost in the woods and found by a dear old woman who plies them with sweets and goodies, only to fatten them up to be eaten in a cannibalistic frenzy. It's impossible to imagine children's entertainment built around witchcraft and eating the flesh of kids these days, so the premise getting the adult treatment is hardly surprising.

In director Anthony C. Ferrante's version of the story, Hansel Grimm (Brent Lydic) and Gretel Grimm (Stephanie Greco) are modern teens growing up in a small town. Gretel works for Lilith (Dee Wallace-Stone) in a quaint bakery with famous meat pies. Not all is well in the charming town, however, as we learn early on that teens are going missing. Naturally, the trouble begins for Hansel and Gretel when they venture into the woods and find themselves at a seemingly quaint cottage occupied by Lilith and her brothers.

This is where the movie takes a turn for TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and Dee Wallace-Stone really cranks up her performance, chewing through scene after scene. The mystery of the missing teens is soon solved, as we find them being fattened up and thrown into a giant oven before being consumed.

Now, if you think about it, the elements of the story that seem lifted right out of CHAINSAW and similar films are really original elements of the fairy tale, so it's interesting to let Ferrante's vision put that into perspective. He shoots the film with the eye of an experienced director and manages to bring out some fantastic performances from his cast, with the possible exception of Brent Lydic's Hansel, who never really comes into his own.

Of particular note is a weirdo sequence where each character suffers a kind of hallucinatory purgatory. It’s fun, imaginative and even a bit shocking. Unfortunately, this chunk only serves to highlight the blandness of everything else around it. Certainly there’s nothing wrong with everything that comes before or after, but it never really feels that ambitious again. That is ultimately the source of dissatisfaction with HANSEL & GRETEL, it does what it does skillfully and competently, but rarely strives for more. One of the seeming benefits of being an independent studio would be the ability to go further outside the box than most, and it's a shame when that isn't used to maximum advantage.

HANSEL & GRETEL is a good evening of entertainment, and if that’s what you are seeking, it delivers. For those looking for something more out in left field, I'm sorry to say this candy is not quite so sweet.

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