Red Riding Hood

Director: Catherine Hardwick
Writer: David Johnson
Stars: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Shiloh Fernandez

Unwilling to settle for a marriage her parents have prearranged Valerie plans to run away with Peter the man she loves.  This is until Valerie finds out that her sister has been killed by a werewolf that stalks the forest surrounding the village she lives in.  After years of maintaining a peaceful existence with the werewolf the beast has now taken a human life during the period of the blood moon.  Fearful for their lives the villagers call upon the services of Father Solomon a famed hunter of werewolves.  Informing the villagers that the beast could be walking among them the villagers are thrown into a panic while the killings continue and Valerie discovers she possesses a strange tie to the werewolf.

Initially I was hesitant to view this movie not having heard many good things said about it.  But then that defeats the purpose of attempting to write a review.  After viewing I felt what this movie lacked in story and plot originality it did make up for with visuals.  The sets and props definitely helped make this movie look like a dark fairly tale.

The movie isn’t anything new within the monster genre, i.e. inhabitants of a small village terrorized by a murderous beast call on the assistance of a famed slayer of - insert monster name here -.  The movie used a lot of commonly seen plot ideas and characters altering them in various ways to fit this movie.

The script covers its bases but doesn’t venture much further than that.  Throughout the film it is implied that various characters could be the wolf, this unfortunately fails in several ways.  Firstly instead of trying to be subtle with placing suspicion on certain characters it’s done in a manner which seems to be laid on to thick making it almost obvious who isn’t the werewolf.  Secondly at the end of the film a lot of plot holes are revealed using short flashback sequences which further show the misguided attempt to lay suspicion as well as show events that were never even seen in the film.  Another failed moment comes in the form of actions that supposedly happen but when viewing these specific scenes a second time it’s clear that nothing actually did take place as stated.  These combined points make for some frustrating moments when all is revealed at the end of the movie.

Amanda Seyfried who plays the main character Valerie seemed to work well with the material she had.  She seemed to be able to slip into the character easily enough creating a convincing performance.  Gary Oldman who plays Father Solomon is always good at playing the role of the eccentric character that is outspoken and the center of attention.  As for the rest of the cast it’s a tossup as there really wasn’t anything which was note able.

Final consensus is that this movie wasn’t unwatchable regardless of the noted flaws.  However I would lean more in the direction of waiting for availability on cable as an alternative to renting.   

Rating: 2 Reels