Red Riding Hood

Year of release : 2011

 

Run time : 1h40min

 

Genre : Horror / Fantasy

 

Cast : Amanda Seyfried, Shiloh Fernandez, Billy Burke, Gary Oldman, Virginia Madsen, Julie Christie

The movie is based on the folk tale “Little red riding hood” collected first by French author Charles Perrault, then by the German Brothers Grimm.

Valerie and her family live in a village at the edge of a dark forest.

Valerie is in love with Peter, her childhood friend, who feels the same. When she goes to meet him, Peter tells her he’s been told her mother arranged for her to marry Henry Lazar. Peter works with her father as a wood cutter, in the forest. Henry’s family is rich, as his father and him are blacksmiths.

Peter asks her to run away with him wherever she wants, and she agrees, until they hear the bell ringing announcing the wolf strike.

Although the wolf didn’t attack anyone in 20 years because they give it their best livestock, this time it did, and it’s her sister. And she’s dead.

At the wake, her mother tells her she chose Henry for her because he’s rich, and she wants her to live a good life, for she knows how much a wood cutter makes, being married to one. Ironically, she says she didn’t love her father when they married, being in love with another man.

The men decide to hunt down the wolf plaguing their village. The priest asks them to wait for he summoned father Solomon who’s been k1lling werewolves and witches. The men laugh at him and go hunting in the forest, thinking it lives in the mountain caves and can’t come out on daylight.

Valerie is wondering why would her sister go towards the village limits, unless it was to meet Henry, whom she was in love with.

When Peter comes to pay his respects, Valerie’s mother tells him to stay away from Valerie if he loves her.

Peter breaks up with Valerie.

Valerie goes to see her grandmother who lives in the forest. Her grandmother gives her a red cloak she wanted to give her as a wedding gift.

In the mountain caves, the “wolf” k1lls Henry’s father and the men catch a grey wolf, thinking it’s their werewolf.

Seeing her mother crying over Henry’s father’s body, Valerie realizes her sister was the man’s daughter, and that’s why she couldn’t marry Henry.

Father Solomon arrives and tells them they k1lled a common wolf, what they’re looking for taking human form after death, giving them as proof his dead wife’s hand. The villagers don’t believe him and insist on holding the celebration planned for k1lling it.

At the party the werewolf attacks, and finds Valerie, talking to her. Although her friend is next to her, only Valerie can hear the werewolf, who asks her to “come away” with him.

Because of this, she starts suspecting Peter of being the werewolf.

As the events unfold, and she saw the werewolf had human eyes, dark brown, she starts suspecting Henry too, for meeting her sister who ended up dead, and even her grandmother, because she lives alone in the forest. 

I personally enjoyed the movie, it looks so beautiful. The landscapes are so beautiful, the set design.

 

The movie has great cinematography, with amazing, vivid, colors,it really looks like you just walked into a fairytale. The houses,the forest with its autumn fiery leaves..everything is perfect.

The movie is suspenseful, it keeps you wondering who’s the wolf, and if there’s a reasoning behind the k1llings.

I liked the twist at the end, and the reasons why.

I didn’t like Valerie’s dress, which by the way, she wears the same dress the whole movie! It’s winter, the action takes place within a few days or weeks, but she’s in this ugly short sleeves dress which doesn’t work in her favor!

Father Solomon was another thing which drag the movie down in my opinion, as I didn’t like him once he got all authoritative, going through people’s houses, using torture devices on them, SPOILER and k1lling them.

It also didn’t make sense why the mother would marry a poor man she didn’t love, unless she was pregnant with the rich one who didn’t want her.

 

The acting is good.

The soundtrack is beautiful, fairytale-like.

The visual effects are good.

The movie holds a 29 meta score against a 4.7 user score on Metacritic, and a 10% tomato meter rating against a 39 popcorn meter on Rotten Tomatoes.

Cinema Score audiences graded the movie a B-.

The movie grossed 97.8 million dollars at the box office, against a budget of 42 million dollars.

 

Rating : Worth a watch !