Red Riding Hood Movie Review (2011)
A visually striking but painfully muddled take on the classic fairy tale, Red Riding Hood combines a werewolf mystery, gothic romance, and Twilight-style love triangle without finding a convincing way to make any of them work.
Every once in a while I happen upon a movie that probably won’t be good, but I have to watch it anyway. That was the case here. Looking at the cover art, this movie says it’s from the director of Twilight, it shows three people in poses you might see Bella, Edward, and Jacob in, and Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman star. As a bonus, both films have Billy Burke, who I love, so I thought I’d give it a shot. Yeah, that was a mistake.
Red Riding Hood is about the small town of Daggerhorn that has been tormented by a werewolf killing its people. No one knows how to manage the threat, and Father Solomon arrives to help fight it. Valerie, a young woman whose sister was just killed, sees tension in her parents’ marriage and spends time with her grandmother, who gives her a red cape. She is also promised to marry Henry, a young man from a wealthy family, even though she is in love with her childhood friend, Peter.
This is an awful movie. The fact that I could put together that blurb telling you what it is about is a testament to both my effort and the actors’ work, but I truly can’t tell you what else happened or why.
Not only is the story ludicrous and unfocused, but the tone is all wrong. Red Riding Hood takes everything it does in an ultra-serious way, unlike other similar films in the YA genre. If you can’t make fun of a grandmother in bed with a granddaughter while observations of “Grandmother, what big teeth you have” take place, you are making a huge misstep.
The actors do their jobs and, because they are better than any of the material, you’re grateful for what they do. That said, the love interests are bland, Valerie’s relationships with other girls in town are confusing, and the longer it’s on, the more unintentionally funny it becomes.
Another notable characteristic of this film is its visual choices. The way Red Riding Hood is filmed, with dreamlike qualities, beautiful snowy landscapes, and darkly beautiful fairy tale choices, is striking. It is incredibly beautiful at times, and I love the choice of the red cape growing longer as Valerie gains more freedom. It’s very cool and very frustrating since the rest of the movie is pretty terrible.
Red Riding Hood is a poorly realized take on a classic story. The parallels between this movie and Twilight are clear, but by taking itself too seriously, it loses the plot. Or never had one, I’m not even sure. Don’t watch this – I’m telling you, Twilight is much better, and that’s saying something.
Runtime: 100 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: PG-13
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? No
Did I Cry? Nope
My Rating: 1/5 Stars
Available: Free on Max and Hulu, to rent on Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
