Reviews Film / Red Riding Hood

Secrets of a village.

• spoilers be here*

Twilight had long since become almost a curse word to the movie industry, and some fear the movies will forever ruin the romantic horror genre.

With this is mind I went to watch Red Riding Hood, and came out quite surprised about the quality of the movie.

No don't get me wrong, it is FAR from a masterpiece, but it still manages to create a lively world and a great cast of characters, whom it is very easy to root for.

Valerie is the daughter of a woodcutter, a job that pays very little and because of that, her mother has arranged a marriage to the smith's son. Valerie herself would rather marry another woodcutter, Peter. The village she lives in has been for two generations been terrorized by a monster wolf, who asks the village to leave their best cattle for it. In exchange, the wolf will not attack the villagers. But one day, the wolf has killed a person,Valerie's sister. This events starts a snowball effect from which Valerie and all she is close will not survive unscathed.

Red riding hood is an interesting specimen, it is clearly here to cash in on twilight, but instead of becoming a boring muck it rises above and delivers a story of a village and its secrets. And one of the highlights of the movie is indeed the village and how it is potrayed. Instead of going to route of a typical medieval village, the village is possibly located somewhere in russia and has kept their own culture, only slightly adapting it to christianity. One of the most chilling scenes is the celebration of the wolf's passing, using Fever Ray's wolf, it looks and feels like an actual celebration of a kill. The movie also subverts the cliche where villagers quickly turn on their own, it is clear they care for their own.

Other than that, the characters from and outside the village are developed suprisingly well. Father Solomon's motives for his werewolf hunt are less about doing God's work and more about bitter revenge for his family. Valerie is clearly someone who has lived in the village her whole life, with iron nerves and clever nature. Her suitors are also far less competive over her

But, how does this movie handle its namesake? Again, surprisingly well. The writers clearly know the multiple versions of the story and insert scenes and phrases from the tale in moments where they fit.