Product Description
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Romantic fantasy thriller. Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) is a
beautiful young woman torn between two men. She is in love with a
brooding outsider Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), but her parents have
arranged for her to marry the wealthy Henry (Max Irons).
Unwilling to lose each other, Valerie and Peter are planning to
run away together when they learn that Valerie's older sister has
been killed by the werewolf that prowls the dark forest
surrounding their village. For years, the people have maintained
an uneasy truce with the beast, offering the creature a monthly
animal sacrifice. But, under a blood red moon, the wolf has upped
the stakes by taking a human life. Hungry for revenge, the people
call on famed werewolf hunter, her Solomon (Gary Oldman), to
help them kill the wolf. But Solomon's arrival brings unintended
consequences as he warns that the wolf, who takes human form by
day, could be any one of them. As the death toll rises with each
moon, Valerie begins to suspect that the werewolf could be
someone she loves. Panic grips the town as Valerie discovers that
she has a unique connection to the beast--one that inexorably
draws them together, making her both suspect...and bait.
Extra Content
Deleted Scenes
.co.uk Review
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This is not your grandmother's Red Riding Hood. There's a basket
of goodies (not exactly the edible kind), a sweet grandma, a
winsome young lass in a beautiful red hood, and a Big Bad Wolf.
But there the similarity ends. This Red Riding Hood is
through the lens of the Twilight films--for wide appeal to the
tween and teen audiences, and definitely not a bedtime story for
the little ones. Helmed by Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke,
Red Riding Hood bears a lot of the moody trademarks of the
vampire series. Valerie (Amanda Seyfried), the plucky girl in the
stunning cape, lives in a tiny medieval village whose geography
is not specified--it's just very ainous and remote.
Valerie's heart belongs to her childhood friend Peter (Shiloh
Fernandez), but as Red Riding Hood opens, she learns she has been
betrothed to Henry (Max Irons). As if that love triangle weren't
enough, it seems a dangerous wolf--or is it werewolf?--has been
terrorizing the town for years, and its killing sprees have
intensified. When the townsfolk kill a wolf, they think they have
finally freed their town from tyranny, and throw a giant
bacchanal--like Burning Man in the snow. But then her Solomon
(Gary Oldman, in wickedly good form) appears on the scene to tell
the villagers they've killed only a gray wolf--not, in fact, the
werewolf he knows is the true villain.
So the romantic pulls of Valerie, Peter, and Henry play out with
a backdrop of true chills and mystery. The atmosphere created by
Hardwicke, along with production designer Thomas E. Sanders and
cinematographer Mandy Walker, is perfect for a goose-bumpy horror
story with teen hearts caught in the balance. The set design of
the village, especially, is rich with detail--even the trees in
the surrounding forest seem to have branches made of threatening
spikes. Seyfried is willful, passionate, and perfect as Valerie,
and easily anchors a film that could have spun out. Other
standouts include Virginia Madsen, Valerie's mother who has a
dark secret in her own past, and Julie Christie as Valerie's
rather peculiar grandmother. All Twilight fans, and those who
love a good tale of star-crossed (or perhaps full-moon-crossed)
lovers will enjoy Red Riding Hood. Just don't go walking in those
big bad woods alone. --A.T. Hurley