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Friday, October 13, 2023

31 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - Day 13: RED RIDING HOOD (2011)

The very definition of "pretty but empty."

Here's a short one.
 
Despite my love of all things werewolf, it's an undeniable fact that genuinely good movies featuring said creatures are few and far between. 2011's RED RIDING HOOD is a pretty-looking trifle that sells itself as an allegedly "dark" version of the familiar fairytale, but all we get is yet another PG-13-rated bloodless, horror-less post-TWILIGHT tamponathon that doesn't seem to know for whom it was made to appeal to. The generically beautiful characters are all bland and of no interest whatsoever, and the werewolf looks like a bad CGI rod puppet. About the only interesting thing in the film is a miscast Gary Oldman, who is obviously fully aware of what a turd he's stuck in, so he has fun with it and shamelessly overacts as witch hunter Father Solomon, providing the film with its only moments of life. 
 
Presumably aimed at the tweener girl audience that made hits of of TITANIC and the TWILIGHT adaptations, this mess was directed by the helmer of the first TWILIGHT film, and while it's better than that affront to all that is right in the known universe, Red Riding Hood is best avoided altogether. Girls deserve far better than this.


Promo poster for the theatrical release.

 

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