TMG Scale 5.0
Starring Garly Oldham, Amanda Seyfried
I started to list this film as a thriller, but then again I was not thrilled at all. It was pretty bad all the way around but TMG has to give some credit where credit is due. How would you make Red Riding Hood into a credible movie? This attempt proves a good result is very hard to achieve. Actually, I expected more form the Director of The Twilight (2008), Catherine Hardwicke but all we got was more of the same. At least I expected the big bad wolf this time around and it fit the story.
The story of Red Riding Hood dates back the 17th Century in French folklore. It is full of sexual overtones an innuendo. The German, Brothers Grimm softened the story in the 19th century and turned it into more of a child’s lesson about being careful about talking to strangers. Personally, I prefer the fun musical verison by Sam the Sham and the Pharoh’s 1966 hit song. It suggests woman are well to be leery of men praying on them through lies and deception in an attempt to win their affections. Does this mean an aggressive male might play lots tricks to seduce an unsuspecting woman? Duhhhh! But are all men wolves? When it comes to hairy animals, sorting out the good from the bad is never easy.
Garly Oldham gives an over the top performance as Father Solomon, a famed werewolf fighter and sadist who likes to cook suspects in a large metal elephant akin to a Trojan Horse. Father Solomon knows that werewolves are not werewolves all the time, and in between full moons often take the form of men. . . or even women. It’s all pretty silly which is why a film like this is hard to taker seriously. While you will not hear about this film at Oscar time, one has to give some credit for trying. It was easy to sit through and not boring. But that is hardly a big endorsement.