“Red Riding Hood – Under the Wolf Moon” features big stars, a template that has stood the test of time, and was directed by a successful female director. Nevertheless, the gothic horror-fantasy flick (on TV today) is pretty disappointing.
Following her global blockbuster success with “Twilight”, director Catherine Hardwicke followed up in 2011 with another title somewhere between campy teen romance and gothic horror: “Red Riding Hood”. The film was based on the classic fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood” and brought some real stars to the screen, including “Mamma Mia!” sweetheart Amanda Seyfried and Oscar winner Gary Oldman (“The Darkest Hour”).
Nevertheless, you don’t need to tune in when “Red Riding Hood – Under the Wolf Moon” runs on Tele 5 today, August 29, 2023 at 8:15 pm. Neither does the repeat, which the channel will offer on the same night at 2.05 a.m.
If you want to watch the film despite our warning, but these dates don’t suit you, the FSK-12 title is available from the usual streaming portals as paid video-on-demand. Alternatively, you can order the Blu-ray from online retailers like Amazon. This contains a longer, bloodier FSK-16 cut.
“RED RIDING HOOD” ON TELE 5: THIS IS THE STORY
For years, attacks by a werewolf have occurred repeatedly in Daggerhorn, which is why the residents of the remote village live in fear. They regularly sacrifice their best livestock so that they themselves will be spared.
Young Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) nevertheless manages to lead a halfway normal life, and for a long time she and junior lumberjack Peter (Shiloh Fernandez) have formed a happy couple. But Valerie’s parents (Virginia Madsen, Billy Burke) want more for their daughter; they have therefore arranged a wedding with the wealthy Henry (Max Irons). The girl is horrified and wants to run away with her sweetheart.
Gary Oldman tries to save
But that’s when the bell sounds in the village square, which can only mean one thing: The werewolf is back! When he this time not a sheep, but Valerie’s sister (Alexandria Maillot) mauled, the angry residents move out and hunt down a large wolf in the forest, which they believe is responsible. Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), however, warns that the real monster may still be alive and one of them. That’s when a gruesome premonition comes over Valerie …
TOO MUCH “TWILIGHT”, TOO LITTLE “REDCAP “
As you could read in the synopsis and as our FILMSTARTS review by author Maren Koetsier attests, the film doesn’t have much in common with the world-famous fairy tale of the Brothers Grimm, despite its title. Sure, a few motifs, such as the atmospheric forest scenery, are still reminiscent of the magical and wondrous fantasy world. But “Red Riding Hood” quickly and visibly becomes entangled between a romance that takes up far too much space and, in combination with this, inappropriate, brutal, dark thriller and horror elements.
Teenage Love in the Woods
Awkwardly squeezed in attempts to get closer to the source material every now and then in between come across as desperate to downright silly. Examples of this would be a casually interspersed villager wrapped in wolf fur, who unmotivatedly blows away three little pigs, or the title heroine, who suddenly asks her grandmother, as if out of character, why she has such big eyes and ears.
It’s all too obvious that the film tried to follow the mega-success of the “Twilight” series. The symbol of this is the weak love triangle, where – as in the vampire saga – it is clear from the start how it will end. Nevertheless, the actual focus of the story is repeatedly pushed to the edge: the events surrounding the wolf and what effects they have on the village community. There not even a gleefully sinister Gary Oldman as a hardened werewolf hunter can do too much more
