Red Riding Hood

This movie was really impressive - we rented it expecting your typical low budget horror but it was not anything like that! it was basically a psychological horror in the tradition of the Bad Seed but much more interesting. I was shocked to find out that this girl had not been in anything else - she was amazing!! The only thing I didn't like about it was the ending, that was rather strange but I guess it was OK. The DVD had absolutely no extras which was disappointing on a movie like this. So I definitely recommend this - especially to those who like movies off the traditional track. Oh yeah and it kinda reminded me of Donnie Darko.

A young girl is all alone in Rome after her father (a politician) passes away. When her grandmother comes to take her away ,the girl has other plans. Little does granny know, but the girl is a vigilante who fights injustice at night in a red riding hood.

First, let me say this: 92 minutes, my eye! It felt like I was there for three hours suffering through this. How many ways can I spell out boring? Despite watching this with a group of friends (including three lovely ladies) I just couldn't wait for it to be over.

Now, granted, some death scenes were alright. The liquor bottle in the face, the use of peanut butter to cause an allergic reaction. Nice ideas. And as a philosopher, I loved the idea of using a Kant book to alert authorities to your whereabouts. But beyond that, I think this film was lacking.

First, the thought of a young girl being this self-sufficient is absurd. Maybe Punky Brewster could do it, but in Rome? This made the rest sort of hard to believe. And the crimes she gets vengeance for -- I think she's a little bit over-reacting. I've already commented on the pacing, but it bears repeating.

I disliked the advertising. We got a picture of a sexy, sassy vixen on a bike... and the film had a girl who was maybe 12 at most. The wolf shows up, but really has nothing to do with the film, or at least not enough to be really enjoyable. The red riding hood theme was very nice (I'm a collector of red riding hood paintings myself) but I think it was simply not well presented.

So we have decent deaths, slow plot, respectable acting... all in all nothing beyond mediocrity (though, I suppose, certainly not complete rubbish). I wouldn't recommend this one to you -- I don't ever want to see it again if I can help it. But if your goal is to watch the worst and most boring horror films ever made, you could do worse than this one.

I liked this film, with no apologies. I bought it. It's twisted, warped, off kilter with enough loose ends to keep any critic's bazooka going full time. But it nearly touched something, nearly. It strived so hard and, for much of the film, had what it wanted contained and captured but - yes - what it sought to grasp finally withered loose and … I don't know… scampered and skittered in all directions so beginning never connected to end, or vice versa. I'm bad about sentimentalism for a near miss. It caught me up in something they-who-built-it wanted to do. I got in their van on a dark street and rode with them for a while. Never made the destination but I don't regret the ride. Jenny is scary as hell. The blend of Jenny, George and music (that music … it empowered the crucial scenes with its here-I-come tempo in time with those swinging red boots - oh, those red boots). Ah, well. Most will turn up noses, shake heads and turn their backs on this tiny flick. And, they are probably correct. For me and my ilk, however, it nearly touched something and I don't know if it fell short of touching "it" or if I jerked "it" away at the last moment. "Nice shot, George".

This movie is actually pretty good. Alright, so its a b-movie horror, and this genre doesn't have the best track record, but this movie is something different. In fact, its one of the best b-movies I have ever seen. The movie creates its plot brilliantly. More so than many blockbusters actually. We find out the reasons for the character's actions early on, and throughout the film the audience is kept in a state of suspense. This is because not only is the plot created, it is maintained until the very end. Too often in bigger films have the writers/directors put a huge twist in the middle that leaves you lost, whereas this film creates just a few small ones, then delivers a huge one right at the end that allows you to make sense of it all. It is easy to follow. Special congratulations has to go to Kathleen Archebald who delivers a spectacular performance despite being so young (easily better than many actors, I should note.) All in all, this film is great, and puts a new, deadly spin on this tale and reinforces one fact- don't let your kids play with knives!

Red Riding Hood is about a little girl named Jenny (Susanna Satta) who has been abandoned by her mother and has come up with quite a warped sense of values. Her father was a politician who was assassinated by a wacko of some sort. Jenny takes his death as an abandonment on his part and her mother abandons her for some guy while they live in Italy, which adds to her confusion and insanity.

Jenny, along with her friend George, have become somewhat of vigilantes, punishing common thieves, hit and runners and even those who are morally bankrupt by torturing and killing them. By the way, she believes George is her puppy that is all grown up.. to over 6 ft. tall and rides a bicycle and wears a mask.

Eventually, Jenny's grandmother, Rose (Kathleen Archebald) comes to Italy to take her back to New York. The demented little girl wants nothing to change in her life, as her mother left behind lots of cash and credit cards with an unlimited balance.

Jenny's take on her life is that of the old nursery rhyme, Little Red Riding Hood, hence the name of the movie, but it is taken from the wolf's point of view. This little girl is littering up the wolf's forest and insults the size of his ears and eyes, etc. So I suppose George is meant to be the wolf.

The movie is halfway original I suppose, but Susanna's acting is a bit over the top for me and a little unbelievable. Plus, I do not think anyone would really fear for their life from a little girl, even if she does have a knife (don't want to give away too much here). The plot twists are a little different, which is good but the special effects could have used a little work. Obvious rubber props used for body parts, and little things like that rubbed me the wrong way. This was not as good as I expected. 5/10