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Red Riding Hood (2011 film)

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Red Riding Hood
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCatherine Hardwicke
Written byDavid Leslie Johnson
Produced byLeonardo DiCaprio
Jennifer Davisson Killoran
Julie Yorn
StarringAmanda Seyfried
Gary Oldman
Billy Burke
Shiloh Fernandez
Max Irons
Virginia Madsen
Lukas Haas
Julie Christie
CinematographyMandy Walker
Music byBrian Reitzell
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • March 11, 2011 (2011-03-11)
[1]
Running time
100 minutes
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish
Budget$42 million[2]
Box office$25,962,000[3]

Red Riding Hood is an American dark fantasy film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, from a screenplay by David Leslie Johnson.[4] It is very loosely based on the folk tale Little Red Riding Hood[5] collected by both Charles Perrault under the name "Le Petit Chaperon Rouge" (Little Red Riding Hood) and several decades later by the Brothers Grimm as "Rotkäppchen" (Little Redcap). The film also draws inspiration from Bruno Bettelheim's book The Uses of Enchantment, in which he analyzes fairy tales in terms of Freudian psychology.

Plot

Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) is a young woman living in the small village of Daggerhorn. She is in love with the woodcutter Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), but her parents Cesaire (Billy Burke) and Suzette (Virginia Madsen) have promised wealthy blacksmith Adrian Lazar (Michael Shanks) that Valerie will marry his son Henry (Max Irons) in order to pay a debt that Cesaire has with Adrian.

An unhappy Valerie plans to run away with Peter, but their plans are put on hold when the town sirens erupt, telling the couple that the werewolf who terrorizes their village has struck again. On closer inspection of the victim, it is found to be Lucy, Valerie's older sister. The townspeople offer a monthly sacrifice to the beast and stay away from the woods but Lucy ventured there after discovering that Valerie had been promised an engagement to Henry, whom Lucy loves.

Adrian, Henry, Peter, Cesaire, and the other men venture out into the woods to hunt the Wolf and manage to behead one, but it kills Adrian in the process. The men bring back a common gray wolf, thinking it is the one that has been terrorizing the village.

While helping Suzette embalm Adrian's body, Valerie discovers that they once had an affair and that Lucy is actually his daughter as well as Henry's half-sister. This is the reason why she could not be offered to him. Valerie also learns that Cesaire is seemingly unaware of this.

The townspeople decide to celebrate the death of the wolf, but their festivities are interrupted by the arrival of famous witch hunter Father Solomon (Gary Oldman) who reveals that the townspeople did not slaughter the real Wolf because it would have changed back into its human form if they did. He then explains that since the Wolf can be wounded by objects made of silver, he has covered the fingernails of one of his hands with it.

Still, the townspeople decide to continue the celebration. But the festivities are once again interrupted by the arrival of the real Wolf, who in a rampage kills several people. It is revealed that those bitten by the creature during the week of a blood moon shall receive the curse as well. Valerie and her friend Roxanne (Shauna Kain) are cornered by the Wolf while attempting to get to the church, as the holy ground is a place of safety. The Wolf then begins speaking to Valerie in growls that she can understand (much to her surprise) in addition to having very brown eyes. When the two arrive back at the village it is shown that one of Father Solomon's guard is still alive, though he has been bitten by the Wolf. Despite the guard's brother's protest, Father Solomon kills the guard in an attempt to save the town from yet another werewolf.

The following day, Roxanne's autistic brother is arrested by Father Solomon, who believes him to be an accomplice of the Wolf due to the frantic state in which he was found after the attack. It is shown that Roxanne's brother is put in to a large metal elephant with a fire burning underneath it - resembling a furnace. For her brother's release Roxanne tells Father Solomon that Valerie can communicate with the Wolf. When later led to her brother, she sees he has already died from the metal elephant. Meanwhile Father Solomon captures Valerie and uses her as a bait to lure the Wolf out of hiding, but she is rescued by Peter and Henry. While Henry frees Valerie's arms from some chains, Peter sets afire the tower from which Father Solomon is overseeing the action. In the act Peter is caught and thrown into the elephant, though the fire is not lit underneath it. Father Solomon's men attempt to shoot at Valerie and Henry, and, in the ensuing mayhem, the Wolf appears, killing many more and following Valerie to the church, where it burns its paw upon entering. Father Solomon attempts to kill the Wolf, but has his hand bitten off. Having been bitten, Father Solomon is executed. Meanwhile, Valerie becomes convinced that her Grandmother (Julie Christie) who lives in a cabin in the woods and also has very brown eyes, is the Wolf and sets to destroy her and save the village.

Valerie sets off for her grandmother's house, stopping at the chapel on her way out of the village, and putting Father Solomon's severed hand in her basket. In the woods Valerie meets Peter, who is wearing a glove. He does not explain how he was able to get out of the elephant, but believing him to be the Wolf attempting to hide his burned paw, Valerie slashes him with a knife. She flees to her grandmother's house. When she arrives, it seems as though her grandmother is acting strangely and will not reveal herself to Valerie. It is then revealed that the Wolf was neither Peter nor Valerie's grandmother, but Cesaire as he pulls back the curtains, also showing himself to have been faking her grandmother's voice. Cesaire explains to Valerie that he needs someone to pass his gift onto, as the blood moon is almost over. He explains he originally intended for it to be Lucy, however once she saw him, she remained frightened; revealing that she could not understand him. Any offspring of a Wolf would have been able to understand its language. Upon this revelation, Cesaire acted out of rage and killed Lucy. (This also explains why the wolf clawed Valerie's mother and murdered Adrian.)

As Cesaire is about to bite Valerie, Peter suddenly arrives to save her. Cesaire bites Peter before being killed as Valerie stabs him with the silver fingernails of Father Solomon's severed hand, and as Peter throws his axe into Cesaire's back. Valerie and Peter dispose of Cesaire's body by filling him with rocks and dumping him into the water.

Valerie chooses to remain living in her grandmother's house. She intends to wait for Peter, who, fully aware that he is cursed, retreats to the wilderness in order to learn how to control his power. Much later, as Valerie picks some plants, she hears a sound. Looking up, she sees the Wolf. She smiles as they reunite.

Cast

Production

Under Appian Way Productions, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Ireland, Jennifer Davisson Killoran, Alex Mace and Julie Yorn produced the film.[15][16] The film was being filmed in Vancouver. Early into production, the film was originally titled The Girl with the Red Riding Hood.

Casting

Director Catherine Hardwicke had to persuade her Red Riding Hood star Amanda Seyfried to work with newcomer Shiloh Fernandez, "Amanda had met Shiloh before and did not like him, so when I told Amanda I was going to bring him in to audition, she made a face. But she tried it, and they hit it off."[17]

Release

The original release date, set for the 22 April 2011,[18] was moved earlier to 11 March 2011. Red Riding Hood opened at $14,005,335 million.

Reception

The film was generally panned by critics. The film currently holds an 12% rating on critic aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus being "Amanda Seyfried is magnetic in Red Riding Hood's title role, but she's let down by her uninspired leading men and a painfully cliched script."[19] Metacritic gave the film a score of 29 out of 100. [20] USA Today complimented the production design, but wrote "it's a foolish story, marred by a strange blend of overacting and bland, offhand performances."[21] Roger Ebert gave the film only one star out of four, stating it is "a movie that cross-pollinates the Twilight formula with a werewolf and a girl who always wears a red hooded cape, although I don't recall her doing any riding.". He criticized, "Of the classics of world literature crying out to be filmed as a sexual fantasy for teenage girls, surely 'Red Riding Hood' is far down on the list... it has the added inconvenience of being dreadfully serious about a plot so preposterous, it demands to be filmed by Monty Python". As of March 20,2011 it has been widely criticized as "The worst movie of 2011".[22]

Marketing

The teaser trailer and the poster were released in November 2010, featuring "The Wolf", a new song written exclusively for the film by Swedish act Fever Ray.[23]

The second trailer was released in January 2011, featuring "The Hand That Feeds" by Nine Inch Nails.

A novelisation of the film, written by Sarah Blakeley-Cartwright, was released on 24 February 2011, prior to the film's release. The book received criticism for not including the story's final chapter, which instead was only made available for download online following the release of the film.[24][25]

Soundtrack

The film's music is by Brian Reitzell and Alex Heffes.

  1. "Towers Of The Void" – Brian Reitzell
  2. "Kids" – Brian Reitzell & Alex Heffes
  3. "Dead Sister" – Brian Reitzell & Alex Heffes
  4. "The Wolf" – Fever Ray
  5. "Mt. Grimoor" – Brian Reitzell & Alex Heffes
  6. "Tavern Stalker" – Brian Reitzell & Alex Heffes
  7. "Grandma’s House" – Brian Reitzell & Alex Heffes
  8. "Keep The Streets Empty For Me" – Fever Ray
  9. "Wolf Attack" – Brian Reitzell & Alex Heffes
  10. "Just A Fragment Of You" – Anthony Gonzalez from M83 & Brian Reitzell
  11. "The Reveal" – Brian Reitzell & Alex Heffes
  12. "Finale" – Brian Reitzell & Alex Heffes
  13. "Crystal Visions" – The Big Pink

Some additional songs from the film are not featured on the official soundtrack:

  • "Fire Walking" – Anthony Gonzalez and Brian Reitzell
  • "Let’s Start An Orchestra" – Ken Andrews and Brian Reitzell
  • "Ozu Choral" – Brian Reitzell
  • "Piano Study No. 1 (Symphonic)" – Brian Reitzell

Notes

  1. ^ (2010-06-30). Warner Bros. Makes a New Date With 'Red Riding Hood'. Bloody-Disgusting.com. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  2. ^ Kaufman, Amy (March 10, 2011). "Movie Projector: 'Battle: Los Angeles' will rule, 'Mars Needs Moms' will bomb". Los Angeles. Tribune Company. Retrieved March 13, 2011.
  3. ^ Red Riding Hood at boxofficemojo.com
  4. ^ Catherine Hardwicke's horror version of 'Little Red Riding Hood'. FanGirlTastic.com. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  5. ^ 'Twilight' director Catherine Hardwicke talks new project: 'The Girl With the Red Riding Hood'. FanGirlTastic.com. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  6. ^ Amanda Seyfried's Romantic Interest Cast in Hardwicke's 'Riding Hood'. Bloody-Disgusting.com. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  7. ^ 'Candyman' Victim Mothers 'Red Riding Hood'. Bloody-Disgusting.com. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  8. ^ a b c d Red Riding Hood at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  9. ^ Virginia Madsen Next for Red Riding Hood. DreadCentral.com. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  10. ^ Shiloh Fernandez joins The Girl With The Red Riding Hood
  11. ^ Gary Oldman, Max Irons Round Out 'Red Riding Hood'. Bloody-Disgusting.com. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  12. ^ Supporting Cast Sign For Red Riding Hood. EmpireOnline.com. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  13. ^ Michael Hogan Joins Red Riding Hood Cast. Horror-Asylum.com. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  14. ^ Lukas Haas Seeks the Girl With the 'Red Riding Hood'. Bloody-Disgusting.com. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  15. ^ Seyfried insults DiCaprio. RealBollywood.com. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  16. ^ Sperling, Nicole (2010-04-23). 'Twilight' director Catherine Hardwicke talks new project: 'The Girl With the Red Riding Hood'. HollywoodInsider.ew.com. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  17. ^ "The things they say". WHTC. 27 February 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
  18. ^ Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke looking for “Red Riding Hood”
  19. ^ "Red Riding Hood (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
  20. ^ Red Riding Hood at Metacritic
  21. ^ Puig, Claudia (March 10, 2011). "'Red Riding Hood': The better to bore you with". USA Today. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  22. ^ Ebert, Roger (March 10, 2011). "'Red Riding Hood': Fearless Werewolf Killers and a Metal Elephant". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
  23. ^ New Fever Ray music to feature in upcoming film, Red Riding Hood
  24. ^ Schmidt, Shawn (2011-02-27). "Red Riding Hood Novel Troubles". Retrieved 2011-03-16.
  25. ^ Turek, Ryan (2011-02-25). "Red Riding Hood Novelization Out to Screw You". Retrieved 2011-03-16.

External links

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