“Oh, Grandmother, what big eyes you have!”
“All the better to see you with my dear…”
These classic words from the fairy tale, “Little Red Riding Hood” make an appearance again in the new retelling of the epic story in the screenplay-turned-movie-turned-book, “Red Riding Hood.”
In this new tale of “Red Riding Hood,” heroine Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) finds herself trapped in a love triangle as the dangerous beastly Wolf lures in the forest surrounding her village, Daggorhorn, and takes monthly animal sacrifices to help somewhat keep the peace in the village. But this careful stalemate doesn’t last very long and the Wolf’s insatiable hunger eventually grows and multiple murders happen at the “claws” of the Wolf.
From the very first chapter of “Red Riding Hood,” I knew that this telling of the famous fairy tale was going to be very different from the original because
1. Little Red Riding Hood is named Valerie and she’s 17 years old, not a little girl.
2. Valerie is in love with a bad boy, named Peter, and is engaged to the town rich-kid, named Henry.
3. The Wolf is more bestial and frightening.
4. In the original, the Grandmother is merely a victim to the Wolf’s ploys, but in the remake her part is much different.
But despite these differences, the new version of Red Riding Hood’s journey still holds a major aspect of the story in the limelight: the Wolf’s mounting danger to all of the townsfolk of Daggorhorn. And with this increasing threat comes an increasing amount of speculation and fear among Valerie and her neighbors and everyone ends up accusing close loved ones that they are the Wolf.
The ever-growing amount of danger, fear and heart-pounding adventure and mystery with the combination of romance overalls creates a totally thrilling story that definitely fits the definition of a “grown-up” tale while still maintaining the classic fairy tale integrity.
Also, since the book form of “Red Riding Hood” is a companion to the movie version, I expect the film to be very similar to the book.
The movie version of “Red Riding Hood” will be released on Friday, March 11, and also stars Shiloh Fernandez as Peter; Gary Oldman, as Father Solomon, the town’s most passionate Wolf hunter.