IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Eric Stevenson There are times when movies are constantly compared to each other, making someone wonder if they can truly be considered a ripoff or not. In every way, this seemed like a ripoff of "Twilight". I actually will admit I do kind of like this twist that appears at the end, but it's still a terrible movie. It's mostly because it takes a classic story and puts all these ridiculous elements in it. We get this stupid love triangle that doesn't seem to really amount to anything. There's at least some references to the original story.The plot is that this village that sacrifices to a werewolf is now being attacked by it. I'm probably being kind to this movie only because I saw that horrendous "Daddy Day Camp" and really anything would be better than that. At least this movie didn't cover itself in bodily fluids. It's still boring and poorly acted and obviously just made to cash in on the success of "Twilight". I think Leonard Maltin said it best when he said it answered questions about Little Red Riding Hood that no one wanted to have answered. It's just another dumb pointless romantic movie with laughable romance. *1/2

Prismark10 Catherine Hardwicke twists the tale of Red Riding Hood for the Twilight generation. She adds a touch of the Witchfinder-General in it too.Amanda Seyfried gives an blank performance as Valerie, a much too perfect girl in a medieval village by the forest which has been terrorised by a werewolf for some years during a full moon. The werewolf has been kept appeased by being offered livestock as a sacrifice.However when Valerie's sister is killed by the werewolf. Father Solomons (Gary Oldman) turns up as a werewolf expert. He thinks someone in the village is a werewolf, he even hunts witches as well.When Valerie discovers she can talk to a wolf one night, she is accused of witchcraft and tied up to burn. Will Peter the woodcutter the man she loves be able to save her? Why does she keep having strange dreams about her grandmother?This is a pretty campy and tepid film. A banal story with little resemblance to the well known fairy tale.

Stephen Abell This is a nice update on the "Little Red Riding Hood" fairie tale. Instead of a wolf terrorising the local village we have a werewolf. This adds the dimension of mystery to the tale for who could be the dreaded werewolf. The writer David Leslie Johnson and director Catherine Hardwicke do a fantastic job of playing people off people and putting them into situations where you can never quite figure out who the killer is. This makes for quite an enjoyable movie which the audience can have a stake in; there's not many of those around today.I also liked the fact that the writer and director kept the story in the faerie tale spirit. The setting of the Ye Olde Village is brilliant, it gives a close knitted community that, pretty much, lives in each other's pockets. So when it's revealed by Solomon, played by Gary Oldman, that the beast could be one of them a personal fear and distrust of neighbours starts to spread. There is something very haunting about the village and the surrounding forest as it stands upon a bed of snow, which constantly falls from the overcast sky. All of this just adds layers upon layers to the film making it stronger.On the whole, I loved this film, though there are a few drawbacks which made it drop a few points. I don't understand why Oldman tried to do a German / Bavarian accent as the rest of the cast didn't bother. The worst of it was, his accent kept slipping and this became annoying.Most of the cast were excellent in their parts giving believable performances. Though there were times when both Max Irons, who played Henry, and Julie Christie, as Grandmother, came across as lacking in substance... sometimes Henry just looked doped up... and Grandmother was as wooden as her luxurious forest home.Then there was the music at the celebration of the killing of the beast. We heard modern rhythms and instruments (especially synthesisers) when the musicians were playing horns and drums. Also, the dance we see between Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) and her friend Prudence (Kacey Rohl) wouldn't be out of place in today's nightclubs... but probably not for a religious community. Lastly, the main sections of the story that people know and love - "Oh Grandma, what big eyes you have" and the wolf in grandma's clothing. These are taken as two separate scenes, which I can understand, though they appear to have been thrown into the story and film and this is a waste as they are pivotal to the original story and should have been used better to draw the audience further into the tale. I hate waste and this was an extreme waste of a good idea.This is a beautifully written, shot, and acted film that I would recommend to all as there are elements of mystery, thriller, horror, and fantasy, as well as a pretty decent love story. Worth a watch at least once.

bernadettereynolds I found this film amazing! I truly loved it! It definitely hooked me from the start as it used the original story of 'Red Riding Hood' however it soon developed into a whole new plot that fitted so nicely. Not only that, but the actress Amanda Seyfried performed her role incredibly well, which made the film much more enjoyable. The tension and shock of many of the scenes really intrigued me because i wasn't expecting such a huge plot twist. Furthermore, the way that they tried to disguise who the wolf was extremely clever as i would never of guessed who it was in the end. Finally, i believe that the whole setting of the film was brilliant as you could really imagine yourself in the actual movie, which made it so much more interesting.