Red Riding Hood (2011)

Set in the 1300s, Red Riding Hood takes place in Daggerhorn, a village faced with a horrible curse. Strange things happen there and in the dark forest that spreads beyond the town. During each full moon, animal sacrifices must left out as an uneasy truce to protect the townspeople from a werewolf.

A young woman, Valerie (Amanda Seyfried), faces an uncertain future. Her parents -- Suzette (Virginia Madsen) and Cesaire (Billy Burke) – have arranged for her to marry young smithy Henry Lazar (Max Irons). But she doesn't want that, she's in love with someone else – a woodcutter named Peter (Shiloh Fernandez).

Their immediate plans are thwarted when the cursed werewolf breaks the peace and kills her older sister Lucie (Alexandria Maillot, with about 30 seconds of screen time as a dead body), who it turns out, wanted to be with Henry. The men folk are angry and set out into the snowy forest to kill the wolf.

Unhappy with her lot in life, Valerie turns to Grandmother (Julie Christie) for solace, comfort and advice. But even the gift of a red riding hood that Grandmother was making for her wedding can't console her.

An expedition led by The Reeve (Michael Hogan) into the wolf's mountain lair results in the death of Henry's father, Adrien (Michael Shanks), tempering somewhat the celebrations of the men, who have killed a wolf and brought its severed head back to the village.

Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), whose wife was once killed by a werewolf, arrives in the village, having been summoned by the village's Father Auguste (Lukas Haas, looking years older than the juvenile he used to play). The village's werewolf is still alive, he informs them, for when a werewolf dies, it reverts back to its human form.

The wolf, he says, lives in the village ... among them.

This is borne out when the town's celebration comes to a horrible end when the werewolf comes crashing through the dancers, biting and ripping bodies limb from limb. Although Father Solomon and his soldiers make a gallant effort to subdue the beast, it escapes. Determined to avenge his wife, Father Solomon conducts a reign of terror to unmask the werewolf.

Weighing events and circumstances in her mind, Valerie strongly suspects that Peter is the wolf. But if you are mindful of all the clues being hurtled toward you, you won't be so sure of that. Or of Henry's accusations either. Maybe it's Henry? Or Peter? Or Father Auguste? Need a clue? Dark brown eyes. But wait, everybody's are dark brown. No help? Too bad.

Oooohh Grandma! What big teeth you have!

Hang around until the end of the credits for a startling surprise.

Amanda Seyfried's eyes are the only ones that aren't brown in the film. All the other actors had brown eyes or wore brown contact lenses ... including Julie Christie, who is well-known for her blue eyes.

Red Riding Hood's box office exceeded $89 million against its $42-million budget.

Grade: B+