Cappuccetto rosso

I watched this movie with a girl I was babysitting and I found it surprisingly inappropriate. First, an eleven-year-old looking "Red" plans on sneaking out of the house wearing lots of make-up and little clothes. Weird. Then "Red" dresses up in pretty much just a red hood and boots; she looked pretty naked. Afterwards she develops a crush on a man eight years her senior and even has a fantasy about him which isn't too innocent. Also, the "wolf" sings a song about "red" that is filled with sexual innuendos.

Otherwise, the special effects are terrible and it seems that the WHOLE movie was shot in front of a green screen.

I wouldn't recommend this for anybody because it is shocking and just a terrible movie.

Creepy & lascivious wolf. The young "Red" is wearing full make-up, and extremely short shorts & robe. Got about 20 minutes through and realized it could be a pedophile's dream come true. The "up-beat" music sounds a lot like something I'd hear at a strip club. I actually think this movie is a sick joke - it's not a family movie. Gross, glad I was watching this with my daughter, I don't want her to think it's normal for families to view quasi kiddie porn together. Very bad, Very sad it's sold as a family film, Joey Fatone will probably be embarrassed he was in it. And what's with advertising it as a "special effects spectacular"??? The effects do look low budget, gawd awful.

Teenage Claire (Morgan Thompson) would rather hang out with her friends at the mall than to stay home with her brother Matt while Grandma babysits. Who wouldn't? Unfortunately, Grandma isn't about to let Claire out of the house. Worse, she insists that Claire and Matt listen to her reworking of the Brothers Grimm classic tale "Little Red Riding Hood". Fortunately, Grandma has a sense of humor, and adds some modern twists. Claire imagines herself as Red, and her brother, parents and grandma as....her brother, parents and grandma.

Although this movie's star drawing power is represented by Lainie Kazan as Grandma, singer Joey Fatone as the werewolf and Cassandra Peterson (a.k.a. Elvira, Mistress Of The Dark) in a small role, the real fun is watching freckle-faced Thompson and Sam Stone (who plays Matt and Rusty) reciting their one-liners. Oh sure, there's the songs and CG effects, but it's the characters and dialogue that you'll remember. (When the werewolf as Grandma tells Red that she must eat to "fill out", Red looks at her chest and says, "Yeah, I know.") Undeniably the funniest version of this story that I've seen.

IMDb and other web sites claim 2004 as the year of release, however Key DVD (20th Century Fox's revival of Key Home Video, the company Fox created to distribute movies it was too embarrassed to put it's name on) claims both 2005 and 2006 copyright dates on the box, while the film itself states 2006.

For the record, this is my fourth and final "Little Red Riding Hood" review.

I watched this as preparation for the Tim Burton "Alice in Wonderland." That and "Riding Hood" are surely among the most stretched, adapted and versioned stories ever told. Red is particularly interesting because the versions all contain the same elements: girl, wolf, grandma, hunter. Woods.

But it ranges from political allegory to sexual allusion. The background is so rich that almost any version is fun.

This one is particular fun. I would recommend it.

Some commentors think the sexual overtones are inappropriate. Well, phooey. Any youngster that gets that can benefit from the way it is handled. Lighthouse? Weenie roast? Over-sized Musket? "Fill out" so she can be tastier? Hey, you should have seen the last red Riding Hood I saw: the very clever porn version.

Other commentors are offended by the flamboyant staging and effects. Gosh, though it has a metallic aftertaste, I loved it. Every effect was deliberately shown to be an effect within a story.

The framing is that Lainie Kazan plays a grandmother who reads the story featuring her two grandkids — one of whom is Red. The wolf is a werewolf who can assume the appearance of his victims. There is the sort of dumb moralizing that is required in kiddie fare, but it is mixed in with a hodge podge of parallel lessons and jokes. The werewolf develops a split personality, making it possible for every character to have two identities.

Film enthusiasts will know Lainie, who created a key role in introspective film in "My Favorite Year." She has grown into a stereotypical Jewish grandmother, of the sort maintained on stage. She has that character here, and it adds a welcome tone. But she really is the weakest element: every time she is on screen, we cannot wait for het to get off.

See it. I expect it will be no more scrambled, excessive, stereotypical and sexual than Burton's Alice.

Red's cloak/hood is often a dramatic character itself. Red, her mother and her grandmother are all redheads.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

"Red Riding Hood" (2006) is a silly version of the Grimm Brothers tale with annoying songs. Maybe a child may like this film, but for an adult it is unbearable. Certainly I am not the target audience of this film. Unfortunately I did not pay attention to the IMDb User Rating that should warn that it is a film for children only. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Chapeuzinho no Século XXI" ("Riding Hood in the Century XXI")