Red Riding Hood

I liked this film, with no apologies. I bought it. It's twisted, warped, off kilter with enough loose ends to keep any critic's bazooka going full time. But it nearly touched something, nearly. It strived so hard and, for much of the film, had what it wanted contained and captured but - yes - what it sought to grasp finally withered loose and … I don't know… scampered and skittered in all directions so beginning never connected to end, or vice versa. I'm bad about sentimentalism for a near miss. It caught me up in something they-who-built-it wanted to do. I got in their van on a dark street and rode with them for a while. Never made the destination but I don't regret the ride. Jenny is scary as hell. The blend of Jenny, George and music (that music … it empowered the crucial scenes with its here-I-come tempo in time with those swinging red boots - oh, those red boots). Ah, well. Most will turn up noses, shake heads and turn their backs on this tiny flick. And, they are probably correct. For me and my ilk, however, it nearly touched something and I don't know if it fell short of touching "it" or if I jerked "it" away at the last moment. "Nice shot, George".

I can certainly see the point of people ripping on this film. Susanna Satta doesn't set herself up for future stardom but she certainly doesn't hurt her career. The writers had something in mind here and my guess is the director screwed it up. There are some ridiculous parts to the film, but taken in the context of a twelve-year-old girl's mind, they actually make sense.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to give too much credit to the filmmakers because a lot of the good elements of the film probably happened on accident.

I didn't feel like I wasted my money renting this, but I probably would rent it with a bunch of friends over.

Ahh...Assonitis. Just when you thought the producer of fine Italian independent films such as Tentacels, The Visitor, and Beyond The Door was maybe retired or deceased. No, not yet. He's back with another classic (without John Huston) that proves he still has what it takes to produce the worst looking films ever to come out of Italy. I assume that's because he fires anybody with talent about halfway through the production as with James Cameron on Pirahna 2 or Lucio Fulci's great D.P. Sergio Salvati on this picture. Poor Salvati probably said "look here Assonitis! every shot hand-held no good." And i bet Assonitis said "you fired! hand-hold OK because we shoot in video!" Seriously, he should have just called this Beyond The Door 4 because if you've seen those sequels it makes all the sense in the world.

This movie is actually pretty good. Alright, so its a b-movie horror, and this genre doesn't have the best track record, but this movie is something different. In fact, its one of the best b-movies I have ever seen. The movie creates its plot brilliantly. More so than many blockbusters actually. We find out the reasons for the character's actions early on, and throughout the film the audience is kept in a state of suspense. This is because not only is the plot created, it is maintained until the very end. Too often in bigger films have the writers/directors put a huge twist in the middle that leaves you lost, whereas this film creates just a few small ones, then delivers a huge one right at the end that allows you to make sense of it all. It is easy to follow. Special congratulations has to go to Kathleen Archebald who delivers a spectacular performance despite being so young (easily better than many actors, I should note.) All in all, this film is great, and puts a new, deadly spin on this tale and reinforces one fact- don't let your kids play with knives!

Well this is one movie that I definitely judged by the cover. I guess I was hoping that I'd find some sort of hidden treasure or something, I mean it wasn't a movie that I'd ever heard of and the cover looked interesting (even if the tag line was a little cheesy) but I was utterly disappointed by it in the end. seemed low budget, the sketchy camera work at times is forgivable, but I don't get why the voices seemed to raise and lower from here to there. I was hoping it would be more philosophical considering the protagonists actions and motives, but it wasn't. and there were many parts of the movie that just give you bad feelings, never quite sure who to root for... I might not have finished it if not for the fact that I knew it'd nag at me about not knowing how it ended. I guess now that I've seen it I've got it out of my system. although I will be all the more weary from now on whenever I rent a little known about movie again...