The tale of Little Red Riding Hood was always fraught with undertones that would be dissected and re-worked for decades. Director Tate Bunker takes the tale of Little Red Riding Hood and re-works it in to a wonderful and occasionally eerie coming of age road trip dramedy that works on many levels. It’s simple, but often times incredibly clever, realizing the symbolism of the story and integrating that in to the modern setting.
“Little Red” is a great road trip indie starring the likable Hannah Obst as the young Red. When her parents break their promise to take her to Cumberland Island to see horses, she pretends to go to a summer camp and convinces her big sister to let her go on her own. Through this ploy, she ventures out on her own to go to Cumberland and live her own life on her terms. While at the airport, she runs across a wolf of her very own, a middle aged man named Lou who spots Red and begins playing on her vulnerabilities and anxious to lure her from her trip and take her home. Despite his insistence, Red continues with her journey and seeks fulfillment in Florida, finding that the world is intent on knocking her down, no matter what she does. Lou follows her to Florida, and sets out on a mission to seduce and lure Red back to his lair, all the while Red evades his advances that grow gradually dangerous the more time she spends alone.
While “Little Red” can be spooky and garners definite themes of a thriller, the film never really goes over the line in to “Hard Candy” territory where Red begins fighting for her life. Mark Metcalfe (“Animal House,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) is fantastic as this predator who will do whatever it takes to bring Red back, and Red is so naive she’s destined to become a victim of his shameless flaunting of his pedophiliac urges toward her. Much of “Little Red” is a journey for Red in to the real world, where she finds this ideal landscape is anything but the welcoming world she imagined it. Bunker stages a lot of excellent symbolic scenes that double as scenes from the book, including Red’s journey through the pillars under the bridge that resemble Red’s sneaking through the dark woods. Lou also howls whenever he’s riled up and makes pawing motions toward Red when she’s swimming in the ocean. The motions and nods to the story are very subtle, thus Bunker’s insertion of the imagery feels more subliminal than forced.
Another of my favorite nods to the book was Red insisting she was with her grandmother whenever anyone questioned adult supervision. “Little Red” is an often compelling road tale where Lou isn’t just a predator, but pretty much signifies the world that will eventually swallow up Red if she doesn’t learn street smarts and wise up. Paige Bunker is great as the lost teen Kayla who is the polar opposite to Red. She takes a liking to the young traveler and the two form a bond that garners them strength through their trip, especially with Lou constantly stalking them and watching them from afar. The downfall to much of the build up is that nothing ever really comes of it. I was waiting to see how Red and Kayla would fare ultimately, and then the film just fizzles out and ends without a real pay off. I wasn’t expecting a violent showdown, but resolution would have been nice. In either case, “Little Red” is a great road trip with an eye on twisting the Red Riding Hood themes in to a coming of age tale, and I enjoyed it.