Review #5: Over the River, Through the Woods (2002) - Short film

Over the River, Through the Woods was an interesting, if not a wee bit anticlimactic, modern version of the famous Little Red Riding Hood story. While not amazing by any means, this short got it's job done, and is certainly not a waste of time to view.

Source: IMDb

Length: 10 minutes

Number of Ratings from IMDb: 6

Country of Origin: USA

Director: Kerry Jean Norce [Over the River, Through the Woods]

This short gets straight to the point, as it introduces the main character, who is literally credited as Little Red Riding Hood. I'm sure you'll see the resemblance.

Walking to her vehicle, she drops her bag, and is faced with the hassle of picking the various objects up.

Someone sees this predicament, however, and so help is not far.

Credited as Wolf, this smooth-talking, snappy dressed man comes over to assist Red Riding Hood.

This guy just looks cool. Those tinted sunglasses, that hat and suit, plus his accent (Eastern European, I would guess) - this guy defines dapper. Actually, in a way, it reminds me of a song called "The Jackal", performed by Ronny Jordan, made famous from The West Wing (an older television show). The song is about a guy who is well-dressed, smooth-talking, and who calls himself The Jackal. It's a chill song, too, so you may do well to give it a listen later.

So anyways, this guy helps the woman pick up her items, and flirts with her in with this awkward lines:

Wolf: Where are you going?

Red Riding Hood: You from around here?

Wolf: Not usually. Where are you going?

Red Riding Hood:  Does it matter?

Wolf: Maybe. We might be going to the same place.

"We might be going to the same place." Seriously, doesn't that line sound more creepy than romantic? It just seems a strange line to use.

Regardless, it doesn't work - she might have been into it, but she has to take the (pictured) pills to her grandmothers'. After he walks away, she angrily says to herself.

Red Riding Hood: Maybe when the old lady dies, I can have a life. 

She may get her chance, because unbeknownst to her, The Wolf pocketed one of the pill bottles.

Meanwhile, Red Riding Hood goes to pick up her sister, but alas, as a real estate agent, something came up. She promises to stop by later that night, however.

Red Riding Hood drives on, alone. When she gets to the house, she gets quite a surprise.

The Wolf is there, in the house. Despite breaking in, after showing her the dropped (stolen) pill bottle, everything is hunky-dory in the eyes of Red Riding Hood. He states that her grandmother is sleeping on the couch, and invites her to sit down and eat the meal he prepared for them.

The meat, a "special recipe he learned from his grandmother," interests Red Riding Hood, and though at first seems suspicious, but takes a bite and discovers she likes it.

And then comes the quote highlight of the short. After a few seconds of silence, she says:

Red Riding Hood: You know, I like you. You're not like the other guys.

Wolf: Why's that?

Red Riding Hood: You're just different.

Indeed he is. With breaking into the house, and serving some mysterious meat, he is definitely not the normal guy.

Things get passionate between the two, but before they can engage in any carnal activities, she has to use the bathroom. When she enters, she spots some blood on the side of the tub.

And much more when she draws back the curtain. Now knowing whom she is in the house with, will she be able to fight him off, and get through the night with her life?

This short was quite an interesting thing to watch. Despite the extremely small cast (seen below), the acting for the most part is solid. Perhaps some scenes are not extremely realistic, but then again, the original story had portions of fantasy in it also, so I feel that can be excused.

Some background reading led me to discovering something rather cool about this film. It was made for the Philadelphia 48 Hour Film Project of 2002. It is a competition of shorts in which a group of film-makers are given at random a genre, and they have 48 hours to write, film, and edit the movie. From what it looks like, the 2002 edition of this was the first one, and it appears to be going on to this year.

The film didn't win, but they did take a few categories, such as Best Use of the Character, for the sister of Red Riding Hood. You can see it mentioned here.

Overall, the movie was pretty decent. As aforementioned, it wasn't amazing, but it was very passable. Some of the music didn't really seem appropriate, and the awkwardness of a few of the scenes stood out slightly, but for the most part, this was far worth the watch. Even though it's on IMDb for all to watch, it has a mere six people who've rated it. Hopefully, over the next few years, that will change, because as far as shorts go, this is a fine film.

My rating: 7.5/10


The IMDb page, which also allows you to watch the whole short free, can be found here.



Next time, on Beyond the Darkened Door:

A relatively obscure 20-minute version of a classic story, The Tell-Tale Heart. Until then.