Little Red Riding Hood has been super naughty.
I rented this one on Netflix because of the cover art; it intrigued me – as I have always been compelled by the Red Riding Hood tale and imagery. Fairy tales were told to keep children from wandering into the woods alone, and Hard Candy is directed at keeping pedophiles from trolling the dark forest of the Internet looking for teenagers or younger to satiate their twisted desires. This is not Dateline where some nerdy reporter shows up with cookies and a camera. Hard Candy is brutal and visceral, you will find a new place in your soul as you discover an empathy for evil.
With the original Red Riding Hood (or rather the Americanized, happy ending version – in the original the wolf eats both Oma and Red) the predator becomes the prey. Patrick Wilson delivers an eerie efficiency as pedophile Jeff Kohlver, in every scene, while the cinematography leans to an artsy type film, with splashes of red and black used to transport us from scene to scene, the idea that this could be happening down the street is never questioned – and realism is clipped in at just the right moments.
Torture is a terrible thing, because psychological torture stays with a person long after the slashes and broken bones – the intimidation and fear that permeates their soul is never wiped clean with some merciful tabula rasa. Hard Candy explores the limits of the definitions of torture and how much one soul can endure before accepting defeat. Melding pain with sympathy was a master-stroke for Director David Slade. Ellen Page will terrify you in this movie, she gleefully relishes her task at hand as the uber-disturbed, yet practical, teenager Hayley Stark.
Hard Candy will be difficult to stomach, but it should be required viewing for any of the jackasses that end up eating cookies across from Chris Hansen on Dateline. Disturbing doesn’t really come close to describing this film, utterly chilling is about right though. Rent this one if you want to squirm – not for the delicate.
