Werewolves haunt the dark forests in a gothic gloom for Tim Burton to envy...

Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke seems to have come up with what looks to be the most atmospheric version of the ancient 'Red Riding Hood' tale ever put on screen. This time round, the wolf is a werewolf, the human identity of which is hidden among the village in which our heroine lives. What with the snow and oppressive paranoia, Red Riding Hood (2011) has overtones of The Thing (1982).

It's not the first time that movies have added a distinctly lycanthropic take on the tale, as Neil Jordan's The Company of Wolves (1984) was another fantasy-take on werewolves within the 'Red Riding Hood' tale. However it was also a rather disjointed anthology of wolf-related tales, charming but unfocused and very patchy.

Hardwicke's version stars Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Virginia Madsen and Julie Christie, amongst many other luminaries, and is produced by the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Ireland, Guillermo del Toro (this much we might have anticipated!) and Joel Silver. The tone and theme seems potentially very adult, which is appropriate, since the core story itself is perhaps the oldest cautionary tales to young girls 'not to talk to strangers', and in general to beware of the 'beast' within men.

Dark Castle Entertainment are producing for Warner Bros, and the film is set for release in March 2011, dropped back from a less appropriate April release date.

But if the werewolf turns out to be the granny, this will win a razzie no matter how good the rest of the film is.

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