On SyFy This Weekend--Red: Werewolf Hunter

This weekend brings us the second in SyFy Channels fairy tale movie series, Red: Werewolf Hunter.  From the little I heard the first movie, a Beauty and the Beast interpretation, was a bust but this one looks much more promising. The star, Felicia Day, is doing a publicity circle around the web in promotion of the movie.

From Felicia Day talks RED:WEREWOLF HUNTER:

Felicia stars in Syfy’s original movie RED: WEREWOLF HUNTER, airing Saturday, October 30 at 9pm/8 central. She plays Virginia Sullivan, a descendant of the original Red Riding Hood who is trying to live a life outside her family’s normal business of hunting werewolves, but runs into problems when she brings her fiancé home to meet the family and he’s bitten by a werewolf.

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On Red: Werewolf Hunter

Felicia said that the film uses the original ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ tale as a jumping off point to create a modern day story. While there are a few brief flashbacks to the original Red Riding Hood, Felicia said, “This movie is set in the real world and my family is tasked with keeping werewolves from the real world.” There is a struggle of family and obligation in the movie, and Felicia teased, “There’s a lot of drama and blood, too, which is fun.”

The film shot in Toronto and used a lot of cool locations, including a shanty town that was an old set that had deteriorated. They also used a very old house that was half-renovated and Felicia said the fight scenes there utilized every aspect of the home’s architecture. She called it a whirlwind shoot and said the cast and crew all worked well together.

Felicia said Red is a very dramatic, serious film with strong horror elements, but that it also infuses a sense of fun. She said that it sometimes goes over the top in “the very best way,” and used the arsenal of weapons in the film as an example of that. Virginia uses guns, knives, even a harpoon and other characters uses a kind of cyberpunk Tommy gun. She also said to watch out for all the weapons on the walls.

On the role of Virginia

When asked what drew her to the role of Virginia, Felicia explained it actually came at a time when she had already turned down two things because she was so busy writing season 4 of The Guild, but she read the script and it was right up her alley: “I was a huge fairy tale fan and I tried to minor in folk lore in college, but my dad said that was ridiculous.” She also said that it looked like a fun challenge because it is different than the roles she normally plays and she was flattered to be asked to star in a Syfy film.

According to Felicia, Virginia is more mature than much of what she plays and she had to work to keep her grounded. She said, “I have a perception in my head that I’m tougher than I look,” and she had to draw on that for this role. She thinks that she and Virginia share a desire to bring out the best in other people because both are deeply caring people. She also thinks both put others first.

When asked whether Red is similar to her Buffy character, Vi, Felicia said that Red “takes that idea of being chosen and shows the dark side of it.” Virginia is not comfortable with the destiny of being a werewolf hunter that was decided before she was even born, whereas Vi found herself in her destiny. Felicia thinks Mag, her character on Dollhouse, is more similar to Virginia.

Felicia trained very hard for the role and had a great time shooting the fight scenes. She said she loved “being able to run and jump on people and slash.” She ended up with a lot of bruises, but no real injuries.

Her two favorite scenes to shoot were one where Virginia is “completely disempowered” because it was fun to do such a dramatic scene and the finale, which had so much to coordinate.

So set your DVRs for this one if it interests you or if you are just a Felicia Day fan.  And on a side note, the SyFy channel has added Riese to their website, a steampunk series that has gotten a lot of positive buzz.  I haven't watched it yet, but it's on my list...