Modern twist on Little Red Riding Hood

This cautionary tale certainly isn`t for the faint-hearted, but its depiction of a traumatised teen and the society that preys on her is agonisingly thought-provoking

Who`s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Freeway is a tremendously disturbing but pretty impressive variation on the Little Red Riding Hood story. Kiefer Sutherland is Bob Wolverton, the big bad wolf, a serial killer who finds his victims hitchhiking on the freeway. His latest pickup is illiterate, sexually abused, generally screwed up Vanessa, brilliantly played by Reese Witherspoon.Freeway is the directorial debut of Matthew Bright, who scripted the recent remake of Gun Crazy. Its mixture of grim humour and the conventions of a horror-thriller are extremely unsettling - too unsettling for our censors; a couple of scenes from the picture were cut before it was given an R rating. This cautionary tale certainly isn`t for the faint-hearted, but its depiction of a traumatised teen and the society that preys on her is agonisingly thought-provoking. A modern horror film with, unusually, something to say.