The Boy Who Cried Werewolf

Boy Who Cried Werewolf, The (2010)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Silly made-for-TV "horror" film has a father and his two kids traveling to Romania after a relative dies and leaves them her castle. Once there the teenage girl eventually becomes a werewolf and her little brother is the only one who knows it but no one will believe him because of his wild imagination. A weird housekeeper (Brooke Shields) is the only other who might know the secrets of the beast. This was partially influenced by the 1973 film of the same name, which featured a father turning into a werewolf and only his son knowing but no one believing him. Things have certainly changed in this new version and not a single thing was done for the better. That 1973 film is far from a classic but it looks like 1941's THE WOLF MAN compared to this junk. Yes, it's clear that I wasn't the target audience for this film but I'm scared to think of who exactly this thing was made for. The biggest problem is the horrid screenplay that doesn't seem to know what type of story it wants to tell. TO appeal to the teen girls we have countless subplots with the girl here not being good enough for the hunk at school plus she's having to deal with the loss of her mother. With all of that said you'd think the film was about her but we get countless other subplots including one with the father dating and all sorts of stuff with the younger brother and his obsession with monsters. We even get more subplots dealing with the curse of this castle. You have so many subplots running at once that it's clear everyone involved simply forgot what they were trying to do. I mean, "werewolf" is in the title yet this portion of the film doesn't start until everything's half over and by then you're either going to be hitting your head against the wall or wondering why on Earth you started the film at all. The performances are all pretty good with Shields standing out as the creepy housekeeper. The make-up effects are all pretty good as well but it's just a shame we didn't get to see much of it. I'm sure this thing might appeal to some very young teens but let's hope their parents keep them away from this and show them some better werewolf picture.

An American family inherits a castle in Romania and go there to check it out. The daughter (Victoria Justice) accidentally becomes infected with werewolf blood and soon becomes a werewolf herself. She has to find a cure before the full moon ends or she will be a werewolf forever. There's also some stuff about a family legacy and a funny group of vampires out to get the castle.

Nice family movie with a good cast. Being outside of the target demographic here, I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy this as much as I did. Victoria Justice is a likable young actress. I am not familiar with her work on TV but she seems to have a lot of potential. I'll be surprised if she doesn't go on to bigger things. Brooke Shields is really good. I haven't seen her in forever. Long way from Blue Lagoon, I guess. Chase Ellison seems to be having a great time with his part. Every kid dreams of being in a werewolf movie, I think. If they don't, they should. Brooke D'Orsay is a lot of fun here too. The whole cast seems to be having a good time. I always like to see that.

I thought the werewolf effects were amazing for a movie produced for Nickelodeon. I was happy that they actually went the route of using a werewolf costume, as opposed to crappy CGI or the even crappier cheat of having the person turn into an actual wolf or dog so they can save money on effects like so many shows (Vampire Diaries, I'm looking at you).

This is a cute, enjoyable, fun movie with good special effects and an immensely likable cast. That it can be this good while being made for television impresses me a lot. To the reviewer from Romania who was offended at how his country is portrayed in movies like this: lighten up, buddy. If the worst your country has to worry about is that its public image is that of being home to werewolves and vampires, you're doing pretty good compared to the rest of the world.

Ok gang. The story is intersting enough and cute enough that you will be ok if you sit down to watch it with your tweens. The actors gave it their all. It has heart.

They truly did their best with a low budget.

There are no cuss words. Not one. No nudity. They will not even use the word "kill". This is as safe for kids as can be. Almost no blood, and no gore at all.

After typing it all that I raised it to a 7. It deserves it.

It is a feel good movie.

Great for halloween time by the way. Like, perfect.

The writers took their time to weave a story that is not hard to follow but not overly simplistic.

If yo have tweens, enjoy it.

Jordan Sands (Victoria Justice) is a dorky teen who became the lady of the home after her mother's death. She's awkward, accident-prone (especially near hunky boys) and picked on by the mean girls. Her father David is struggling as her little brother Hunter gets into trouble for his grotesque pranks. They find that they inherited their Great Uncle Dragomir Ducovic's castle in Wolfsberg, Romania. The California family travel to Romania. Jordan is taken with local boy Goran. Madame Varcolac (Brooke Shields) is the creepy housekeeper. Sketchy real estate agent Paulina Von Eckberg (Brooke D'Orsay) entices David. The kids discover a secret lab and Jordan steps on a broken vial. She becomes meat-loving, athletic and more powerful. Her senses improve and she stops needing glasses. However her transformation doesn't end there.

This is a barely passable tween horror which means that it's not really scary. Victoria Justice has the love of the tween audience. The production is limited TV level. The Vancouver sets don't have the right Gothic look. Brooke Shields is overacting. The werewolf looks like a Halloween costume. The final battle has low grade special effects and some stunts. It doesn't have any fun or horror to interest anyone older than a young tween.

After inheriting a family castle in Romania, a family discovers the dark secret behind the local legend of a vicious beast roaming the city as they race to stop a horde of vampires from taking control of the castle.

This here turned out to be quite an enjoyable and entertaining kiddie-centered horror-comedy. There's a lot of good in this about making an even mix between tween-inspired parts and more normal horror motifs, and there's plenty to both sides in here. The tween backbone here is all well-handled with the different attitudes toward the single father dating, the romance for once isn't obtrusive to the story in detriment for the actual horror, and the beginning where they explore the castle is just filled with some quality gags that really showcase the goofier humor present that really appeals to kids. From the gags trying to scare the sister to the constant sibling-like digs on each other and the side-splitting recurring gag with a character's name, there's some really funny stuff in here and it gets better once the transformation occurs. The antics that depict the transformation, from the heightened sense and reactions to the lessening of objection towards previously-objectionable attitudes and how their date goes which is constantly threatened by her burgeoning abilities for some nice laughs but knows to transition into horror territory nicely as once those abilities creep in, the explanation and back-story about the creature amongst the town's history is wonderfully handled. It makes for a pretty enjoyable time by creating a pretty strong connection through the twisted mythology with the action in the last half which is just non-stop brawling between the two werewolves and the vampire clan through the catacombs under the castle, through the cemetery and finally into the neighboring warehouse providing plenty of fun times as the fight progresses, and overall this is mixed quite nicely with the humorous aspects of the story. The fact that the creatures are done with practical make-up effects that look rather impressive for the realism and great they look in design and movement is another key factor here, and the only real flaws come from the beginnings of their life. The trouble it goes to set her up as a goofy klutz only to be saved by the werewolf curse is way too clichéd and feels too overwrought to be of much originality. As well, the whole thing is dropped once they get to the castle anyway, leaving the inclusion rather curious. Otherwise, there's not much to dislike here.

Rated Unrated/PG: Violence.