Cry Wolf: O Jogo da Mentira

Avoid suspicion. Manipulate your friends. Eliminate your enemies. That's the name of the game that these fictional students play on campus, and on a bigger level it's the name of the game they're playing with the audience. Well, except for the "eliminate your enemies" bit. Though there were some annoying chatters that I wish could have been eliminated from the theater.

Working with a minimal budget and a no-name cast (except for Bon Jovi and Gary Cole), director Jeff Wadlow has shown us, just like last year's Saw did, that when your ambition is bigger than your pocketbook then you can still create an extremely entertaining film. This isn't quite as frantic and intense as Saw, but I have no problem admitting that it sucked me in and forced me to thoroughly enjoy it.

Get ready to bait your pole for a little red herring fishing because this movie's teeming with 'em. If you don't mind being manipulated as you try to guess who the killer is then you should have a fun time. I thought I had it figured out several times, and within the last 10 minutes I finally did guess what was going on ... somewhat. There was another small twist at the end that kind of caught me off guard. The movie is constructed slickly enough to convince you that you've got the mystery solved, but the twists are just subtle enough to throw you off the trail and reveal that you're not as smart as you think you are.

I get tired of people complaining about PG-13 horror movies. "I want lots of cussing! I want lots of gore! I want nudity!" Really? Well, I want a decent story that I can sink my teeth into and follow with interest. I want an element of surprise. I want dialogue that doesn't rely on ye olde "f" bomb as an uncreative crutch. I don't want to be seething with anger over a stupid plot twist that makes no sense in retrospect to the rest of the movie.

Cry_Wolf succeeds on each of these points, and if you keep in mind the limitations that come with such a small budget and remind yourself that there are no Oscar winners in this cast, then you should get your money's worth. If you're looking for a gore-soaked bloodbath with topless women running all over the place then you're probably just going to troll the message boards and complain about how horrible this movie is, so just save us all your whining and go watch a Chucky movie instead.

THE GIST

Cry_Wolf is not a slasher movie that is focused on how many deaths the killer can pile up. It's more of a mystery that is concerned with keeping the audience guessing for 90 minutes. I would've liked a little more tension and a few more scares, but I tip my hat to director Wadlow for a fine effort on such a small budget.

A surprisingly intelligent suspense/horror film. Notice the dual title I gave to it? Yeah, that's because it takes elements from both to make a much better movie. I'm really surprised they canceled the critics' screenings for this because I honestly think it would get good reviews from quite a few critics. Maybe I'm wrong.

Either way, it starts off in post-Scream slasher mode before kicking things into gear. It quickly takes on the trappings of the urban legend/parable/whatever that the title is derived from, with a group of spoiled rich kids deciding to trick their private school into thinking there's a killer on campus. Trouble is...there actually might be.

The two leads, Julian Morris and Lindy Booth are both actually very good. Booth, who did almost nothing in the Dawn of the Dead remake, shines brightest, mixing girl-next-door charm with a lying, manipulative alter-ego. And it makes sense because her character uses the former so she can accomplish the latter.

Another surprising stand-out is...Jon Bon Jovi? Yeah, the guy can actually act. He skirts the line a few times but he's definitely believable as an English teacher. His story arc is also kind of funny when you consider his career, and what that likely entailed during the '80s. So once again, not a stretch.

The only flaw I could see with the movie is that it seems a little calculating. At points, it seems like it's intentionally trying to avoid teen horror clichés. For example, a victim is being chased and instead of running out a door, he tries to trick the killer into thinking he has. Smart. Probably too smart for a high school student, but at least it's a change from the same run, scream, hide, run again, knife to the throat routine.

Speaking of that tired old routine and the rating it usually causes, this is probably the first time in years where I actually felt a PG-13 rating was warranted. Making this an R horror movie would've killed any semblance of logic. Here the violence isn't necessarily what's supposed to frighten you. Human nature is. Their lies are what bring about the conclusion, which is infinitely darker than anything Jason Vorhees has ever done.

A group of friends at Wesley, a rich upscale high school, play a game called cry wolf every night. The game was created by the group's leader Dodger (Lindy Booth) who marks one of her friends as the liar with a red marker and it's up to the rest of the group to figure out who is the liar. One day Dodger and the new kid at the school Owen (Julian Morris) decide it will be fun to make up an entire lie about a murdering serial killer loose on campus. Owen and Dodger go along with the idea and send a mass email to everyone on campus letting them know that a killer by the name of "The Wolf" is murdering people on campus. But it isn't long before this little joke turns into a real threat that might cost everyone involved in the joke their lives.

Three words can be used to describe this film clever, suspenseful, and enjoyable! I really enjoyed this film and I didn't see it coming at all, I expected something mediocre at best when walking into the theater. While the marketing for this film is misleading and makes this movie seem like another brainless teen horror slasher flick, I assure you it's not like that. While I wouldn't call this movie 100% percent original, I would say that this movie is a pretty fresh idea with a lot of originality. This movie is great for a few reasons, the first reason is because the idea behind it is pretty new, the second reason is that the movie keeps you on the edge of your seat with suspense, and lastly the film keeps you guessing. I love movies that make you keep you thinking and just when you think you know what's going to happen, your proved wrong. This film contains a lot of twists! And I haven't seen a movie that kept me guessing all the way till the end in a long time.

The acting for this cast of newcomers is actually pretty good especially for the genre at hand. I really enjoyed Julian Morris's character Owen; he played the part very well and he was very believable. I also really enjoyed Lindy Booth who was excellent as Dodger, she had such a controlling power about her and she really brought it out on screen. Also I have to mention that she was incredibly cute! Also the other surprise here was Jon Bon Jovi who actually can act and sing which is always an incredible pair but he was good as the sleazy journalism teacher. There are several others to mention here and that would probably take far too much time to list them all but they were all good at the roles they played.

"Cry_Wolf" was directed by newcomer Jeff Wadlow a recent USC film graduate. I must say that I liked what he did with the film. He knew how to build the suspense and capture the character's fears and excitement. I really liked some of the camera shots especially the whole collage thing when all of the people started to read the email about the serial killer on campus. Nice work there! Also Jeff co-wrote the film with Beau Bauman and I must say the film was a pretty fresh idea and I loved the whole idea behind the film considering it seems like an idea that could happen now with computers and cell phones everywhere.

So to sum it up, "Cry_Wolf" is not what the trailers lead you to believe; instead it's a suspense thriller with good acting, a semi original story, and a great ending. The movie contains several twists that keeps the audience always on the edge of their seats asking the question "What's going to happen next?" It might not be an Oscar worthy film but it's a damn good thriller to say the least. It keeps you guessing and interested from start to finish and what more can you ask for from a mainstream Hollywood film?

MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Cry_Wolf" is a 8/10. Buy the big popcorn and sit back and enjoy the suspense.

I actually enjoyed watching this. It's not that bad. It's kinda what you should expect from a slasher/mystery movie from 2005. I wasn't expecting an award nominee movie. But the plot twists add a cool addition that are pretty unexpected. Probably wouldn't ever watch it again, nor is it a "must-watch". But if you're bored without anything to do I'd give it a watch.

I just came back from a screening for 'Cry Wolf.' I must say, at first I thought it was pretty predictable, but then it takes a cool twist that made me stop and think. Great re-telling of the fabled story of the "Boy Who Cried Wolf," this story has a fantastic set of characters headed by Julian Morris, great performance by Lindy Booth, and followed out with good supporting characters played by Bon Jovi, Jared Padalecki, the beautiful Sandra McCoy, and several others. Without giving anything away, I'd recommend anyone who likes good guessing-thrillers and fun jumpy scenes, to go see this movie . . . when it comes out, of course. Good story, good settings, great music.