Cry Wolf

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.

The brief read up I read I had it down as a typical low budget slasher, and it had bon jovi as an actor in it. So things weren't looking up before I even pressed play.

However it was quite good, it started off with a typical slasher killing of a girl in the woods, then after that a story and plot develops based on it.

A rich British lad has been expelled from school in England and faces a drugs charge, but good 'ol daddy twists a few arms and gets him shipped off to America and join a private posh school campus.

Here he meets a bunch of kids, and as a prank they decide to use the recent murder nearby in the woods as their joke.

So they send out a group email to the whole campus saying 'this happened at my old school there were 6 murders, the first was in the woods with a handgun, the 2nd murder was ... and so. They also give the killer a description of an orange ski mask and cameo jacket and using a knife for the 5 other murders, and went by the name WOLF.

As word spreads round the campus, 'is this real' or 'is it a joke?' it happens!! ohh one of the group goes missing!! And then other murders start to happen using their hoax descriptions! Quite a refreshing take on of the whole slasher/campus theme which holds a few twists and turns. Some are blatant too but never-mind.

Over all its an enjoyable movie which is filmed quite well. Cry Wolf looks to have a decent budget to it too, it's good to not see typical bad acting in this style of movie. If I were to sum it up, it's Scream meets Skulls.

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.

We saw the movie at an early preview, and had no idea what we were getting into. At first, Cry Wolf seems like it's going to be a traditional, straight-forward slasher movie, but soon you begin to realize that there are layers within layers, and the result is a movie that's increasingly suspenseful and intriguing from beginning to end. It would be highly unfair to give away the plot. It's appropriate only to say that each of several of us was surprised by the ending. Most of the actors are talented unknowns, with a couple of established actors (Jon Bon Jovi, Anna Deavere Smith) artfully used (Bon Jovi in a major role, Smith in a minor one). The movie cleverly weaves in current technologies (especially instant messaging) in a way that heightens the suspense and is sure to enhance its appeal to young audiences. Great production values, cinematography and editing -- all elements contribute to a movie that's one of the best of its genre.

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.