Review of Cry_Wolf (2005) by Corey N — 11 Aug 2007

When the troubled Owen joins the private Westlake Preparatory Academy, he meets senior student Dodger, who invites him to participate of a game of lies with her friends.

The objective of the lying game is to avoid suspicion, manipulate your friends and eliminate your enemies. The group decides to play a prank on all the mates of the high school, using a recent unsolved murder of a student in the campus.

They send e-mails to all colleagues describing fake crimes with the same characteristics of the young woman committed by a serial killer called "The Wolf". Their teacher Rich Walker advises Owen how serious this joke could be.

When the students of their group start to disappear, Owen, Dodger and Tom realise that 'the wolf' may have become a reality.

Like a hybrid of 1998's 'urban legend' and 1996's 'scream', 'cry wolf' takes a simple idea of storytelling and horror, and turns it into a watchable, if sometimes convoluted little movie.

The cast of unknowns are decidedly rubbish, especially Julien Morris, who spends the entire movie sounding like he is reading off of cu0cards, and is out acted by even Jon Bon Jovi. and any movie that casts a soft rock star as a lecturer has to be seen.

The first act is very poor indeed, introducing us to a group of college students who most look at least ten years too old to be there and all have your predictable personality traits.

The Jock the Ice maiden, whose heart needs to be melted the student whose father 'knows people' an aspiring actor and an ageing soft rock star turned lecturer.

I thought this was going to be a real bore and waste of money, but I was pleasantly surprised by the final act, which has twist upon twist upon twist, and works out very neatly in the end and makes the film worth watching.

Not at all scary or tense, the film does not belong in the horror genre. a Halloween episode of 'the simpsons' is more scarier. it's just the final act is very impressive and if the rest of the movie had been like this instead of 'scooby-doo' (which is even referenced in this) we could have had a bona-fide classic that could have stood proud next to the 'scream' series.

A real wasted opening, made good a the end.