CRY_WOLF is a formula slasher film that revels in its clichés. The best that you can probably say about it is that it isn't as bad as you expected. What saves it from oblivion is a nice set of mainly predictable ending twists and a single slightly interesting performance by Lindy Booth as a fetching redhead named Dodger. (Her mother is a "Dickens scholar," hence the unusual first name.) Most of these dying teenager movies just count down to the last one alive, TEN LITTLE INDIANS style. What is different about CRY_WOLF is that it isn't clear for some time how much, if any, of what is happening is all one big hoax.
The movie wastes no time in getting to the killing. In a community centered around a rich kids' preppy high school, a "townie" is chased through the dense woods and killed in the dead of night. This first incident happens even before the opening credits roll. The school is one in which the boys wear ties and blazers and the girls wear uniforms with short, sexy skirts. Owen Matthews (Julian Morris), the new kid on campus, is introduced into a rich kids' scary club by Dodger, his new love interest. The kids sneak out at night and meet with flashlights in the chapel. There they play a deadly game of spin the bottle in which they kill whoever the bottle points at. Sorry, I made that last part up. Actually they play a silly lying game that is incredibly dull and stupid. Luckily, the next day, the new kid suggests that they attempt something really daring like forwarding an email about a serial killer of students, which they will try to convince the rest of the campus is genuine.
You can easily see where the story is headed. The script does have the sense to be in no hurry and to send the audience down lots of blind alleys. Many a "killer" turns out to just be some goofy student with a ski mask and a big rubber knife who is involved in some practical joke. Some of this is so ridiculous that it's almost fun. Almost.
Along the way, the kids say things such as, "Dude, you know how gay that sounds?" Someone signing himself "Wolf" keeps instant messaging Owen with threats and philosophical statements like "When does a lie become a truth?"
Hang in there viewers. If you haven't already walked out in the beginning, you'll want to stay until the end to find out all of the twists and reasoning behind them. I guessed most but not all of them. Solving the puzzle of the story is the only reason to keep watching it.
CRY_WOLF runs 1:30. It is rated PG-13 for "violence, terror, disturbing images, language, sexuality and a brief drug reference" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film is playing in nationwide release now in the United States. In the Silicon Valley, it is showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
By : Steve Rhodes (http://www.internetreviews.com/)
