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Cry_Wolf (Jeff Wadlow)
"The Horror Movie Rules Kill Cry_Wolf"
After a new student makes a fool out of everyone during a friendly game, they university students decide to take the game to the next level. They create a false rumour based on a real murder, but when one of the students receives threatening instant messages, the game is taken to a whole new level. Their rumours are coming true, as they think the killer is one of themselves, they try to survive the doomed they had already planned out for themselves.
There was a horror film back in the eighties, that featured a killer killing off teens in a mansion. The title of the film gave away the entire premise and the ending, so there was really no fun to be had with it at all. It was called April Fool's Day and Cry_Wolf is that exact same film, only almost 20 years later. Cry_Wolf is not to be confused with Wolf Creek. Although both are horror movies, with wolf in the title, which came out roughly the same time and are in the end, not entertaining. In the case for Cry_Wolf, this film suffers from the old horror movie rules.
Wolf could have been a decent horror film for the year of 2005, but it's shortcomings are too many and it's high points are too few. While the overall look of the killer is decent, the orange ski mask and army jacket give the killer a more realistic look then say someone wearing a fencing mask? But we hardly ever see this killer and when we do, the film has to go into this "cool for the sake of it" effect and distorts the image.
Non of the characters are likable. Jared Padalecki plays the same character that he did in House of Wax and no other actor stands out from the other, they are all the same. Although Bon Jovi was not particularly bad in this film, he really had no place in it either.
Wadlow seems to believe that he had something interesting here and tried to tweak it into a something more then a slasher horror film. In some movies this works, but for Wolf, it unfortunately doesn't. Wadlow has some talent, his previous short films are much better this one, he feature debut. Wolf lacks any scares to really scare, and intelligence to make you think, any deaths to make you have a good time. The horror movie rules kill this film, for instance, if you do not see a death on screen, usually they are not dead. Case in point Scream 3, once this is set into motion, you can pretty much figure out the ending.
If the horror movie rules don't give away the ending, then the title will. Much like April Fool's Day, Cry_Wolf treads the same line. You know who's in on the whole thing half way through. The red herrings are too obvious, which lead you to know who's who slasher film. But if that is not enough, the filmmakers try to surprise you with a twist, as every movie has the need to do these days. Thank you Shyamalan. But this twist seems forced as a last ditch effort to make the film seem more then what it actually is. With the ending trying to be smart and different, it ends up being inane and not very original.
If you're looking for a scary movie, look elsewhere. If you are in the mood for a killing frenzy, rent old school slasher flicks instead. If you want to see cry wolf, watch April Fool's Day...at least in that movie the deaths are a lot more imaginative and visible. Wadlow does indeed have some talent, but he had a misstep with this film. One can only hope that he sticks to a more comedic tone like "Manual Labor" and stay far away from crap that is known as Cry_Wolf
4/10
"The Horror Movie Rules Kill Cry_Wolf"
After a new student makes a fool out of everyone during a friendly game, they university students decide to take the game to the next level. They create a false rumour based on a real murder, but when one of the students receives threatening instant messages, the game is taken to a whole new level. Their rumours are coming true, as they think the killer is one of themselves, they try to survive the doomed they had already planned out for themselves.
There was a horror film back in the eighties, that featured a killer killing off teens in a mansion. The title of the film gave away the entire premise and the ending, so there was really no fun to be had with it at all. It was called April Fool's Day and Cry_Wolf is that exact same film, only almost 20 years later. Cry_Wolf is not to be confused with Wolf Creek. Although both are horror movies, with wolf in the title, which came out roughly the same time and are in the end, not entertaining. In the case for Cry_Wolf, this film suffers from the old horror movie rules.
Wolf could have been a decent horror film for the year of 2005, but it's shortcomings are too many and it's high points are too few. While the overall look of the killer is decent, the orange ski mask and army jacket give the killer a more realistic look then say someone wearing a fencing mask? But we hardly ever see this killer and when we do, the film has to go into this "cool for the sake of it" effect and distorts the image.
Non of the characters are likable. Jared Padalecki plays the same character that he did in House of Wax and no other actor stands out from the other, they are all the same. Although Bon Jovi was not particularly bad in this film, he really had no place in it either.
Wadlow seems to believe that he had something interesting here and tried to tweak it into a something more then a slasher horror film. In some movies this works, but for Wolf, it unfortunately doesn't. Wadlow has some talent, his previous short films are much better this one, he feature debut. Wolf lacks any scares to really scare, and intelligence to make you think, any deaths to make you have a good time. The horror movie rules kill this film, for instance, if you do not see a death on screen, usually they are not dead. Case in point Scream 3, once this is set into motion, you can pretty much figure out the ending.
If the horror movie rules don't give away the ending, then the title will. Much like April Fool's Day, Cry_Wolf treads the same line. You know who's in on the whole thing half way through. The red herrings are too obvious, which lead you to know who's who slasher film. But if that is not enough, the filmmakers try to surprise you with a twist, as every movie has the need to do these days. Thank you Shyamalan. But this twist seems forced as a last ditch effort to make the film seem more then what it actually is. With the ending trying to be smart and different, it ends up being inane and not very original.
If you're looking for a scary movie, look elsewhere. If you are in the mood for a killing frenzy, rent old school slasher flicks instead. If you want to see cry wolf, watch April Fool's Day...at least in that movie the deaths are a lot more imaginative and visible. Wadlow does indeed have some talent, but he had a misstep with this film. One can only hope that he sticks to a more comedic tone like "Manual Labor" and stay far away from crap that is known as Cry_Wolf
4/10