Cry Wolf (2005)

Studio: Rogue Pictures

DVD Release Date: December 20, 2005

Directed By: Jeff Wadlow

Cast: Julian Morris, Lindy Booth, Jared Padalecki, Sandra McCoy & Jon Bon Jovi

Review By: Annie Riordan

Expelled from an elite British academy and ignored by his father, young Owen Matthews arrives at the Westlake Prep School to start over. He immediately makes the acquaintance of Dodger Allen, a pretty redhead with whom he finds himself immediately smitten. At Dodger’s insistence, Owen joins her elite group of friends who amuse themselves by playing a weird game in which one person – called The Wolf – is secretly selected and the others – called The Sheep – must find out who it is through a series of lies and manipulation. But the game has grown tiresome: the friends know each other too well and the sense of challenge is gone. It is then that they decide to play their game with the rest of the unsuspecting student body.

Inspired by the recent murder of a townie girl, the group creates a fictitious serial killer called The Wolf, who plans to start killing the Westlake students. As the emails are forwarded, the rumors grow more sinister, and the group is getting a sadistic thrill out of the growing sense of fear on campus. But when someone calling themselves The Wolf begins harassing the group with sinister IMs, the group splinters beneath the weight of paranoia. Is there really a serial killer in their midst? Have they pissed him off with their lies? Or is The Wolf truly among them? Everyone is a suspect and no one can be trusted.

Oh goody. Rich kids, an elite school, a knife-wielding psycho…yawn. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, thank you. And fer Chrissakes, Jon Bon Jovi? Really? C’mon. Last time I checked, he was a cowboy, on a steel horse he rides. What the hell is he doing in a slasher flick?

Well, he’s playing a haughty, blow-dried scumbag. And actually, he does a pretty good job. And, well…dammit, I hate to admit it but this movie had me guessing right up until the end. It’s an elaborate mystery with many a twist and turn and, although it’s not THAT hard to figure out who The Wolf is, it’s still pretty entertaining up until the point where you find out…which doesn’t come until the very last minute, I might add. The kids seem a little too savvy for their own good, but hey, it’s a posh school and I think sociopathy and elitist assholism are the snobby equivalents of Shop and Home Ec.

It may not be the best slasher flick ever made. Indeed, it not even really a slasher per se, as it turns out. It’s more akin to the first Saw movie and actually makes you think a little bit. Not mind-bogglingly brilliant, but better than average.

Brutal As Hell Rating:

3 out of 5