Film Reviews

Cry_Wolf

• Rating:
• Director: Jeff Wadlow
• Starring: Jared Padalecki
• Details: US, 90mins, 12s.

At a posh prep-school, British newcomer and all round bad boy Owen Matthews (Morris) enters a small ring of students who delight in the gossip around campus. When a young woman turns up dead, the group decide to up the ante and play a little hoax by spreading rumours that a serial killer called 'The Wolf' is on the loose. By describing The Wolf's next victims, the group's game is to see how many people they can scare and how many will uncover the lie. But when the described victims actually start turning up dead, the game takes a terrifying turn for the worst. Writing and directing little horror movies is a sure way to get your name out there and Cry Wolf is the first film from the writing team of Jeff Wadlow and Beau Bauman - winners of the Crylser Million Dollar Film Festival (where the winners receive a million dollars to make their new movie). It is also another third-rate teen-slasher flick that will be forgotten in about two weeks time. Wadlow and Bauman try to up the ante with the odd twist and turn but since twists and turns have become standard now, audiences feel cheated if they don't get it. Wadlow does make good use of modern technology as mobile phones make it increasingly hard for thriller and horror writers alike but no one will really care what happens to his characters as performances in slasher movies can really only be judged by who ran the fastest or who screamed the loudest.

Review by Gavin Burke