Cry Wolf (2005)

Directed by Jeff Wadlow [Other horror films: Truth or Dare (2018), Fantasy Island (2020)]

So Cry Wolf is one of those movies that I’ve wanted to see for quite a while. And to be clear, by ‘a while’, I mean since around 2009. Way back in the day, I made a list of horror films I wanted to check out, and this was on that list from the very beginning.

I never went out of my way to check it out because I thought I knew the type of movie it was going to be, and there were more interesting selections of films out there. As it is, I had an enjoyable time watching Cry Wolf, but I’d be lying if I said it ended up differently from what I expected.

It’s not really a case of all flash and no substance – the story here is sort of fun. The twists, while few are really surprising (come the finale, I was almost completely right, but made one mistake in my assumptions), keep the movie moving at a nice pace, and past a certain point, there are enough suspenseful scenes and mysteries to keep you interested.

What sort of didn’t do it for me, though, is just that it felt like they really badly wanted to make this a Saw movie, what with the twists, and that overly dramatic finale which threw a bunch of flashbacks at us (obviously with some additional context). I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was still enjoyable, but it almost felt like they were trying a bit too hard.

Performances all around were decent. Julian Morris (Donkey Punch, Something Wicked) is watchable enough, but he’s far from what makes the film enjoyable. Better are Lindy Booth and surprisingly Jon Bon Jovi. Booth (Wrong Turn, Dark Honeymoon) certainly had an interesting personality, and was playful enough, whereas Jon Bon Jovi’s (Vampires: Los Muertos) performance as a prep school teacher reminded me a little of Robert Englund’s role in Urban Legend.

Also, while I’m not a Supernatural fan, it was sort of nice seeing Jared Padalecki (also from House of Wax and Friday the 13th) here. His character is never super important, but he has a nice, clean-cut face. Gary Cole (who played a Vice President during some seasons of The West Wing, along with voicing a character Kim Possible, a favorite animated show of mine) was fun to see in a few scenes, and though her character was even less important than Padalecki’s, Kristy Wu had some zap to her.

What I think this all comes down to, though, as far as my feelings go, is that nothing in this movie really surprised me. Oh, some of the twists were unexpected, but I wasn’t once close to being blown away. I liked the conclusion well enough, but I think I probably would have liked this a lot more if I had seen it all those years ago when I first heard about it, as opposed to now when I’m #jaded.

Certainly I had fun while watching Cry Wolf, but I don’t think it’ll ultimately leave a large impression on me. It’s a stylish, occasionally clever movie with an okay mystery and a killer poster, and I do think it’s a decent film, but I don’t honestly think it’s a lot more than that.

7/10