The Good

Lindy Booth. Period.

The Bad

Somewhat predictable. Too many commentary tracks on the extra materials.

I was so excited about Cry_Wolf because for months the only thing I saw was the large one sheet that just had the image of this film’s killer. I kept staring at the poster trying to figure out what this movie was about, but the marketing was almost cryptic in it’s lack of detail. Well, the movie came and went in theaters and while I think it ultimately made money, I was happy to get a chance to screen this film on DVD.

Well, while I think Cry_Wolf is a decently told horror movie, the initial setup and the game these characters play was just too convoluted for me to follow at first. As the movie progressed, things became clearer but ultimately I found the ending to be a bit unsatisfactory. The fact that a friend of mine came into the room towards the end, watched the film for 5 minutes and then told me who the killer was, sadly effected my overall opinion of this movie’s ability to really lose me in the story. The fact that my other friends who I was watching this with were constantly requesting that we turn this movie off, might have also added to my general distraction.

My friends be damned, I did like this movie. I felt that Julian Morris was very solid in his performance, and I cannot wait to see Lindy Booth cast in something else. Cry_Wolf is a not a groundbreaking horror tale but it does do a decent job of getting it’s point across.

Features

Deleted, Extended and Alternate Scenes; Wolves, Sheep and Shepherds and Enter the Sinister Set

The Extra scenes have a commentary track by Director/Co-Writer Jeff Wadlow, Producer/Co-Writer Beau Bauman and Editor/Associate Producer Seth Gordon. Okay guys, I understand that you love this movie, but did you really need to comment on ALL these scenes? On top of this, lighten up guys. With titles for some scenes like Owen In The Woods and The Hook Up, these scenes seemed like they were cut for time and pacing purposes. Unfortunately, you have these three guys telling you everything along the way. I know you can turn the commentary off but I didn’t and I wish that I had.

Wolves, Sheep and Shepherds this is a casting session that has the actors shot on video doing their lines. Okay, this is pretty self explanatory, so why did the three guys feel the need to do a commentary track over this? I was starting to get the idea that there were so many commentary tracks just because these guys like hearing themselves talk. Enter the Sinister Set amazingly did not offer up a commentary track! This is a behind the scenes look at the pool scene in the movie, and all the logistics that went into shooting it. We have Julian Morris leading us on this “set tour”, and I really thought it was interesting how they achieved the visual the look of the pool in this scene.

Short Films and Commentary Track

The Short Films are titled Manual Labor and The Tower of Babble. I have got to be honest but I don’t see what was so great about these shorts, and how they ended up “leading” the filmmakers to Cry_Wolf. The Tower of Babble seemed almost lost in itself and Manual Labor, while entertaining, seemed to falter due to the parlor tricks of student films. Alas, another Commentary Track with Director/Co-Writer Jeff Wadlow, Producer/Co-Writer Beau Bauman and Editor/Associate Producer Seth Gordon. Okay, I am glad I saved this for last simply because by now I pretty much knew how it was going to be. Guys, I liked your film, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but man, you really have got to learn to leave some mystique around your movies.

Video

Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35:1. This movie has a washed out look, almost as if everyday is after something bad or tragic has happened. I really liked this in addition to the way they utilized the color orange. Also, they lit and captured Lindy Booth in such a way that she seems to get more and more beautiful as the plot of the movie unfolds. It’s almost as if when the movie becomes more complex so does she in many ways. Thankfully, this movie eschewed the music video aesthetic that so many horror movies employ, and just relied on playing things straight.

Audio

English Dolby Digital 5.1 - Subtitled in English, Spanish and French. I loved the soundtrack that seemed heavily inspired by John Carpenter. This, coupled with the lush visual look of the movie, really added another dimension to the film as a whole. While there were a few moments when I felt the effects soundtrack could have been stronger (you guys did have Universal behind you), overall I think this movie did a good job of establishing and then maintaining a decent amount of fear and suspense throughout it’s 91 minutes.

Package

Sticking with the image of the figure in the orange mask (this time holding a glistening knife) will certainly serve this film well. Also, since it was around for a while in theaters, it should certainly pique the interest of those people that missed it during it’s theatrical run. The back cover features some well placed shots of the girls in the movie, along with some suspenseful moments as well. There is a small description of the film, a listing of “Exclusive Unrated Extras”, a cast list and some technical specs. Nothing too special about the packaging, it is fairly direct and to the point.

Final Word

I know that Cry_Wolf won the Chrysler Million Dollar Film Festival and that after that, there was a very long development/pre-preproduction process that this film went through. While I know that the intention of all this was to make this movie the best it could be, I think that that ultimately may have hurt this film. I often think that what starts off as a fresh idea, can actually be “developed to death”, and when this happen the movie loses whatever spark it initially had. As I said, this is just speculation on my part but I wonder how different things might have been if this movie hadn’t been put through so many paces?

Cry_Wolf is a well told and well made film that sadly lacks the heart of the movies it so obviously loves.

Cry_Wolf was released September 16, 2005.