Cry_Wolf

In the good old hey day, slasher films were never about looking good or even a mind-blowing twist ending, but today's obsession with appearance has changed things. Cry_Wolf is a perfect example. The plot isn't half bad on paper: prep school students hear of a local murder, start an e-mail rumour about the killer's other murders and oddly enough, their hoax begins to take shape when each student is offed accordingly. And yet, somehow Wadlow and his ethnically well-rounded cast manage to fuck it up. The actors are a mix of newcomers and familiar faces — Dawn of the Dead's Lindy Booth, House of Wax's Jared Padalecki and Jon Bon Jovi — but their overeager and unconvincing personalities force the film into a vulnerable position. The story is then left to fend for itself and Wadlow and co-writer Beau Bauman see to it that it is awash in sloppily predictable and clichéd twists and turns that would leave a kindergartner saying, "I saw that coming a mile away, mommy." In fact, the blood, violence and sexuality are presented so innocuously that this clumsy film is almost fit for an audience of five-year-olds. Deleted and extended scenes are laid out nicely but serve no purpose as extras, while the short film that secured the finances for Cry_Wolf is of a different nature entirely, fumbling more with dumb humour and cheap slapstick, with a man trying to get his pregnant wife to the hospital. Plus: commentary. (Alliance Atlantis)