Cry_Wolf – Unrated

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: C     Film: C

 

 

Cry_Wolf (2005) is a murder thriller with a possible serial killer on the loose and even won an award.  Director Jeff Wadlow co-wrote the screenplay about a killer on a campus who is using instant Internet messenger services to turn a stupid game played by not necessarily stupid students on each other.  The ideas and pace are not bad, but as is the case in recent years, a very bad ending ruins it.

 

Maybe the presence of Jon Bon Jovi should have been a big red alert that anything good here would not last, and that is what exactly happened.  Too bad, because the film was going along well until someone is “frontin’” with how “smart” they are when it really tells the audience how stupid they supposedly are.  That is especially a shame here, but I guess the writers are the usual kind who can come up with set-ups, but not Mystery/Detective savvy enough to come up with conclusions as smart as their convictions.  I even liked the teen cast.  Well, maybe next time.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is not bad, if not great.  The film was shot by Romeo Tirone, who comes up with some good uses of the scope frame, but is hampered by story limits and Super 35 in general.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is not bad, but nothing to get excited about.  It does not overdo or under do the surrounds, but they are nothing special.  Extras include two so-so shorts (one of which is exclusive to this edition), two featurettes and a set of deleted/alternate scenes that do not help a film with a problematic ending.  A casting featurette and commentary by the filmmakers is also here, but it does not tell us much about what went wrong.  We’ll see what Wadlow does next and if he learned anything major from this release.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo