Cry_Wolf (2005 film)

Cry_Wolf
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jeff Wadlow
Produced by	Seth Gordon Beau Bauman
Written by	Jeff Wadlow Beau Bauman
Starring	Julian Morris Jon Bon Jovi Lindy Booth Jared Padalecki
Music by	Michael Wandmacher
Cinematography	Romeo Tirone
Editing by	Seth Gordon
Studio	Focus Features Rogue Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	October 14, 2005
Running time	Theatrical cut: 90 minutes Unrated cut: 94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,000,000
Box office	$15,585,821

Cry_Wolf is a 2005 American horror/slasher murder mystery directed by Jeff Wadlow after he won $1,000,000 at the 2002 Chrysler Million Dollar Film Festival.

Plot

Owen Matthews, a British immigrant, arrives at Westlake Preparatory Academy. That night Owen's roommate, Tom, wakes Owen up to tell him they are sneaking out. A group of students consisting of Graham, Mercedes, Lewis, Randall, Regina, Tom, Dodger, and Owen play a game called Cry Wolf, where someone is marked and the group tries to figure out who the “wolf” is.

After meeting his new journalism teacher, Mr. Walker, Owen and Tom meet everyone for lunch. They discuss the police finding a girl’s body, Becky, after it was dragged through the woods by a wolf. The group then talks about who could have murdered Becky, when Dodger proposes expanding Cry Wolf to the entire school. Owen suggests creating a fake e-mail telling everyone about a serial killer who goes from campus to campus killing students. They describe the killer as wearing an orange ski mask, a camouflage jacket, and brandishing a hunting knife. That night, they send out the e-mail.

The next day, the entire school has spread the story in the e-mail. Owen receives an instant message from someone using the name "Wolf". Tom and Owen, thinking its Dodger, confront her about the messages, but she claims she has been studying with Regina.

Tom and Owen return to their dorm room to find it has been trashed. Suddenly, the instant messenger comes up on Owen's laptop. They walk over to it, only to find a piercing stud and blood on Owen's keyboard. Tom then blames Regina, who had a recipe for fake blood. They call her to accuse her, but she insists she’s been on a field trip.

Believing Dodger has been lying to him, Owen goes to the library to confront her. Dodger informs him that she was visiting her mother, who lives in town. After deciding that Randall is behind all of the weird behavior, he tries to track him down, but to no avail. Owen once again seeks out Dodger, and Mercedes tells him she is going over a paper with Mr. Walker. At Mr. Walker’s office, Owen sees Dodger kissing Mr. Walker.

In his journalism class the next day, when Owen reaches into his bag for supplies, a hunting knife falls out. Mr. Walker then escorts Owen to the Headmistress's office. Owen tells Mr. Walker that he knows about his relationship with Dodger, and that he will tell the headmistress if Walker tells about the knife. Mr. Walker agrees not to say anything.

On the night of Halloween, “Wolf” comes into the cafeteria and attacks Owen. Thinking Tom was trying to prank him, Owen goes to leave with Tom's car, but sees Wolf behind him. The attacker ends up being Mercedes, who was trying to prove that attackers can be women.

The following day, Owen and Mercedes each meet with the headmistress, who decides that Owen's fate will be reached over the weekend. The rest of the remaining group is forced to stay at school over the weekend. Owen contacts them to meet in the chapel that night. Owen, Dodger, Tom, Lewis and Regina meet and they try to get to the bottom of the attacks. While Lewis is on the phone, Mercedes is attacked in the bathroom by Wolf. Owen tries to call for help, but to no avail.

The rest of the group discovers and follows a blood trail to find Randall’s body in a confessional. After the group scatters, Owen runs to the parking lot to see that Mr. Walker is still on campus. Owen runs to Mr. Walker's office as his phone starts ringing. Owen answers to Dodger crying on the other end; she has found Mercedes dead. Dodger tells Owen that she is coming and can see him through the window. He looks out to see Wolf kill her. Suddenly Mr. Walker enters the room. After noticing that Mr. Walker has a jacket, an orange mask and a knife, Owen ends up shooting him. The door is suddenly opened by Dodger, Tom and Regina.

Owen is arrested for murder. The group admits that it was a prank to get Mercedes and Owen back for making them stay on campus. It is discovered that Mr. Walker was involved with Becky, the gun in his desk being the same one that killed her. Dodger visits Owen, and says that she would never have played the game if she knew that Mr. Walker was cheating on her, revealing that she was behind everything. Dodger killed Becky because she was jealous of Mr. Walker's relationship with her. Owen threatens to report her, but she coolly replies that no one will believe him.

Cast

• Julian Morris as Owen Matthews
• Lindy Booth as Dodger Allen
• Jared Padalecki as Tom
• Kristy Wu as Regina
• Jon Bon Jovi as Rich Walker
• Sandra McCoy as Mercedes
• Paul James as Lewis
• Jesse Janzen as Randall
• Ethan Cohn as Graham
• Gary Cole as Mr. Matthews
• Anna Deavere Smith as Headmistress Tinsley
• Erica Yates as Becky

Release

America Online also helped publicizing the film in July/August 2005; launching an alternate reality game for AIM users to play by sending instant messages to each other, which ran for the duration of the film's promotion. The game itself ran similarly to the popular game 'Mafia'; just replacing townspeople and mafia with sheep and wolves.

Reception

Box office

At the box office, Cry_Wolf grossed $10,047,674 domestically and $5,537,821 internationally, making a worldwide total of $15,585,821.^[1]

References

1. ^ Cry Wolf (2005)

External links

• Official website
• Cry_Wolf at the Internet Movie Database
• Cry_Wolf at AllRovi
• Cry_Wolf at Box Office Mojo