Cry Wolf (2005 film)
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| Cry Wolf | |
|---|---|
| File:B000BTIU4S 01 LZZZZZZZ.jpg Cry_Wolf DVD Cover | |
| Directed by | Jeff Wadlow |
| Written by | Jeff Wadlow, Beau Bauman |
| Produced by | Beau Bauman |
| Starring | Julian Morris, Lindy Booth, Jon Bon Jovi, Kristy Wu |
| Distributed by | Rogue Pictures |
Release date | 16 September 2005 |
Running time | 90 min |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ~ US$1,000,000 |
Cry_Wolf is a murder mystery 2005 film directed by Jeff Wadlow.
Main cast
- Julian Morris – Owen Matthews
- Lindy Booth – Dodger Allen
- Jared Padalecki – Tom
- Kristy Wu – Regina
- Jon Bon Jovi – Rich Walker
- Sandra McCoy – Mercedes
- Paul James – Lewis
- Jesse Janzen – Randall
- Ethan Cohn – Graham
Taglines
- Nobody believes a liar...even when he's telling the truth.
- Avoid Suspicion, Manipulate your friends, Eliminate your enemies.
- BeLIEve
- You Lie. You Die.
Plot
Template:Spoiler The movie begins in the woods where a woman (Becky) is running from someone. She manages to get ahead of the chaser but trips and crawls behind a tree hoping to conceal herself. The chaser comes to where she is, shining a flashlight around looking for Becky. He walks away and after a few moments pulls out a cellphone and calls Becky's phone. She hurries to shut the phone off but it's to late, her killer shoots her. The movie then cuts to Owen arriving at Westlake Preparatory Academy. Owen walks around the campus to find it deserted. As he watches a deer, a door opens nearby scaring both the deer and Owen. A red haired student walks out looking down at her cellphone. She looks up and introduces herself as Dodger. There conversation is interrupted by a teacher and soon Owen is on his own again. Owen calls his father who doesn't answer his phone and Owen leaves a message talking about the time he's spent at Westlake. The message are fabrications for his father, he says that he's signed up for mostly hard sciences but he's taking journalism and he says that he's got a job as a teaching aid when really he's a janitors assistant. This is where Owen's roommate Tom is introduced. That night Tom wakes Owen up telling him they are sneaking out, at first Owen says no, but once Dodger is mentioned he willing goes along. Tom leads Owen to the old chapel of the school for some midnight fun. This is where the rest of the 'team' is introduced. Graham, Mercedes, Lewis, Randall, Regina, Tom, Dodger, Owen and a few other students get together to play a game of lies, suspicion, and survival. The game consists of one wolf and the rest of the players are 'sheep' the object of the game to find the wolves in sheep's clothing. Dodger acts as the shepherd for the group leading everyone through the rounds of the game. When everyone closes their eyes Dodger marks Owen as the wolf. When the game begins the group starts to decrease slowly. At the end it's Owen, Lewis, and Mercedes once Mercedes is voted out Owen wins. Dodger and Owen have a parting of ways once Owen refers to her friends as spoiled rich kids.
The next day Owen wakes up to see that his alarm clock has been unplugged. He runs to his class, journalism with Mr. Walker. After class Owen and Tom meet everyone at the lunch table to discuss what has happened. The police found Becky's body only because it was dragged through the woods by a wolf. The group talk about who could have murdered the "townie" when Dodger proposes something bigger. She wants to expand the game to involved the entire school. At first nobody knows what she is talking about until Owen follows her and tells her his idea. He wants to create a fake e-mail telling everyone about a serial killer who goes from campus to campus killing students every few years. They meet in the library and create the killer. An orange ski mask, a camoflague jacket, and a hunting knife. After they've created the killer Owen, Dodger, Randall, Regina, Lewis, and Mercedes create the original victims. The first person killed was the town slut, then the narcissistic girl, then the de-virgenizer, then the prima donna actor, then the campus queen, and last the good guy who fell for the bad girl. That night they send out the e-mail and the rumors spread from there.
The next day the entire school has spread the story that the group created. Owen gets stopped by Mr. Walker and they have a meeting over a game of chess. Mr. Walker confronts Owen about the e-mail warning him about the consequences of his actions. After their meeting Owen returns to his dorm and decides to try his father again. His father doesn't pick up again and Owen decides not to leave a voice mail. During the phone call he gets an instant message from someone using the name "Wolf". He is quick to ask the person if it's his room mate but then Tom bursts into the room. Tom and Owen blame Dodger who could be on the computer after swim team practice. They provoke the person and then decide to go see Dodger. Dodger is in the swimming pool doing laps. She turns and pushes off the wall as something crashes into the water. She stops and looks around trying to figure out what happens. Tom and Owen are hiding behind a school banner throwing large chunks of ice into the pool trying to scare her. Tom picks up a piece and tosses it over they don't see where it crashes but when they look Dodger is out cold. Owen jumps over the railing and saves her. As Owen swims to the side Tom helps Owen get her out of the water. As Owen looks at her she spits water at him and says "Owen Matthews, you're my hero". Owen confronts her about the "Instant Messages" but she's been studying with Regina all day. That leaves Owen to believe that it was either Graham, Lewis, or Mercedes. Owen finds Graham and finds out that Graham has been studying all day and that he's turned in a sound complaint to the RA. Owen isn't sure what he's talking about because he hasn't been to his room since earlier that day. Owen rushes to his room and opens the door with the lights out he can only see some of the room has been trashed. He turns to flip on the lights and when they come on Tom comes forward and blames Owen for trashing his stuff in the room. The instant messenger comes up on Owen's laptop and they walk over to find a tongue stud and blood on Owen's keyboard. Tom blames Regina who had a recipe for fake blood they call her and she tells them that she's been on a AP Biology field trip all afternoon.
Owen sees that Dodger is lying and he goes to the library to ask her. They move to the stacks for more privacy. Owen finds out that Dodger was visiting her mother in town and that her mother lives in town. She's a 'townie' and to everyone else that means trash. Owen and Dodger connect and as they are about to kiss a book falls and Owen steps back in time to see a motion sensor light turn on and a figure in an orange ski mask and camoflague jacket walk by. They move to investigate, but they time they make their way down the person is gone, the lights turn on the other side of the room. Owen and Dodger stay still as their light goes off and the person comes towards them. It turns out to be a librarian. They leave the stacks and Owen asks her on a date. Dodger agrees but she needed to go do something else. After thinking that Randall was behind all of the weird behavior he calls Jenny Ryder, the girl that Randall was supposed to meet. She tells Owen that Randall never went to state and she doesn't know what happened. Owen then tries to seek out Dodger and Mercedes tells him she's going over a paper with Mr. Walker. Owen goes to wait for her but sees Dodger kissing Mr. Walker. He leaves the two alone and goes back to his dorm. Tom talks to Owen about the Halloween Dance and Tom is trying to figure out what he wants his costume to be. The next day Owen goes to Journalism and when he goes into his bag for some paper and pen a hunting knife falls out of his bag. Mr. Walker is escorting Owen to the Headmaster's office. On the way there Owen tells Mr. Walker that he knows about the relationship with Dodger and that he will use the information to stay at Westlake. Mr. Walker agrees not to say anything and walks away leaving Owen. That night the students attend the school's Halloween Dance. Owen doesn't go, instead he goes to work. Owen goes into the kitchen to run water when the shades from an office move, he goes to investigate to find two girls kissing in the closet. Owen start mopping in the cafeteria.
The wolf comes into the cafeteria and attacks Owen. Owen runs into the kitchen and the attacker slips and falls. Owen opens the back door but instead of running he hides in the kitchen. The wolf goes outside to look around and Owen comes from behind and locks the door. Owen then starts running towards his dorm. On the way there he runs into the attacker. It's not until he runs into the dance when he sees that some of the students have dressed as the killer that he had created. Lewis and Regina tell Owen that Randall must be back because Tom's car is in the parking lot. Regina tells Owen that Tom was trying to get him to come to the dance. Owen then decides to get Tom back by moving his car away from the school. He goes out to Tom's car and gets inside. When he touches the wheel he feels blood. A figure from the backseat reaches around to attack Owen. Owen falls out of the car and runs towards a police officer. The back seat attacker is Mercedes who was trying to prove that some 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. Owen, Dodger, Mercedes, Tom, Regina, and Lewis have to stay at the school over the weekend. During the meeting Owen realizes that The Wolf is supposed to strike on Halloween but the Halloween dance was actually on the 30th which meant that he was still supposed to attack. Owen contacts the group to meet the Chapel that night. Owen, Dodger, Tom, Lewis, and Regina meet and they try to get to the bottom of the attacks. It appears that Regina was the one who was following Owen and Dodger in the stacks. Tom was the one who attacked Owen in the cafeteria and Lewis trashed the dorm room and it was Tom who put the knife in Owen's bag. Mercedes drove Randall to the bus station so that they could keep Tom's car but that means that nobody knows where Randell is. Owen wants to make sure Randall went to state so Lewis calls her. While Lewis is on the phone, Mercedes takes a picture of herself while she's in the bathroom and sends it to Lewis's phone. He sees a figure in the background. She thinks it's Tom, but Tom is in the Chapel with everyone else. She gets attacked and Lewis goes to her. Owen tries to call for help but security have been informed that they may get prank calls.
Dodger and Regina believe that Owen is the one responsible and that he is going to tell them what happened. Owen then turns the tables and asks about Mr. Walker. Dodger tells him that she ended it and leaves the group extremely hurt. All that is going on while Lewis is on the phone. Tom, Owen, and Regina are left alone in the chapel and Tom spots something red on Regina's face. She looks and sees that it's blood. They follow the blood on the floor to find Randall in a confessional. Regina screams and wants to leave right then but Owen wants to go get Dodger. Tom and Regina give him time to go get her and he runs across campus to her dorm room. Owen gets into the stairwell when Lewis looks over the side at the top of the stairs on the third floor telling Owen that Mercedes is missing and he should get help. Lewis is attacked and his body is dragged into behind a door. Owen hears Dodger scream and he goes to her room to see Tom's car leaving campus. He runs out to the parking lot to see that Mr. Walker is still on campus. Owen runs to Mr. Walker's office and Mr. Walker's phone starts to ring. Owen answers and it's Dodger crying. She found Mercedes and told Owen that she was dead. Dodger tells Owen that she is coming to him and that she can see him through the window. He looks out to see the Killer coming up behind her. He attacks her and eventually kills her. Owen doesn't know what to do, he hears someone at the door of Mr. Walker's office. It's Mr. Walker, Owen let's him come inside. Owen notices that Mr. Walker has a jacket, an orange mask, and a knife. He then thinks that Mr. Walker just wanted to keep Owen around so that he could watch the story come true. In a fight over the gun that Owen found in Mr. Walker's desk, Owen ends up shooting Mr. Walker. The door to the office is opened by Dodger who is alive and then she's followed by Tom and Regina.
The police come and Owen is arrested for murder. Randell, Tom, Regina, Dodger, Lewis, and Graham admit that it was just a prank to get Mercedes and Owen back for making them have to stay on campus. It wasn't supposed to turn into what it did. The next day Owen's father comes to see him and tells him that Mr. Walker was involved with Becky and that Owen had actually killed a wanted killer. The gun in Mr. Walker's desk was the same one that killed Becky. His father also told him that he wouldn't be punished other than being on probation. The meeting between Owen and his father is interrupted by a guard who says one of Owen's friends wants to see him. The visitor is Dodger, Owen goes to her and comforts her. She slips that she would never have played the silly game if she knew that Mr. Walker was cheating on her. Then Owen realizes that Dodger was behind everything. She had enlisted the help of the rest of the group to make the prank believable. Dodger was also the one who had killed Becky because she was jealous of Mr. Walker's relationship with Becky. In the end Dodger just asks, "Honestly Owen, even if that were true, who would believe you?" The end frame shows Dodger physically killing Becky in the woods, and then the credits.
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Original version
Template:Spoiler In an early interview with the director, when the movie was first being filmed, he talked about how we would not be seeing the original version he intended. According to him, Owen and Dodger would end up having graphic sex with each other towards the finale of the movie, Mercedes would have been killed with lots more blood, and the movie was going to be a slasher film.[citation needed]
Characters
Dodger
Probably the most complicated and developed character in the movie, Dodger is a highly involved female at the wealthy prep-school who is attending on a fully paid scholoarship. She is manipulative from the beginning, but the degree is not revealed until the end. She had an affair with the journalism teacher, who said she was too mature for males her own age. After her lover (the teacher) slept with another student and then planned to flee the prep-school with said student, Dodger sought revenge, murdering the girl. In order to cover up the murder, Dodger planted the idea of creating a "scenario" in the minds of her friends and the idea of the "wolf" takes flight. In the end, Dodger manages to walk away free of blame with only Owen aware of her crime.
Dodger views people as either "sheep" or "wolves." She proves to be exceptionally talented in predicting people and reading them. Manipulative, intelligent, and skilled at reading people, she appears to be psychopathic, and is revealed at the end of the movie to have planned the killings all along.
Owen
The protagonist, Owen, is English. He is intelligent but caught up in a poor relationship with his wealthy and well-connected father. Much of Owen's actions are guided by his fascination with Dodger or his need to belong, which is played off as a result of his parental situation. Dodger informs him early in the movie that his weakness is being a good person. Indeed, this is in many ways true. He is, however, the only character to discover Dodger's true intent and action, but does so only after killing, in self-defense, the journalism teacher and so losing all credibility.
Tom
He loves everything and anything involving Texas and mutters profanities often. Tom is carefree most of the time and enjoys his friends company. Tom is an active sportsman who goes on team runs and at one time dated Regina. When Owen gets an instant message, Tom is there to reply, and then lead Owen to the pool. The only explosive moment of Tom in the film is when his room gets trashed and he thinks Owen did it. That leads him to chase Owen in the Wolf suit countless times. Although Tom is a bit self-centered and unjust, he is still a character worth describing.
Regina
The Asian American girl is a fellow friend of the group. At the end of the movie Tom notices she has blood on her fore-head. Then she look on the floor where there is more blood. Then it lead to the confessional where they find Randall's "dead" body.
Mercedes
The Narcissist. Brains & Beauty sum up Mercedes. Obviously named after a car. Dating 'The Actor'. Dresses up as 'The Wolf' and chases New Guy until they run into security guards. Mercedes is temporarily punished for her actions by the school board and is not allowed to leave school grounds. Talking on the phone to her boyfriend she enters the show. To please her horny boytoy she takes a picture of herself and sends it to him, only to reveal she is not alone in the bathroom. Moments later she is slashed leaving us with her bloody hand smearing blood on the bathroom mirror.
Randall
The Stud Randall is seen in the beginnning of the film to be a not so friendly guy but liked by his friends. All he cares about is sex and "getting some". After he takes Toms car he isn't seen until the end of the film when he is "dead" apparently dragged through the church into the confessional. When the joke is done and Owen learns that it is all a joke he is seen alive.
Graham
The Insider. Often poked fun of (mainly by 'Texan') because of his intelligence and physical appearance. Can be described as the outcast of the group. Jealous of the others popularity amongst each other and envies the friendship the group shares.
Rich Walker
Rich Walker is the Journalism teacher at Westlake. Sometime before the movie he had been having relations with Dodger and another girl off campus, Becky. Mr. Walker was going to go off with Becky which may have led Dodger to kill Becky out of jealousy. When Owen had brought a knife to class, Mr. Walker was blackmailed by Owen into not turning him in. Mr. Walker died at the end of the movie when Owen believed that Mr. Walker was responsible of the deaths of his fellow classmates. He died over a stupid practical joke.
Public reception
Cry_Wolf, although grossing only $13 million and earning mixed reviews from critics, has gained somewhat of a cult following among teenagers and young adults.[citation needed]
Advertisements, trailers and commercials really played the horror aspect of the film up to make it look like a slasher or even possibly supernatural film. This caused some moviegoers to criticize the film for not being violent or scary enough after seeing the final cut. In reality the film is more of a murder mystery with elements of a the psychological thriller genre thrown in. The film has also been criticized by some critics and fans for having too many plot twists (such as the twist at the end of the film), with some claiming it was too hard to follow. However, hardcore fans disagree with this, saying that it gets its charm and intensity from this element of confusion.
America Online also helped out publicity for the film, when it created somewhat of an alternate reality game for AIM users to play by instant messaging a certain e-mail address.