The Wake

There are plenty of reasons why Cry Wolf should be terrible. First, it isn’t a good sign when your biggest star is an aging ’80s rocker. That ’80s star is Bon Jovi, and this movie is a lot like his music: mediocre but still entertaining.

Owen is one of those likable British troublemakers in the US who gets shipped around from prep school to prep school. At his most recent school, he falls in with a crowd of “too cool for school” rabble-rousers led by redheaded hottie, Dodger. Their favorite activity is to sneak out at night and play games of lying and deception. When the group tires of this, Dodger suggests that they use the murder of a local girl to incite fear around the school. They write up a warning e-mail describing their fictitious killer’s MO and his last set of murders, using each other as models for the victims. Soon, Owen starts receiving sinister instant messages while the rest of the group is stalked and treated to break-ins. With the countdown to their make-believe killer’s next attack getting closer, everyone begins to question where the practical joke ends and reality begins.

The only reason this movie works is because, despite it’s advertising, it’s not an ’80s slasher. The film relies on paranoia and confusion, as opposed to blood. Of course there are the ubiquitous horror film twists, but the ones in Cry Wolf aren’t any more outrageous than other films of the genre. In fact, they actually help the movie make sense in a few ways — such as explaining some of the dumb things people always do in horror movies — though they definitely stretch plausibility to the breaking point.

Luckily, the acting and dialogue keep Cry Wolf moving, rather than holding it back. The stereotypical horror-movie characters are generally likable, and there are a few witty lines strewn about. In fact, the times that I laughed out loud weren’t because of the film’s outrageousness. Ladies of the ’80s, you’ll be happy to know that Mr. Bon Jovi has a good-sized role — to match his good-sized hair — as the rock-star journalism teacher. I would have liked to have heard him break out “Wanted Dead or Alive” for no apparent reason, but I was satisfied with a decent performance. And, of course, that beautiful, untouched hair.

The one original thing Cry Wolf does is show how technology can come back to haunt us. It’s true that e-mail, cell phones and instant messaging make it easier to communicate, but they can also be used against people. In the opening murder scene, the killer loses track of the intended victim in the woods. I suddenly got chills when the killer broke out a cell phone and dialed the victim’s number, instantly giving off her location. If you’ve ever been freaked to death about your phone going off in class, imagine someone coming up to you and brutally murdering you for it.

Fair warning: This movie is entertaining if your expectations aren’t too high. If you’re a fan of blood, gore and elaborate death scenes, Cry Wolf will leave you unsatisfied in the way that a night of bad, drunken sex does. If you’re expecting highbrow psychological horror, you’ll also be left unsatisfied, but more in the vein of finding out that you’ve been drinking 3.2 beer instead of the real thing.