This movie begins with an unnamed "Private Detective" (played by Gary Martin) going into a bookstore and asking the "Shopkeeper" (Caroline Munroe) how much a certain book would cost. Although she tells him that it isn't for sale he persists and eventually emerges from the bookstore with it. He then ventures into a nearby pub and after ordering a pint of brown ale begins to read the book in its entirety. What he reads is transmitted to the audience in film. Unfortunately, although the movie is unmistakably British, the viewer should be warned that this clearly bears no resemblance to Shakespeare. Quite frankly, this movie is awful. There's just no other way to describe it. The acting was second-rate, the special effects consisted of people running around in werewolf costumes most typically reserved for Halloween and the humor was almost painful. As a matter of fact, about the only thing going for this movie was the presence of a few fairly attractive actresses in Rosie Pearson (as "Emma"), Kimberly Jaraj ("Kim") and Gabriella Hersham (as "Milly"). But that's it. I wish it were otherwise.
... View MoreA horror comedy that has folks in England running for the pubs as werewolves run rampant. An investigator acquires a book with the wolf legends in it. He reads this in a pub while we visually see what he reads. This one misses the mark on every level and has no bite at all.It has that Saturday afternoon TV show kind of feel. The special effects are 90% CGI and 10% costumes. The only thing missing in this was Eric Roberts.After you watch this you just want to punch who ever was involved in making this film for exposing you to it. There could be health risks. Skip it.
... View MoreJopia's story is a fun, quick-witted twist to the Werewolf tale. The movie places the beast as unsuspecting prey against the vengeful. "Crying Wolf" has some colorful and interesting characters that are well developed. Some more so than others. The film is more comedy than horror, but with plenty of spooky nicely shot scenes offering the creature in all its costumey glory. I enjoyed the beast- visually and characteristically in "Crying Wolf". Plus the cast give nice performances as the individuals in the pack.The special effects are a mixed bag of cool, gory practical effects, and weak disappointing CGI. Jopia does choose the moments for CGI very wisely and frames the scenes in a creative way that make watching the CGI easier for those of us who find the computer animation a turn-off in horror. Oddly enough the thing that makes " Crying Wolf" fall a bit flat is the hokey way the story is set up as comedic schtick, vignettes and flashbacks combined with a cheesy soundtrack more reminiscent of soap operas and webseries.Overall "Crying Wolf" falls somewhere in the middle of good and bad. There are some quality moments where story and character really entertain and thrill, then there are those pesky times when CGI and dialog fail to sell the story. As a werewolf story this one is weak at beast, as a Brit horror/Comedy it is mediocre, but as for creative , Indie story- "Crying Wolf manages a decent and sometimes amusing tale. The creature design and wittiness are the best aspects for sure!
... View MoreI enjoyed "Crying Wolf", but on balance, it was a hot mess. There were a whole bunch of unlikable characters doing confusing things for obscure reasons; the screen play relied on flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks (I think), and changed plot directions in a manner almost impossible to follow; the tone of the movie bounced all over the place (I know, it's "comedy-horror, but still!);and if it hadn't been for subtitles on the DVD I watched, I wouldn't have understood half the dialog.Since this is a werewolf movie, I'm obligated to say something about the special effects and the CGI. They were sketchy and limited, but it was obvious that someone was working very hard and skillfully with a limited budget and tool-set, and the effects didn't distract too much.With a movie like this, it's hard to judge the acting. It's my impression that decent-to-good actors were playing cardboard roles very broadly and without a lot of nuance...but this isn't a movie where nuance was needed (or even desired). I liked this more than maybe I should have, but I think the director had a good sense of what he wanted to accomplish in the horror- comedy genre. It was actually funny in spots and made me smile more than once. 6.5 rounded down because it's a "weak" 6.5.
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