Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of The Boy Who Cried Werewolf; here's the breakdown of my ratings:
Story: 1.25
Direction: 1.25
Pace: 1.75
Acting: 1.50
Enjoyment: 1.50
TOTAL: 7.25 out of 10.00
Werewolves; Vampires; dark, mysterious figures; an immense and ominous castle; and a creepy-ass housekeeper - what more could a family film need(?)
Thankfully the writers, Art Edler Brown and Douglas Sloan provide the audience with a witty script to keep them chuckling through the hour and a half. Unfortunately, the underlying concept is overly-used in plenty of teen flicks; The rites of passage storyline. After the tragic death of their mother, poor old dad has to cope with the aftermath. His son Chase is having a hard time and overcompensates with horror-based practical jokes. There are power outages where he lies in wait near the fusebox to scare his sister. There are decapitated body parts swimming in fake blood left in the fridge. So, you can understand the movie's title and think you know where the story is heading - or is it? His sister Jordan is the bespectacled nerd in school who likes the football jock and would like to be part of the Heather's clique - Sounds a little familiar, doesn't it? It should; these elements had been done to death before this picture's 2010 release. Happily, Brown and Sloan transport us out of the dangerous waters of teen movies by adding a motley mixture of horror goodies and gags. Yep, Jordan will still metamorph into a mighty attractive bewitching mademoiselle and love interest to the local Romanian village teen heartthrob and bakers boy, but mystery and suspense will litter her path. And the secrets and misgivings come from many avenues. Firstly, who is the forboding housekeeper, Madame Varcolac, whose very name has the creatures of the night singing their sweet music? Why is the local estate agent so keen to sell the mansion, and does she have romantic designs on their dad? What is the secret of their departed benefactor, and why does it appear to be connected with a popular video game franchise? Added to the numerous conundrums, Brown and Sloan proffer the audience with decent characters. Each is an individual in their own right, which helps significantly with the humour.
Eric Bross isn't the world's greatest director. In truth, his stock and trade are on the average side. But he excels at managing the movie's tempo. Not only can he manipulate it impeccably to create excitement, tension, and a little dread, he's punchline-perfect with the visual and vocal gags. And though he has a good eye for composition - the upward pan of the mansion shows how massive it is but also attaches an eerie feeling to the building - he could've done with adding more captivating camera angles, especially for the fights and the chases. His cutting is excellent, as I said. However, changing their height and angle would've heightened the excitement. At least there's no camera shake - Thank you for that, Mr Bross. There's a scene when Jordan takes off across the rooftops; Bross follows her athletic departure with a pan and a slight zoom. It would've been nice to have a couple of close-ups on the rooftop or maybe more of a following shot. But these are small things because the movie works.
The cast is superb. However, this film belongs to Brooke Shields. After watching her in this picture, I can say this lady sure can act. Yes, her accent may slip a couple of times, if I'm being pernickety, but she sure does come across as scary and intimidating. I wouldn't mess with Madame Varcolac.
And in all honesty, I'd recommend watching the whole of this movie just for the music video at the end. Madame Varcolac and the rest of the cast singing Britney Spiers' song, Baby, One More Time, is priceless - and Shields stays in character, awesome. But the bonus is the movie is one enjoyable romp through the Old Country of horror. The Boy Who Cried Werewolf will be a go-to movie whenever I get down and need my spirits lifted.
Now take off that fur coat and... What do you mean you're not wearing a fur coat... Err, well, just come over here and take a look-see at my IMDb lists - Absolute Horror, Just For Laughs, and Guilty Pleasures to see where I ranked The Boy Who Cried Werewolf. Sit: Rollover: Good werewolfie.
Take Care & Stay Well.
