Cry Wolf

Cry_Wolf is a somewhat obscure PG-13–rated horror film from 2005 that didn't do well at the box office.

It involves a bunch of teenagers who, after hearing of the death of someone near their posh private school, decide to do a hoax serial killer story. Then things start to awry when the main hero, Owen, gets mysterious messages from his IM account, claiming that the serial killer is here and ready to strike again...

The film contains a top-drawer performance from Lindy Booth as a sexpot schoolgirl. The movie also features Julian Morris, Jon Bon Jovi, Gary Cole and Jared Padalecki.

For the trope, see Crying Wolf.

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Tropes used in Cry Wolf include:

• Batman Gambit: Owen pulls this on Mr. Walker, and the patsies are the administration.
• Boarding School
• Brick Joke: The scene where the group discusses previous "victims" includes a comment about the murderer hiding in the back seat of a car, which is instantly dismissed as cliché. When Owen starts up Tom's car, Mercedes is in the back seat. Bonus points for Owen's attempt to subvert another trope in character while doing so.
• Catholic School Girls Rule: OK, technically it's not a Roman Catholic school, but "Dodger" walks squarely into this trope.
• The Chessmaster
• Crying Wolf
• Dawson Casting: Lindy Booth was in her mid-20s.
• Death By Genre Savvy: In a way. One of the characters uses the other characters' knowledge of Horror Tropes to cause another character to kill a man she wants revenge on, making this murder by genre savvy by proxy.
• Deceased Fall Guy Gambit
• Evil Redhead: Dodger
• Fille Fatale
• Heroes Want Redheads: This is the case with Owen and Dodger, at least until The Reveal.
• Hey, It's That Guy!: Lindy Booth. Big Wolf on Campus fans will remember her as "Charlotte" from the episode Pleased to Eat You.
• Homage: The scene where Dodger pretends to drown in the pool is a clear homage to Friday the 13 th.
• Hot for Student: Dodger and Mr. Walker.
• I Need to Go Iron My Dog
• Karma Houdini: Dodger
• Meaningful Name: Dodger. As in she dodges karma.
• Never Trust a Trailer: Contrary to what the marketing would have us believe, Cry_Wolf is not a slasher movie, and its lack of graphic violence is justified.
• Product Placement: AOL, Chrysler and Apple.
• Unreliable Voiceover
• Unwitting Pawn: Owen.
• ~What the Hell, Hero?~: Happens quite often to Owen, who is both genuinely likable and highly amoral. He could be a Magnificent Bastard, but, as Dodger tells him, he's "too nice."
• With Friends Like These...: All over the place. Despite being a group of friends, they seem to play tricks on each other often.
• Xanatos Roulette: Dodger's plan would have fallen apart instantly had any number of perfectly likely things happened.
• Yandere: Dodger