Cry_Wolf (PG-13/unrated)
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This came out in 2005, but I didn't see it until 2013. (My DVD says it's unrated, but there isn't really anything in it that couldn't have been in the original PG-13 version, which I haven't seen, depending on how lenient the MPAA felt like being the day they rated it.) It wasn't particularly successful financially or critically, but I've always wanted to see it, mainly because one of the stars is Lindy Booth, whose work I've enjoyed in a few things. Another star is Jared Padalecki. The movie also has Kristy Wu, who I kind of know for Flight 29 Down. And Jon Bon Jovi, though somehow I failed to recognize him in this. And Gary Cole has a small role. Everyone else, I think, was unknown to me. I'm glad I finally saw the movie, but I don't suppose I'll ever feel like watching it again. It was alright... I mean, there's nothing wrong with it... In fact I'd say there are plenty of similar thrillers that people who are bigger fans of the genre would like better than this, but which I would probably like less than this. I dunno.

Anyway, it begins with a kid named Owen being transferred to the latest in a string of boarding schools, because he keeps getting kicked out of them. (I think the most recent expulsion was explained, but not any of the others.) He immediately meets a girl named Dodger (Booth), and he gets a roommate named Tom (Padalecki). And he gets inducted into their circle of friends, who play a little game in which one person is deemed a wolf (that is, a liar), and the others are sheep. Dodger is the shepherd, which means she decides who the wolf is, and everyone else has to try to guess who it is, being eliminated from the game if they're wrong. But they're all fairly bored with the game and with each other. When a girl from the town where the preparatory academy is located gets murdered, they come up with the idea of "forwarding" a fake e-mail to the whole school, claiming this has happened before, and it's actually a serial killing, and there will be more. But soon thereafter, Owen starts receiving instant messages on his computer that are supposedly sent by "The Wolf," which is the name they'd made up for the serial killer in their fake e-mail. Most of the movie is about the game becoming real... or about one or more of the friends playing a prank meant to convince Owen (and possibly the others) that it's real.

And... there's not much more to say. The story's not uninteresting, and it could be kind of sort of scary at times, I guess. The ending was rather predictable, but not bad.