Arriving in cinemas with a 12A rating and no star names didn't bode well for teen slasher Cry Wolf. Indeed this big screen debut for writer/director Jeff Wadlow turned out to be "a timid beastie" about a bunch of bored, toffee-nosed kids who pass the time with twisted mind games. It was predictably slated by critics and turned out to be a lame duck at the box office too.

A Real Howler

Three deleted scenes begin with Owen (Julian Morris) stumbling through a dark forest with Wadlow explaining in his commentary that he wanted to "milk it for a big boo" in the first 20 minutes. In the end he cut it because it didn't serve the plot, but what he doesn't say is that the scene is about as scary as an episode of Willow The Wisp. Owen then has a bit of a smooch with flame-haired femme fatale Dodger (Lindy Booth) and there's an extended version of her introduction to "the lying game". Apparently this was a "recurring nightmare" of a scene for Wadlow and co-writer Beau Bauman because they had to introduce the rules of the game, "the thematic importance" of the game, plus the characters. In fact the scene proved so tricky, they ditched the original version and present it here on its own. And yes, we can confirm that it makes no sense at all.

Wadlow and Bauman give commentary for a reel of audition tapes, which ends up being rather long-winded. They talk about the qualities they were looking for in each character and how they insisted on casting "authentic teenagers" (as long as they were cheap). For the part of Dodger they wanted a girl who embodied "strength, wit, savvy and intelligence" and the fact that she turned up in a see-through blouse and black bra probably didn't hurt either...

Their commentary for the main feature tries to impose some sense of profundity on the story with Wadlow talking about a supposed subtext, eg Bauman draws our attention to the correlation between the orange books in the school library, the orange lights and Lindy's orange hair and assures us that colour was very important for "evoking the killer". Plus, Wadlow insists there were thematic concerns in the use of mobile phones etc. As he puts it, "It shows how technology, if used inappropriately, can get you into a lot of trouble." Deep, eh?

Wolf Bait

British actor Julian Morris experiences a more literal struggle to find depth in a roughly cobbled behind-the-scenes featurette. He builds up his part in a scene where Owen dives into a swimming pool to save Dodger and draws our attention to the lights erected by the water. Aside from electrocution, he asks the stunt co-ordinator about other ways he could die performing this feat. "You could crack your skull," he blankly responds. "Bad things could happen." Ooh...

In case the main feature leaves you wanting, Wadlow and Bauman throw in two of their previously produced shorts. Manual Labour follows a guy trying to find his car in a multi-storey car park while his wife threatens to give birth, but Tower Of Babble is the better piece of filmmaking. It's an ambitious ensemble piece with Kevin Spacey providing characteristically dry narration over the image of a typing monkey. You see, now that's a film! Even so, these shorts don't warrant buying the DVD. It's got more woollen padding than a wolf in sheep's clothing.

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