The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (Blu-ray Review)
This July, Scream Factory presents a long-lost cult favorite on Blu-ray for the first time. The Boy Who Cried Werewolf debuts on Blu-ray. This was the third and final pairing of actor Kerwin Mathews and cult filmmaker Nathan Juran (Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, The Brain From Planet Arous). The two had also worked together on the classic The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad and Jack The Giant Killer. The film makes its home video debut with a beautiful new High-Definition Transfer! In this thriller, a boy visits his father in a secluded cabin; the father is attacked by a werewolf and then becomes one himself. The boy constantly tries to tell others, but nobody will believe him. The film was originally released theatrical as half of a double bill with another film Scream Factory put out this year on Blu-ray, “Sssssss”.
Film 
Richie Bridgestone’s parents are getting a divorce, but that’s the least of his problems at the moment. While on a visit to his father’s secluded cabin, Richie witnesses his dad being attacked by a werewolf. Much like the tale of the boy who cried wolf, no one in the town will believe Richie’s claims that his father will change into a werewolf at the next full moon.
One aspect I liked about The Boy Who Cried Werewolf is that it rather gets to the goods real quick. We see a full on werewolf and a big attack straight off. No waiting, no messing around, the beast is out for blood and attacks a boy and his father. However, right after that, the film begins to wind down to a very sluggish pace and tread territory with these films that even for its time had been tread many times before.
The werewolf look in this film is pretty hilarious and may be why the film has “cult classic” status attached to it. There is no mistaking it, this is just a damn mask on a guy. It appears as if they didn’t even put any spirit gum on to make it look like a part of the actor’s face. Its looks and there is a mouth hole within a mouth hole looking rather awkward. In some far shots, they even forgot to put hair on the actor’s hands and it looks just like some guy running in a mask. Quite hilarious.
This film features some rather weird and silly aspects of it. There are these religious folks camping out in the woods that are featured here and there and can be the source of some decent humor in the film. While there are some campy elements present, I found myself more bored with the film and not having really any fun past the first act. Maybe I needed someone with me watching it, or maybe its just not that good. On the one hand, it is only rated PG, so its a werewolf film the kids can partake in.
Video
Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Clarity/Detail: This one is only really as good as the print they used. Its fine, a little muted in the color department, but does solid enough work. The thing is, this is here on Blu-ray and looks likely the best it ever has, so that’s a win for fans. Detail is pretty good, they get the werewolf done right. As a matter of fact, this Blu-ray probably worsened the look of the make-up effects in the movie by its good clarity.
Depth: Decent depth here. Works better in closeups. Spacing is fine and movements are cinematic in nature.
Black Levels: Blacks bring about more grain. They look solid and some detail is lost in very dark sequences. No crushing.
Color Reproduction: Colors are kind of dingy in appearance. It may have to do with the age of the print. Greens look good.
Flesh Tones: Skin tones are natural with a consistent appearance throughout. Details are good in close-ups but there is some smoothness to this, especially when pulling back for further shots.
Noise/Artifacts: Grain, specs/dirt, even a reel change burn in the top corner a couple times.
Audio
Audio Format(s): English 2.0 DTS-HD MA
Subtitles: English
Dynamics: This 2.0 track is good enough and gets the job done for the most part. It sounds of its time, but with a crisper feel. The overall sound isn’t too deep and more on the higher end. No, no one is going to be wow’d by it, but its actually more than enough to work and do the trick.
Low Frequency Extension: N/A
Surround Sound Presentation: N/A
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is analog sounded and a hair muffled. Its loud and clear enough to hear everything just fine though.
Extras
Photo Gallery (HD, 3:32)
Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2:24) – This is actually a double feature trailer for “Sssssss” and The Boy Who Cried Werewolf.
Summary
The Boy Who Cried Werewolf kind had me crying for it to be over. There are some silly aspects of the film to remember and look back on, but overall its kind of a bore. This Blu-ray gives it delicious treatment in the audio and video department. There also is a trailer and some photos available to peruse as well. For fans and the faithful only, really.
