Released: February 2021
Director: Mike P. Nelson
Rated R
Run Time: 110 Minutes
Distributor: LionsGate
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Cast:
Charlotte Vega: Jen
Adain Bradley: Darius
Bill Sage: Venable
Emma Dumont: Milla
Matthew Modine: Scott
One of the biggest problems plaguing movie series, especially those found in the horror genre, is that after a certain number of movies, they tend to lose sight of what made the original movie so interesting. I’ve seen this happen with Friday the 13th, Nightmare On Elm Street, Terminator, and even Star Wars. The filmmakers are either unable to capture the magic of the original film, or they are so blinded by ego that they think they can do better. At that point, the series has gone so far off the rails that the only way to try and bring it back is to wipe the slate clean with a reboot. We’ve seen it with Star Trek, Batman, Superman, and Godzilla. I’ve gone on many a tangent about remakes and reboots and the qualities of such films. What I haven’t done is discern WHEN and WHERE a film series has gone off the reservation. There was one film series where I knew EXACTLY where it jumped the shark: Wrong Turn. The original film was a fun little cannibal hillbilly slasher flick that didn’t overstay its welcome. The second film was direct-to-video and was still a decent time. Number three had its moments but suffered from pretty lousy effects. No, the series jumped the shark when they went the prequel route with 4,5 and 6. It was at that point when Wrong Turn stopped being interesting and fun. Now in 2021, we have a new Wrong Turn film, and it couldn’t be more different than the others. Is that good or bad? Let’s find out.
Wrong Turn follows a group of kids fresh out of college as they head to Virginia to follow the Appalachian Trail. After spending time in a local town and being warned not to stray off the trail, Jen, Darius, and their friends make their up the mountains. Instead of listening to the folks in the small town, Darius leads his friends off trail where they become lost and encounter mysterious skull-wearing beings in the forest. It turns out that Jen and her friends had wandered into the territory of The Foundation, a forgotten tribe of mountain-dwellers who live off the land and try to keep strangers out of their home by any means necessary. Realizing the trouble they’re in, Jen and company have to find a way to survive until Jen’s father, Scott, can find them. If you’re going into this Wrong Turn hoping for another fill of your typical cannibal hillbilly hijinks, this ain’t that kind of movie. While there are elements of required stupidity, the reboot is actually a lot smarter than any of the previous films. Most horror movies have elements of social commentary and are kind of a mirror as to how we respond to certain situations. While Wrong Turn is definitely on the nose about certain aspects of our society, it’s not always black-and-white about it’s characters.
Let’s be fair, you can’t have a movie like this without people making really stupid decisions. It’s kind of a staple for the genre, and it’s no different here. These kids end up making a dumb move that gets them into a world of hurt, yet The Foundation is trying to protect their way of life, regardless of how backwards it may seem. The movie dares to ask who the real villains are and over the course of the movie, you’re left kind of wondering if The Foundation has a point, regardless of how brutal their methods are. Let’s talk about the characters here. Yeah, some of the kids are kind of dumb, but Jen at least makes an effort to try and survive until help arrives. Charlotte Vega does a fantastic job giving the character a simultaneous amount of vulnerability and strength. By the end of the film, she’s a tough cookie. Matthew Modine plays her father, Scott, and I have to say that Modine is pretty good here. He’s extremely serious when it comes to the welfare of his daughter, and he’s willing to do what it takes to get her back. The real standout here is Bill Sage as Venable, the leader of The Foundation. In terms of movie villains, his character is not strictly evil per se, but he’s very brutal and intelligent about his control over The Foundation. These guys are not the stupid inbred hillbillies of the previous films. The Foundation is actually portrayed as a group of people who have managed to survive outside of society, yet include various ethnicities. Can we really say the same about OUR society these days?
For those expecting a wall-to-wall bloodbath, you might be disappointed here. Don’t get me wrong: It’s still a very violent movie, but Wrong Turn isn’t what I would call a traditional slasher movie. There’s definitely some really gruesome moments peppered throughout the movie, especially when a rolling log smashes a characters head against another tree. The best part about the effects here is that they are all practical. I don’t think I’ve seen a single moment of CGI in the film. If it was there, I didn’t notice it. The practical effects are pretty good, but some of the kills are handled off screen, which is unfortunate. There was ample opportunity for some serious carnage using The Foundation’s traps. The fact that they didn’t was kind of disappointing. Still, the use of actual prosthetics and effects is awesome. The cinematography here is stunning. The movie was filmed in eastern Ohio along the border of West Virginia so the look of West Virginia in the film is pretty authentic. The set designs are pretty good and the costumes are fairly intricate. When we finally see the enclave of The Foundation, it’s like looking at a world out of time. It’s pretty cool, actually.
There are people out there that have seen this movie, and wonder why it’s called Wrong Turn in the first place. It’s a fair criticism. The only relation that this film has to the original, outside of the name, is the fact that it’s set in West Virginia in the Appalachian Mountains. Outside of that, the film’s original writer, Alan McElroy, came back to write this movie, and I would say he’s done a pretty good job here. The other issue that I have with the film is the pacing. It’s a movie that runs at 110 minutes, but feels like a full two hours. I think there were a few moments here and there that could have been sacrificed for better pacing. I’m not saying it had to be action all the time, but there are moments in between set-pieces that kind of drag a little bit. Outside of those nitpicks, what we have here is a really solid reboot of a franchise that that never really should’ve been able to take off the way it did. Would I have called this movie Wrong Turn? No. That title is clearly indicates a different kind of movie than what we’ve actually got here. A lot of people were suggesting that it be called The Foundation, and I think that would’ve been a more appropriate title. Still, the movie we ended up getting surprised me in more ways than one, and it’s a solid thriller in its own right.
My Final Recommendation: Stay on the trail. 8.5/10