PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Thanks to Buffy the Vampire Slayer I had a HUGE crush on Eliza Dushku back in the day and had to see everything she was in (I even have the same tattoo that she had when she was Faith on my arm, and I am not sure if she would find it to be sweet or creepy if she ever saw it). When Wrong Turn hit theaters, I was dying to see it, so I grabbed my mom one Sunday and we saw it at the local cinema one Sunday afternoon.
So, what did I think about it? Did I think that it was awesome or did I go home that day wishing I hadn’t bothered and should have just binge watched season three of Buffy instead?
Keep reading to find out…
Synopsis
A group of people find themselves stalked by a trio of inbred redneck brothers who enjoy brutally murdering anyone who comes into their woods.
Check out the trailer below!
Before I saw it, I thought that Wrong Turn had a nice Just Before Dawn vibe to it as it centered around a bunch of people being stalked by some homicidal backwoods maniacs in the middle of the forest so I was pretty excited to see it because I love that movie and feel like it is incredibly underrated. While I was partially correct here, it seemed that Wrong Turn was a little more watered down and nowhere near as creepy as Just Before Dawn. I still enjoyed it for what it was, but I couldn’t help but feel a little underwhelmed as a result. I don’t necessarily think that it is a bad movie, but I was just expecting a little bit more and after everything was said and done, I couldn’t help but feel more than a little disappointed.
Some things do work for the movie. The plot, while not the most original, is entertaining enough and it works for the most part. We have a trio of messed up looking inbred rednecks running around slaughtering people so if nothing else the premise is fun. Written by Alan B. McElroy (Wheels of Terror, The Marine) and directed by Rob Schmidt (Speed of Life, The Alphabet Killer), this movie doesn’t take itself too seriously and has a few bloody and brutal death scenes in it that are a lot of fun.
The characters are also likable and you want them to make it out of the movie alive, but since this is a horror film you already know not all of them are going to survive and it is quite easy early on to figure out who is going to be among the living at the end of the movie as some of them are unfortunately obviously just fodder for the killers and are only in the movie to be viciously murdered.
Speaking of the characters, the cast does a good job bringing their respective characters to life. While she may not be the greatest actor of all time and probably won’t be winning an Oscar anytime soon Eliza Dushku (Soul Survivors, The New Guy) does an okay job as the final girl Jessie, but it was hard for me to see her play a sort of damsel in distress here since I was used to her playing a total badass on Buffy who could take care of herself in a pinch.
Jeremy Sisto (May, Clueless) is one of my all-time favorite actors and is decent in the role of Scott, but I wish that he had gotten more screentime. Likewise, Emmanuelle Chriqui (100 Girls, Waiting…) rocks as Carly, but I think she should have also had a bigger part. Desmond Harrington (Dexter, Love Object) steals the show though as the male lead Chris and comes off as a cool and collected action hero here that you can’t help but dig. All in all, everyone who appears in the movie does a good job and none of them phone in their performance.
As I said earlier, some of the death scenes are a lot of fun as well and the killers themselves are pretty cool. We get death via bow and arrow, some fun with barb wire, and an extremely cool and unique decapitation that is the highlight of the movie for me. These rednecks don’t mess around when it comes to taking out their victims, and they are certainly not some folks that you would not want to come after you as they are as brutal as they are ugly.
I liked Wrong Turn for the most part, but I just feel like it is missing something that I can’t put my finger on that would have made it totally awesome. It isn’t a bad movie and certainly has its fanbase as there are a slew of sequels (and a remake), but for me it isn’t one of those movies that I can watch repeatedly. It’s fine for what it is, but I just can’t help but feel that it could have been better in several ways. Still, it’s not a bad way to kill 90 minutes if you don’t have anything else to do.
