PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The original Wrong Turn movie ruined camping in the woods for me. Like, ruined it forever. You will not find me exploring the backwoods or traipsing through the trees. We all know this is how horror movies start. If I’m in the woods for three days, I’ve been dead for two of them.
The new Wrong Turn is no exception. That’s a hard pass for me. If there’s one place other than a dark forest where you will not find me, it’s in a cave. Fuck. That. No thank you.
I chatted with the director of this latest descent into hell, Mike P. Nelson, and we talked about what he would be doing if he wasn’t a filmmaker, why he loves the genre, and of course, horror movies.
PopHorror: Hi Mike! I watched Wrong Turn over the weekend, and I really liked it. I appreciated the different take on it, and I thought it was really good.
Mike P. Nelson: Awesome!
PopHorror: What intrigued you about the project and made you want to be a part of it?
Mike P. Nelson: A few things. I read the script in late 2017, and it was just so different. I had a very similar experience that I think a lot of people watching it now have while just reading it. I was like, “Woah! This is not your typical Wrong Turn.”
PopHorror: Right!?
Mike P. Nelson: It took me a second to digest that, because as much as I love doing things that are different, it was an interesting one to digest and understand… Does this work? Is this real, you know? Did this actually happen? And then when I sat on it for a little bit, and I was like, you know what? I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and I love the idea that Alan [McElroy], who had written the first one and basically created the Wrong Turn world, was given the chance to retell his story in a new way. And to do it boldly, you know what I mean? And that’s something that I think that, as a filmmaker, you just want to be able to make a film that’s bold, that’s able to say something, that’s able to knock audiences over like, “Wait! What!?” And that’s what this was. Everybody was on board to make a very different, very bold envisioning of this movie, and that was a super exciting thing to be a part of, so I pitched and they liked the ideas, and away we went.
PopHorror: I like that you said you couldn’t stop thinking about it because it’s been on my mind ever since I watched it. None of my friends have seen it, so I can’t talk about it with them, and I really want to!
Mike P. Nelson: It’s great!
PopHorror: This wasn’t your first foray into the horror genre. I was looking through your credits earlier. What is it that draws you to the genre?
Mike P. Nelson: Horror is primal. As humans, we’re all primal beings, and I just love that not only is it a universal language, but you can go in and experience this crazy situation, with people or by yourself, and walk out feeling safe. I think even more so now with some of the new horror that’s coming out. You can step into these worlds of these really rich characters going through some terrible, terrible things and these awful situations, and sometimes they end up being good, and sometimes end up being bad, but I love being able to express using that. It’s challenging.
I love being challenged into dealing with life and death situations and how these characters are going to react to this situation. It’s just really fun. It is. I’ll keep it simple. It’s just fun; it’s entertaining, it’s exhilarating, and I think that with horror… There’s room to say a lot.
PopHorror: I love that answer a lot. If you weren’t a filmmaker, what do you think you’d be doing?
Mike P. Nelson: Oh, man. I’d probably be doing something with graphic design. It would be like design or music mixed with cocktails somehow? I don’t know if you can mash all three of those together. Something like that.
PopHorror: Of course! I think you absolutely could. What’s up next for you? Are you currently working on anything or have anything coming up?
Mike P. Nelson: Yeah, I have two scripts right now, one that I’m doing rewrites on, and one that I’m on the tail end of finishing up. One of them is a holiday thriller slash horror, kind of in the vein of… Think of Halloween but at Christmas.
PopHorror: Yes, please.
Mike P. Nelson: And then I have another one that I’m working on right now that’s called Proceed to the Route which is, we’ll call it, a UFO chase movie.
PopHorror: That’s intriguing.
Mike P. Nelson: Ultimately, I guess you could say… A lot of people are like, “Oh, that’s science fiction.” No, I’d say it’s more of a monster movie than science fiction.
PopHorror: While I love a good monster movie, I’m a huge Christmas movie fan, so I’m really looking forward to that one.
Mike P. Nelson: It’s a pretty fun and wild little idea, so I’m actually super excited.
PopHorror: Awesome! I’m excited too! One last question for you, Mike. What is your favorite scary movie?
Mike P. Nelson: Oh, man. Okay, so I can tell you right off the top of my head what my favorite movie of all time is, and this question is the one that whenever I ask, “What’s your favorite movie?” And everyone is like, “Oh, man I have 10 of them.” And I’m like, “Just give me one.” It’s so easy for me to give my favorite movie, and that is American Graffiti, which I know is strange, being a horror guy. American Graffiti, what does that have to do with anything? It’s my favorite movie of all time.
It’s strange that when you get into the specificity of horror, it’s like, “Oh my gosh. What is it?” It’s crazy because you can say I love Texas Chain Saw, I love The Thing. But there’s one movie that really did me over, and I’ve only seen it like two or three times. It’s not one that I sit down and watch regularly but the one that always creeps into my mind and that I always go to when I’m asked this question, and that answer is Audition.
Thank you so much, Mike, for taking the time to speak with us. Be sure to catch Wrong Turn when it releases to VOD, Digital, and Blu-ray on February 23, 2021.
