Wrong Turn
"I just want a little nibble"
Some of the scariest and most lasting
movies are ones that take place in real locations with real people
serving as villains. Deliverance is a prime example of people and
events that can actually happen in real life. Just about everyone
knows the twangy banjo music and “the scene” from Deliverance as
because it is so terrifying and can easily happen. Sure, mutants and
creatures are scary, but it's human beings committing horrible acts
that really hits close to home. It's also a good example of
hillbillies (Hillwilliams if you prefer) or “mountain folk” serving as the real life monsters
in horror movies.
Wrong Turn is a 2003 horror/action
movie starring Desmond Harrington (Ghost Ship, Dexter) as Chris
Flynn, a med student traveling through West Virginia on his way to a
job interview in North Carolina. A traffic jam causes him to travel
unpaved back roads in hopes of bypassing the congestion and making it
to his interview on time. A slight distraction leads to Chris
slamming into a jeep stopped into the middle of the road. The jeep
belongs to a group on a hiking trip who stopped because they ran over
barbed wire strewn across the road. The group includes Eliza Dushku
(Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The New Guy) as Jessie, Emmanuelle Chriqui
(Entourage, You Don't Mess With The Zohan) as Carly and Jeremy Sisto
(Clueless, Law & Order) as Carly's fiance, Scott. Chris, along
with those three, go walking down the road looking for help, while
two others stay back. The two that stay back are brutally murdered by
unseen figures. The rest of the group finds an isolated cabin in the
woods filled with various trinkets, belongings, and human body parts.
They try to leave, but the owners, three deformed mountain men
arrive. After watching them eat the corpse of one of their friends,
the group escapes out the back, but are pursued by the hillbillies.
Chris tries to distract them well the other three steal their truck,
but is shot in the leg. Scott creates a diversion and the hillbillies
give chase while Jessie, Carly, and Chris steal their truck. Scott is
shot and killed with arrows and the truck gets stuck in the mud. The
group makes it to a watchtower where they radio for help, but the
hillbillies torch the structure, forcing the group to jump onto
surrounding trees. One hillbilly climbs up and beheads Carly. Jessie
is eventually captured and taken back to the cabin. Will Chris be
able to stop the cannibalistic hicks?
It's like an Abecrombie & Fitch ad come to life
The story in Wrong Turn is your basic
“run from the crazy killers” horror movie. We get the good
looking teenagers out to an isolated area and then chase them down.
There's nothing wrong with that scenario, but it requires something
extra, something special that sets it apart from the countless number
of similar plots. Unfortunately, Wrong Turn doesn't really do
anything to make it stand out from the pack. Other than being crazy
mutated cannibals, there is never a specific reason for why the
hillbillies are going after the group. I guess you don't really need
a reason beyond that, but it would have been nice. I think the main
reason why the movie wasn't particularly frightening was that it was
set mostly during the day. There are some scenes at night, but not
nearly enough. It seems like a wasted opportunity to terrify the
audience with startling cuts, music swells, and other horror tricks.
In the daylight, you just see that the pursuers are just deformed
bumpkins in overalls. It kind of kills the horror when you look at
the villains and all you hear in your head is twangy getaway music.
Wrong Turn has a good amount of action
and violence with a few gory scenes. For having a movie with
cannibals, there should have been a lot more blood and violence. Why
bother making them cannibals if you aren't going to show a lot of
flesh eating and bone gnawing? The acting is solid throughout with
good performances by just about everyone involved. Desmond Harrington
plays the handsome hero well and Elisa Dushku plays her part well
enough. Director Rob Schmidt (Masters of Horror: Right To Die, The
Alphabet Killer) does a good job of capturing the action without
resorting to shaky camera tricks.
Knife to see you
This movie has it's moments, but could
have been much better. While there is some good action and violence,
there just wasn't enough for what the movie deserved. When you have a
basic plot, you need to set yourself apart, and Wrong Turn didn't
really accomplish that task. The acting and directing are good, but
it only goes so far. That's not to say Wrong Turn is bad, because
it's not, but it could have been great. It's a decent watch, spawning
three sequels, and possibly another one in the near future. While not
the best “pursued in the woods” movie, Wrong Turn is still worth
a viewing.
6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment