I had little hope for Wrong Turn. I once saw the 2003 original, expecting it to be a good B-movie to watch when drunk. I was bitterly disappointed. I didn’t bother with any of the infamous straight-to-DVD sequels. I was expecting the reboot to be no different from the original, just another cheap slasher that would feel a lot longer than it actually was.
My god was I wrong. Wrong Turn totally distorts all the slasher cliches we know too well and creates a story that is contemporary, compelling and genuinely tense.
This reboot sees a group of young hikers follow the Appalachian Trail in West Virginia. Ignoring warnings from locals, they stray off course and are caught by a hidden society who use primitive but brutal means to govern their community. Unless the anxious father of one of them finds them in time, the hikers may be forced to join the community and live with them indefinitely.
The Characters
Initially some of the hikers fit certain stereotypes that’re not too uncommon in modern slasher films. Among them are a gay couple, who may be interpreted as tokenistic, and a rude outspoken one, who you immediately assume is going to suffer a glorious gory death.
Then they enter the town and meet the locals who you know, just by looking at them, are going to warn them about the mountain. While that does happen and tensions do arise as the two groups interact, it doesn’t occur in the way you expect. The locals aren’t hostile towards the hikers, some are actually quite friendly. The quarrel is not over the youth and naivety of the hikers but their cultural differences, one local even refers to the group as “hipsters.”
Technically these are motifs we’re familiar with but they’re presented in a way that feels natural and normal. The hikers aren’t a bunch of jocks and cheerleaders, they’re just every day young metropolitan adults. They’re liberal, progressive, some more aggressive with their beliefs than others but they also have jobs and ambitions. I’ll be honest, when I first saw the hikers I feared I was in for another Friday The 13th reboot but as the film progressed, I began to suspect that I was in for something more than just an average slasher.
The Plot
The first plot point occurs when our hikers enter the woods and encounter the tribe. What follows is a long and tense struggle between two factions, both eagerly determined to protect their way of life. The hikers are civilised but arrogant while the mountain dwellers are principled but barbaric. You may’ve dismissed the hikers as another load of slasher fodder in the first act, however by the start of the second act you understand and feel their frustration as they hopelessly argue with the black-and-white morality of the tribesmen. When one of them is killed, you don’t cheer, you cringe. When they try to escape, you’re not bored, you’re on the edge of your seat.
Wrong Turn does something quite remarkable in that it takes a worn premise and creates something that’s truly original. This isn’t a slasher about a bunch of teens going in to the woods and getting punished by a sadist. This is a horror film about civilizations clashing and the gap between the young and old closing.
This film was such a pleasant surprise for me (especially after watching Willy’s Wonderland). Its grounded characters and total subversion of slasher conventions easily makes Wrong Turn the best film I’ve seen this year so far.
It’s gory, so unless you’re squeamish I’d recommend Wrong Turn to everyone.
I give Wrong Turn a strong 7 out of 10.
Duffhood 
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