Another film I watched while I was away is:
Wrong Turn (2003)
In hindsight it probably wasn’t the best film to watch whilst staying in a log cabin in North Wales, miles away from civilisation. However, I hadn’t seen it for years and felt it was high time I watched it again.
It should be noted that Mrs. Screen Room Movie Podcast returned from the video shop one night, years ago with this film. I, on hearing the less than imaginative title scolded her on a poor movie choice, only to be won over and proven totally wrong upon watching the film in all its gory, heart-stopping glory!
If you haven’t seen it, it stars Eliza Dushku (True Lies, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Desmond Harrington (Ghost Ship), Jeremy Sisto (Frozen 2) and Emmanuelle Chriqui (You Don’t Mess with the Zohan). It also has supporting roles from Lindy Booth and Kevin Zegers (2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead).
This is what it’s about:
After a traffic collision in the backwoods of West Virginia totals both vehicles, a group of friends on a camping trip and a medical student on his way to a meeting find themselves stranded and hunted by a group of disfigured, cannibalistic mountain men.
This is one of my favourite horror films. There are actually six movies in the original series but I’ve only ever seen this one. Earlier this year the franchise was rebooted with the release of Wrong Turn (2021), but again I haven’t seen it. I can’t say I’m overly excited to either.
The early 2000s gave us some great horror movies!
Jeepers Creepers (2001), Final Destination (2001), 28 Days Later (2002), Paranormal Activity (2007) and remakes of films like The Ring (2002), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) The Grudge (2004), The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and Dawn of the Dead (2004). All felt fresh and original even though a lot of it had been done before.
Wrong Turn, although probably not one of the bigger budgeted horror movies of the time, deserves its place on that list of decent horror films.
I’ve made no secret of my hatred and contempt towards film critics and it’s partly because of reviews like this one I found on Rotten Tomatoes:
“An unremarkable slasher flick that fails to distinguish itself from others of its ilk.”
Personally I think it distinguishes itself as well as a film about people trying to avoid being murdered and eaten by inbred mountain men can. There’s not a lot of wiggle room as far as that genre is concerned but I thought this movie did a great job!
I might have a Wrong Turn binge at some point and watch the other films. I’m just worried that if they get worse as they go on (and sequels often do) it might taint my enjoyment of this one.
What do you think? Have you seen all six movies? Are they all worth watching or should I just stick with the first one..? 🤔