A Wrong Turn going in the right direction as we bring you our 2021 Wrong Turn reboot review.
Despite warnings to stick to the Appalachian Trail, hikers stray off course and cross into land inhabited by a hidden community of mountain dwellers who use deadly means to protect their way of life. Suddenly under siege, the friends seem headed to the point of no return — unless one man can reach them in time.
After a plethora of inbred cannibal movies, I think the franchise came to a solid conclusion a whopping six years ago with Wrong Turn 6, a film I had the joy of attending the premiere of at Scarefest in California.
I was praying that another movie wouldn’t be made after the one I saw.
It ended as it should and there was no need to draw out the series any longer, a series that has spanned twenty years already.
It’s time for a change.
Writer Alan B. McElroy returns to the series he created to send the Wrong Turn in a new direction and completely twisting not only the story of Wrong Turn but the entire dimensions that made it what it is today.
Our story starts like any other Wrong Turn movie as a group of teens go off track on an Appalachian trail and go off track into the territory of ‘The Foundation’, a reclusive mountain community who distance themselves from civilization.
Completely standing out from the previous instalments The Foundation offers a new direction in which the franchise can go in.
Warned multiple times not to stray off the path, the teens ignore and come face to face with The Foundation with deadly consequences.
The consequences in this particular feature though however are all the result of the groups own doing.
They didn’t follow the rules and come face to face with a multitude of traps The Foundation has laid throughout the forest to deter people from entering their community.
Long gone are the cannibals purposely hunting these annoying teens, The Foundation are a fair society who just wish to be left in peace.
Whilst I applaud the choice to take the franchise in a different direction, the result pays off revitalising an arguably tired and dated franchise but it’s flawed in its execution.
Some plot points make absolutely no sense and the fate of the group is almost predicted minutes into the movie with jump scares and other encounters not bringing the scare factor, it’s more of an easy watch than the previous movie with little in the way of suspense or gripping tension to keep you going.
You couldn’t care less about what happens to our focal characters and there’s me watching the movie taking the side of The Foundation.
They just want to be left in peace and some gobby, sex-hungry teens are stepping on our land.
Whatever happens next is entirely on you and the defiant choices you made.
Whilst our main story is taking place the father of one of the girls (who has gone missing at this point) is in the village looking for his daughter.
Knowing she went off on the trail his search begins and a side rescue mission also takes place alongside the central story.
You’d think having two stories running side by side would be rather confusing but I felt the blend was seamless and each parallel story intertwined well with one another and certainly helped with context as the film progressed.
For die-hard fans of the Wrong Turn franchise, you may be a little disappointed, it’s not as gory or as outlandish as the previous.
It feels like a movie that shouldn’t even be called Wrong Turn as it’s so completely different from the instalments that have come before it.
Jen and her father become the central characters of this unique and engaging feature with the other characters fading away in any form of development or understanding.
The back story and character exploration of Jen and her father are surface-level at best so naturally, the other characters fade into the ether.
It certainly feels as though the narrative is being written behind our backs rather than being shown to us.
Many of the grisly kills have been skipped as the camera pans away at the stomach-churning moments us horror fans crave.
That was my one detachment from the movie. It’s a horror movie that doesn’t for one-second feel like a horror movie in the conventional sense of the word.
What it lacks in substance it makes up for with intrigue as we eventually come face to face with the members of the community but at this point, the plot and sensical narrative weaved so far goes completely out the window.
There are a lot of great ideas dotted throughout this Wrong Turn Reboot but they all become fleeting moments.
Whilst I don’t feel it should be called Wrong Turn or associated with the franchise in any shape of the word I do like the new direction it’s going in.
As the first step in a new direction, it’s certainly a baby step, a step that deserves to be explored in more detail.
Don’t even get me started on the ending.
I’m still confused even now.
There’s something here but this particular instalment just skimmed over a surface with some real potential.
Wrong Turn Reboot review by Sean Evans
Signature Entertainment presents Wrong Turn (2021) UK Home Premiere on Digital Platforms 26th February and Blu-Ray & DVD 3rd March
Our Rating
Summary
Whilst this particular movie does stumble taking its first baby steps in a bold new direction there’s plenty to salvage from this well crafted (if albeit sometimes confusing) feature.
