Wrong Turn (2003)

Wrong Turn (2003) (see below for trailer and preview images)

Directed by
Rob Schmidt

Written by
Alan B. McElroy
 
Starring:
Desmond Harrington, Eliza Dushku, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Jeremy Sisto, Kevin Zagers, Lindy Booth
 
Budget $12.6M                   Box Office $28.7M
 
IMDb 6.1/10                        Rotten Tomatoes 40%                  Metacritic 32/100

I remember liking this movie when it first came out on video, ya know, back in the days when we went to the video store, walked the walls and picked movies based on the picture on the front of the box???  If you were born after 2000, you almost surely have no idea what I’m talking about.  The whole “video store rental” market went downhill right about the turn of the century so, you younger people never got to experience the madness of rushing to the video store on Friday evening to get to the New Releases before they ran out. You don’t know the agony of being put on a “wait list” for a movie to be returned and you certainly don’t know about “Be Kind, Rewind” and the penalty fee that came along with that if you weren’t, eh um…”kind”.  Nevertheless, it was a whole experience back in the day, unlike today where just about any movie you want is at your fingertips in digital format SOMEWHERE.
 
Watching this film again took me back to those days.  It also reminded me how young everybody looked back then. I saw Jeremy Sisto and immediately thought of his schmucko character in that annoying movie Clueless. (Please insert a double, no triple, eye roll here for one of the most airhead movies of the 90s.) But, then I also thought of him in Suicide Kings, equally as big of a schmuck but, a lot better movie.
 
This film is about a group of people, around their early 20s (maybe a couple about 19) and they get in a car accident with each other.  Four of them group together to go look for a phone (and help) while two stay behind to wait at the cars.  They soon find out that being wrecked and stranded on an abandoned dirt road out in the middle of nowhere IS as creepy as it sounds…even creepier.  Soon they are accosted by three men, if you can call them that.  I guess by scientific definition they would HAVE to be classified as human but, these creatures are definitely NOT like the average everyday people…or even the average everyday killer.  These guys are the epitome of the inbred, backwoods, no teeth, psychotic killers you see and hear about ONLY in horror movies like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and well, this movie.  They don’t even speak English, they just make weird whooping noises and awful sounds that could make your stomach turn.  If they weren’t so violent, and ugly, you would think that they were just the typical depiction of village idiots living in the woods.  But these guys are like psychopathy on crack. 
 
Now, all they have to do is survive…
 
There are some really good kill scenes in this movie.  The special effects are decent and the action is pretty constant.  I will admit that at about an hour in I looked at the counter to see how much time was left on the movie because it was a slow spot in the film.  And I’d say the first fifteen minutes or so, like any other film, can be a little slow too.  But, there is some light comedy, more like sarcasm in the beginning so that helps.  The acting is good but, honestly, the best are the killer freaks.  They really grab hold of the roles and don’t let go.  And their make-up is truly grotesque.  I mean, if there was ever an ugly villain contest, these guys could take first prize, easy.
 
All in all, definitely worth watching and I’m glad I own it.  It’ll be one I watch again.
 
RATINGS
4/5 Stars