Wrong Turn

I've long said that if you're going to bother remaking a film, it either needs to be a genuine continuation of the original, or a reboot, that offers a different spin on the same basic concepts. This film certainly falls into the latter category, but that's about the only thing it does right. Everything else, from writing to acting is an unbelievably cringey misfire, that manages to offend and belittle every demographic, in nearly equal doses. This isn't a film for right-wingers, and though it tries to be, it's not one for the left either. It's simply a catastrophic mess, that takes one of the most basic premises in horror history, and tries to use it for social commentary. I'm all well and good with politics in my cinema, even horror, and I'm a very left-leaning individual, but there's a way to imbue progressive values in a film, and a way not to. This is a masterclass on how not to. The basics for a decent horror flick were here. At it's core, the film's bones are still very much structured after the backwoods horror that inspired the original "Wrong Turn". Where this film differs is in it's treatment of the hillbillies themselves. There's no slobbering, deformed monster-men here. Instead, we're given a cult-like group, with a very nomadic culture. Supposedly the ancestors of a group that headed into the mountains during the Civil War, and intended to create a free, equal society based on primitivism. The film's horror elements are decent, especially the variety of deadly hunting traps littering the forest for wayward travelers to stumble into. These moments provide some memorable, sometimes shocking set-pieces, but that's the only positive beyond decent enough direction. Where the film goes wrong is in it's socio-political tones. Backwoods horror has long commented on the disparity between rural peoples and so-called "city slickers", but this film is overbearing in the heavy-handedness it uses to drive home this point, with the subtlety of a sledge hammer. The main characters are a group of clichés, each meant to tick off a minority status. I want to make it clear, I'm not saying that from a reactionary point of view, the characterizations are simply insulting and the dialogue sounds as if it was written by a bratty child. The characters are needlessly and viciously antagonistic to the rural peoples, before they even get on the mountain. Once they do reach the mountain, the film's "clever twist" becomes quickly apparent. Not long after the group begins wandering into the traps, it becomes apparent that the mountain dwellers are not trying to kill them. These kids are simply setting off hunting traps by being off the beaten path, but when they see the fiercely dressed cultists, speaking tongues, they assume they are in danger and thus attack. This is the film's un-subtle commentary on society's tendency to misunderstand other cultures and pre-judge based on appearance. All would be well and good, except that the cult themselves are no better than these bougie, ignorant city kids. They deal out their own twisted brand of "an eye for an eye" justice, and turn out to be nothing more than a hyper-traditionalist group of rapists, that may not be as benign as the film paints them in the middle segment. Still, there's hardly anyone to root for. It quickly becomes apparent that the cult are nothing but barbaric heathens, but the kids make so many poor choices and intentionally provoke violence instead of being mature adults. The film unironically could have ended well for everyone if certain characters had kept their mouths shut, but this is one of those scripts in which the entire plot hinges on everyone being as vapid as possible. In the end, despite it's pretensions to say something progressive, it ends up painting both left, right and everything in between as idiocy. Couple this with dialogue so poor that it evokes laughter, and this is a bizarre effort that I can't believe ever saw wide release. We can only hope this train-wreck doesn't somehow inspire a slew of increasingly lousy sequels as the original film did. Because this one already set the bar as low as possible.

Really good watch, would watch again, and can recommend. This has very little to do with the original other than weird people hunting people in the woods. This movie surprised me quite a bit, I just didn't expect it to take the story form that it did. The cast all did a great job, and the story is well written in layers. The movie also does something I've noticed some movies have been doing somewhat recently where the movie ends, but continues with what feels like a new story, related to the first. Other movies have done this (though much more sloppily) in the past, but I feel like writers have started to do this on purpose, to very good effect. The movie is good at keeping the audience in the dark to what is going on, and being brutal with the characters in rather interesting ways. If you like slasher / horror at all, definitely give this a watch.

The main cast are so evil towards the dumb yokel country folk... presumably for the social crime of not being urban elites, and so pretentious even when they are talking to themselves that you actually want to see them die. You aren't scared, you are rooting for the bad guys because the good guys that you are supposed to relate to, supposed to like, supposed to want to survive are so geographically hateful, so pretentious, so self absorbed, that the only pleasure you get is seeing them killed off... ... and that doesn't make for a good horror movie. I mean, yeah, it's really rewarding to see people like the guy you knew in college highly political man with a 75IQ, a list of long words that made him feel intelligent, and an attitude that he was an expert on everything killed off, but all that means is that you have to spend time with people like him again... ... and unfortunately there are more than one of him this time. They are an entire group of people. The inbreeds look both friendly and tolerant of outsiders as well as intellectually superior to the herons. It's a painful watch.