It is a common staple in horror to have a franchise with many sequels. Often unrelated to each other, the common descending quality of these movies almost always results in an eventual reboot. While some of these comebacks continue the same ideas, others try to inject some life into dying brands. Directed by Mike P. Nelson, Wrong Turn remakes the 2003 feature of the same name and attempts to reshape outdated tropes into something new. With absolutely no tension to be found, the film drags us along an immensely boring plot, failing in many regards largely due to its horrendously written characters.
On a hike through the Appalachian Trail, a group of young Americans stray off the course and soon find themselves hunted by an unknown group. Charlotte Vega leads the cast with support from Emma Dumont, Adain Bradley, Dylan McTee and Matthew Modine.
To call Wrong Turn a horror movie would be generous. There is zero suspense and nothing that will scare you. A few images of gore aside, this is a completely unsuccessful attempt at the genre. The core reason for this is the substandard script written by Alan B. McElroy. Beginning as a slasher of sorts, there is no creativeness to be found with any of the kills. One would expect some inventive sequences but alas every murderous scene will much sooner put you to sleep than keep you on the edge of your seat. Once it moves past the ineffective first act, it stops pretending to deliver fear and instead offers a twist that will leave you questioning if you mistakenly changed to a different film altogether. This haphazard transition results in further highlighting what may be the movie’s biggest flaw, it’s appalling characters.
The individuals that drive the narrative are a group made up of a variety of races and sexual orientations. While diversity can be a good thing, it does feel like there were some boxes checked in the building of this cast. In and of itself, this is not a huge detraction but an issue arises once we realise that their personalities don’t venture far beyond this. There is no depth to any of them, resulting in unrelatable paper-thin protagonists. Furthermore, some of their actions are completely absurd. Their actions are often simply what the story requires and not what is believable for any normal human being.
The biggest positive to be found in the film is a turn of events that occurs in the epilogue. The concept introduced is an interesting one and could have been highly effective if it was earned. However, the tale up to this point isn’t strong enough to utilise the revelation. Nevertheless, this is quickly discarded anyway with a final shot that acts as a final nail in this decayed coffin.
2021’s reboot of Wrong Turn will hopefully go down as a cautionary tale on how not to resurrect a horror franchise. An uninspiring narrative made up of nonsensical characters, this is a film that will hopefully be forgotten as soon as possible.