Wrong Turn


release year: 2003
genre: horror
viewing setting: home DVD, 8/8/04

synopsis: A carful of college students, headed to a camping trip in the West Virginia mountains, is sidetracked by a murderous clan of inbred hillbillies.

impressions: This was pretty good stuff, very reminiscent of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the updated version was released the same year) in that the attacks on victims are sudden and brutal. These inbred monster-men don't want to capture or torture their victims - they want to hack them up, dismember them right away. The sense of danger and doom is startlingly real. The movie speeds along at a brisk pace, with only a few "oh, come on!" moments (people should know by now to never wander into old, run-down houses or get themselves trapped in a place they can't escape from.)

things to watch for: The tree-top chase, when the third survivor stops to rest. A memorable scene.

something this movie has that no other movie has: A bow-wielding mutated mountain man.

acting: Desmond Harrington and Eliza Dushku are good as the two competent kids; the rest are born victims, if obnoxious or stupid born victims. Whoever plays the various deformed hillbillies did a good job with body language.

final word: Good backwoods horror movie that seldom lets up with the suspense.

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