phancy.com - horror reviews - MOH 2021

Wrong Turn



IMDb Info

Release Year: 2021
Runtime: 1h 49min
Country: Germany, USA, UK
Language: English
Genre Tags: Horror, Thriller
Plot Summary: Friends hiking the Appalachian Trail are confronted by 'The Foundation', a community of people who have lived in the mountains for hundreds of years.

Poster - Title Card


phancy.com rating:

phancy.com notes: There is a surprising amount of story going on in this movie. It's like watching three different movies squished into one. While the individual acts don't quite come together as a whole, it gets an extra star for always being compelling and managing to keep a consistent tone throughout.


Outside Reviews:

Nick Allen
3 out of 4 stars - rogerebert.com

Every now and then there's a horror movie that proves reboots aren't an inherently craven concept. (I happen to think that the recent Child's Play and The Grudge movies fit that description.) Wrong Turn, directed by Mike P. Nelson and written by Alan McElroy (of 2003's Wrong Turn) is such a gem. And it's not just worthwhile in comparison to that Eliza Dushku-starring hicksploitation film, which equaled the artistry of a pancake. For my fellow skeptics, let me make it clear: gone are the West Virginian inbred cannibals and their hoard of corpse meat and car keys; the same goes for the dull predator vs. prey dynamic that dominated the first Wrong Turn (and inspired five sequels). The culture clash here between "goddamn hipster freaks" and people of the woods is more complicated here, and the way it unfolds is brutal and shocking without being depraved itself.


Katie Rife
Grade: C+ - For better and worse, the Wrong Turn remake takes some unusual turns

But although its many complications quickly devolve into absurdity, Wrong Turn does deserve some credit for the boldness with which it deviates from its franchise inspiration. This is no paint-by-numbers remake. And although it's just got way too much going on, the gore is gnarly, the paranoia is palpable, and the characters, while sometimes annoying, have motivations and arcs that make sense. (The ones that make it to the second half, anyway.) And while the message is somehow both nonsensical and preachy, the plot is wild enough that you can still appreciate Wrong Turn on some level, if not as the rich text it aspires to be. Just because the film takes itself too seriously doesn't mean a viewer has to. It's better approached with a sense of humor.