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  1. #1
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    Thumbs up Wrong Turn review



    Release Date: May 30th, 2003 (wide).
    MPAA Rating: R for strong violence and gore, some language and drug use.
    Distributor: 20th Century Fox
    Starring: Eliza Dushku, Jeremy Sisto, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Desmond Harrington, Lindy Booth
    Directed by: Rob Schmidt
    Produced by: Robert Kulzer, Erik Feig, Brian Gilbert, Stan Winston, Brian J Gilbert

    I've got to admit that I went into Wrong Turn with extremely low expectations. I'd heard the films reputation as the latest cheesy horror movie to hit the market, and well, we have to face facts here. The old story of a group of teenagers trapped in the woods with a group of crazed, cannibalistic inbreeds is hardly anything new. What else could I expect but a lame rehash of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Yet I found myself drawn to the theatre, I'd had a bad day, was in a bad mood and just wanted something to complain about. Unfortunately director Rob Schmidt couldn't provide me with what I was looking for, he had to take the wrong turn himself and produce the best American horror movie I've seen in years. (before people start complaining, I'm not into the supernatural so there's obviously going to be certain films I haven't seen.)

    It didn't always look that way though. At the start I was sitting in my seat in full complaining mode as I sat through one of those lame, clechaed pre title scares. It really was bad, 2 incredibly dumb hikers are taking some recreation time. The girl is stuck asking for help and the guy is ignoring every word of it, until he suddenly goes quiet and the audience guesses the reason why. You can guess how it goes from there, someone throws his body off the edge, she drops, then she runs and as she get's within a few feet of her car she trips. She looks up at the car and unseen person drags her back into the woods. Absolutely nothing new there then, and a totally useless scene designed to tell the audience that there's something bad in the woods. Of course it's a fair bet that in a room full of people who chose to watch the film, the majority of the audience knew this already.

    Anyway after the decidedly creepy credits the film continues on with it's traditional nonsense. Guy decides that with the highway in a major traffic jam, the only way he wont be late for his job interview is to cut through a mountain road in the woods, but along the way he bumps into another car damaging his own in the process. the Dr, and 3 of the passengers from the other car decide to head off back to civilization leaving the 2 remaining friends to wait alone by the cars. In true horror movie tradition they decide to get up to what teenagers get up to in the woods, and then die immediately after. Yet from this point on, and for some strange reason, the film suddenly get's good. The characters who went off, find an empty shack and since it's empty they decide to investigate. The inside of the shack is very Silent Hill in it's design, with it's rusty fridge freezer's, which store things you'll be glad you'll never see, and a quick search of the shack reveals it to be a slaughter house. Schmidt draws the scene out for all it's worth as the cannibals arrive home and the characters have to hide.

    The camerawork used keeps rapidly cutting between the characters hiding under the bed and the characters in the cupboard. Neither of which have a very good view of what's happening, but combined can see just enough to make the scene scary. For the first time in the film you find yourself involved in the film. You still don't really care about the characters themselves, but you do feel like you yourself are there with them. The audience member becomes a character, trapped in a cabin hiding, whilst crazed cannibals cut up a corpse mere inches from you. It's a feeling that's then carried throughout the film, as none of the characters ever get developed yet you can still relate. It's like all of your worst Nightmares placed on the screen, and as such the atmosphere is unrelenting. No chance for big exposition scenes, because when was the last time you had a nightmare where you could sit down and talk? It's never happened to me, and the film happens in exactly the same way. The cannibals that follow the party are literally unrelenting, and every time the characters think they've lost them they prove themselves right there. In fact the nightmarish nature of the film was so strong, that by the time the film reaches it's most memorable set piece, in the tree tops no less, I was almost willing myself to wake up just to get some relief from the unrelenting nightmare.

    Before I end this review though I would like to give some credit to makeup artist Stan Winston who's work went a long way to building the atmosphere of the film. While the fast editing on the kills themselves mimics the quick, and largely painless deaths, Winstons work on the after effects make the deaths seem much more unpleasant. I don't really like gore in my movies, and yet I can't imagine Wrong Turn working without the extremely detailed effects by Winston, because the very knowledge of what will happen to the bodies gives the characters an even bigger reason to try to live. However it's in the creature effects on the inbred cannibals where he get's to be the most creative. These people look entirely convincing and each of them have their own unique characteristics. My favorite has to be the little one, who's energy and enthusiasm for the kill reminded me greatly of Leatherface, history's most memorable inbred cannibal. It's a shame that I have to make the comparison but it can't be avoided, because there's no denying that in it's story and style Wrong Turn is very similar to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Yet that film was made 30 years ago and so it's nice to see that in a time where nearly every slasher movie has to be dripping in irony, that a film can be released that is serious, intense and just plain scary.

    Sadly, while I was well prepared to grant the film 4 stars the ending spoiled things. I wont spoil it here but, like the start, the closing act reeks of studio intervention. It's a film that would have benefited from a more negative, less mainstream ending, but since that is not the case it has to lose points for leaving the audience with a lack of the adrenaline it had filled them with previously.

    ***half/5

  2. #2
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    hmmm... that's the first good review i have heard about this movie. thanks for the info. i may wait and see this at the dollar theatre w/ my boyfriend. i like scary movies but not the really scary movies. i think i might like it. who knows. wouldn't hurt to try!!! thanks again....
    "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

  3. #3
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    I saw this last night, and while it does not reach the hights of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (one of my favourite DVD's in my collection), it is a solid horror film and is the finiest sequel of the Chainsaw Massacre series. But like you I did have low expectations of this movie.

    The Good Points-

    Unlike Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, this film does not change things, it doesn't give your reasons why the killers are the way they are, it's just straight slash and run fun. Also comapred to the other's in the series, the sound is amazing. The sound of the graising chainsaw bursting through your ears took me back by surprise.

    The Bad-

    While it is good the film has not been changed, it has not been modernised either, which limits your shock appeal. The acting at times is shoody and what was the cast director on when he picked the actors/actresses? The women in it (i forget her name) stars in Buffy The Vampire Slayer so I'm told, and apparently she does alot of karate in the series, but in the movie she runs away! What's going on there??


    Overall-

    If you are not a fan of the series, you will loathe this, however if your like me and love the Chainsaw and Evil Dead series, then this is a real trear. But very flawed.

    7.5/10



    Chal.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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