Wrong Turn

It is quite amazing how fast time flies by. One day you suddenly realise that you are getting closer to 50 years old ( not there quite yet, only 6 years left ). I have no problem with getting older, because i am happy that i have experienced the 80´s and 90´s, that today´s young generation did not get to experience. If they could, i can imagine that they would have had fun, as we did back in those days. It was magical times, for many different reasons. When the year 2000 entered, we got a very mixed bag, especially in the film and music industry. Nu Metal was still very popular, and even Grunge rock band Puddle Of Mudd managed to sell over 5 million copies, of their major-label debut album Come Clean, back in 2001. Speaking of Nu Metal, that same year American band P.O.D released their second major label album Satellite. This is one of those albums you can still play, 20 years later and it feels like time stands still, that you are back to youth. The early 2000´s had a lot of horror films to offer, in very different qualites. Some were good, while some were.....not good. But there were some unexpected surprised, one of those titles i am especially thinking about, is the 2003 horror film Wrong Turn, from director Rob Schmidt ( who also directed the good crime thriller The Alphabet Killer, with a great cast included ). Wrong Turn turned out to be a fun mixture of the 70´s classics Deliverance and The Hills Have Eyes. The cannibal inbred hillbillies in this film, manage to bring out some fun gory moments. Wrong Turn may not be an original film in any way, but as a gory horror film, i would still say that this film have entertainment value for fans of horror. A lot of sequels have been made, and i gave up on this franchise after seeing the 4th film. But then we got the news that a remake was coming, and it sounded like it would be different from the original film. Not having any high expectations, i decided to give this film a chance. Is this remake even better than the original film, or should they have left the Wrong Turn franchise alone, a long time ago?

A group of friends from New Jersey, Jen Shaw ( Charlotte Vega ), her boyfriend Darius Adian Bradley ), including 2 more couples, travel to a small town in rural Virginia before hiking the Appalachian Trail. Several local residents, including a man named Nate Roades ( Tim DeZarn ), warn them against venturing off the marked trail. The group decide to go anyway, not knowing anything about the past of this location.

I am actually quite shocked. Why? This remake is actually better than the original Wrong Turn film from 2003. That does not mean i don´t enjoy the original film anymore, i do. But this remake actually manage to combine old school horror with some nice surprises. I have to mention that there are no cannibal hillbillies here, as is the previous Wrong Turn films. There are cannibals, but their portrait here is very different from the original film. And i actually appreciate that they decided to take this film on a complete different path, since the hillbilly theme felt worn out. This film focus more on a society where they survive on what the forest can provide them, as if they live in a society that have never changed. Where they don´t want people near them, and they don´t need any help from anyone. The acting in this film is actually better than i expected as well. Most of the actors seems to go in to their characters, and this helps Wrong Turn in a positive direction. This is usually a problem in some some horror films, that the characters don´t match well with the story. Not here though, and i appreciate that the actors take their characters seriously. If you love brutal kills, there are some nice scenes here that will most likely please you. The difference between this remake and the Wrong Turn franchise, is that this film feels more serious than the previous films, and don´t rely on gory effects. This film actually focuses more on telling a deeper story, that actually makes this film more interesting. I also appreciate the subject of the laws of the society, where they are very clear about what they accept or not. Director Mike P. Nelson ( who also directed the interesting action horror film The Domestics, worth checking out ) have made a reboot that is not only better than the original film, but he also manage to give us a story that have a lot to say about human behavior, how we make decisions in certain situations, no matter what the consequences are. If you are planning to watch a summer horror film, i think you should go for this film. Definetely better than i expected, Wrong Turn proves that there is still hope for good remakes.

Rating: DDD