Respond to these rapid questions in our Wrong Turn quiz and we will tell you which Wrong Turn character you are. Play it now.
Every now and then, a horror film comes along that demonstrates that reboots are not an inherently craven concept. (I happen to believe that the recent films “Child’s Play” and “The Grudge” fall into this category.) ‘Wrong Turn,’ a film directed by Mike P. Nelson and written by Alan McElroy (of the 2003 film of the same name), is a true gem. Indeed, it is worthwhile in comparison to that Eliza Dushku-starring hicksploitation film, which had the artistic merit of a pancake in terms of production value. I want to be clear for my fellow skeptics: the West Virginian inbred cannibals and their hoard of corpse meat and car keys are no longer in the picture, and neither is the dull predator vs. prey dynamic that dominated the first “Wrong Turn” (and inspired five sequels). A more complex culture clash is taking place here between “goddamn hipster freaks” and indigenous people, and the way it plays out is brutal and shocking without being depraved in and of itself.
Because of the dialogue, this remake is clearly a step up from the original, and it now wants to be judged on brains rather than brawn. This is especially true as McElroy evolves the slasher story into cult horror, like an Appalachian “Midsommar,” rather than on its brawn. That last section is where things start to sag a little, but director Mike P. Nelson exudes a confidence that allows this film to be more daring than you might expect. And, given the aforementioned fitfully nasty traps, it can be quite thrilling when you aren’t sure where a reboot like this is going.
In this film, the title is derived primarily from the branding of the film; a group of hip, diverse young hikers makes a bad decision here as well, this time while in search of a rare Civil War fort off an Appalachian trail. Jen (an incredibly game Charlotte Vega) and her boyfriend Darius (Adain Bradley) are among the group. Darius (Adain Bradley) is an out-and-out socialist who works for a non-profit and publicly dreams of a more equal society. This group of hikers, which includes a gay couple as well as an interracial couple, is generally considered to be a liberal beacon for what they believe the future of America should be. One of them is killed by a rogue tree trunk, which barrels down the hill in an excellent, frantic sequence, killing the others before it even gets to them.
But you shouldn’t waste any more time and start this Wrong Turn quiz.
It’s not as if the residents of the nearby small Virginia town didn’t warn the outsiders to stay away, after which they accused the hikers of never having held “legitimate” employment opportunities (to which the young folks then reply with their different careers, albeit none of them blue-collar positions). The initial conflict in the film is between curdled Confederate dreams and Bernie Sanders-grade socialism, and while it can be a little on-the-nose at times, it establishes a strong foundation based on a mutual fear of the other. The Foundation, a creepy cult known for wearing animal skull masks and camouflaging themselves with moss, has been operating in the Appalachian Mountains since 1859, and they have built an entire secluded civilization there. Adam (Dylan McTee), the hothead of the hiking group, is dragged into one of the traps set by members of The Foundation, causing the hikers to panic. As a result of the figures Jen sees in the woods and the traps that injure them while hiking up the mountain (Darius is injured by a spiked ball to the chest, but recovers with the help of med student Milla [Emma Dumont]), they are convinced that they are the ones being hunted.
That this film manages to humanize everyone while also honoring two different interpretations of what is considered barbaric is both remarkable and somewhat clumsy in its execution. When a member of the Foundation is attacked by a group of hiking hipsters without any outright violence being committed beforehand, the act of killing becomes a point of contention among the members of the group. ‘These are clearly not good people!’ yells Adam, the individual who performs the skull-breaking deed with a tree branch in self-defense. Following their capture by other members of The Foundation, the hikers are subjected to a court of law. “Wrong Turn” then spends a significant portion of its running time in a creepy court scene set inside the cult’s torch-lit caves, which is overseen by the cult’s stern ruler John (Bill Sage), whose rulings result in either darkness or death for the characters. The fact that Jen, who is pleading for her life, accuses The Foundation of being barbaric makes him feel deeply insulted.
Wrong Turn Quiz
The Foundation is the element that most distinguishes this film from its predecessor, conjuring up images of Ari Aster’s cult horror classic “Midsommar.” With the horror that Aster has popularized, the characters in “Wrong Turn” are practically emboldened by the fear of being doomed by something that is just out of sight. As a result, the amount of head trauma in this film is unmistakably Aster-like, as Nelson’s often jolting scenes of skulls being crushed or shot or stabbed, among other things, prove to be exactly the type of cold-blooded beats you’d expect from a film filled with visceral emotional and physical pain. Nelson takes a more gritty approach than Aster, employing desaturated colors in conjunction with abundant daylight (as in Fede lvarez’s “Evil Dead” remake), which makes the surrounding woods feel even more claustrophobic, especially when it appears that the trees have eyeballs, as in “The Evil Dead” remake.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this Wrong Turn quiz.
However, the intellectual ambitions of this “Wrong Turn” can sometimes get the better of it, and when you think about it, the ultimate meaning behind The Foundation begins to fall apart. Although it appears to be a clever hybrid of Darius’ socialist dreams and the conservative ideology of the locals, the cult does not make much sense as the political statement it clearly wishes to be. But it does provide some thrilling moments, as the traps set by The Foundation (for animals? for people?) on the mountains are both horrifying and surprising in their own right.
During this nightmare, there is a ray of hope in the form of Matthew Modine, who plays Scott, Jen’s father. This gives the story a depth that makes it especially painful and nasty, as everyone here is a family member, someone’s loved one, and the search for her is the very beginning of the film. With each chapter, McElroy scripts a tight but long game with select pieces like Scott and the locals back in town who beat him up when he asks too many questions, as the story progresses. At the same time, “Wrong Turn” demonstrates its ability to create a strong sense of characters being doomed, while also providing them with a glimmer of hope if they can defeat the next nasty threat that appears in front of them. Meeting the mountain’s residents is only the beginning of the adventure, and it’s exciting to watch McElroy and Nelson transform “Wrong Turn” into a bizarre, winding odyssey that has a lot more on its mind than just a cool kill.
About the quiz
Fathom Events will release the film in theaters only on January 26th and January 30th.Also, you must try to play this Wrong Turn quiz.
For more personality quizzes check this: Joe Bell Quiz.
