When it comes to reboots of burned out horror franchises, the results are usually on the negative side with most cases having them fail to rejuvenate their respective franchises that ultimately flamed out. Examples range from 2017's Rings to 2020's poorly executed The Grudge reboot with the only exception being David Gordon Green's 2018's Halloween reboot/sequel. Fast-forward three years later, the horror genre attempts to take another stab at rebooting a throwaway horror franchise that burnt out with 2021's Wrong Turn. Bringing back the writer of the 2003 horror film with Alan B. McElroy penning the script for the ninth installment of the popular series, the newest Wrong Turn aims to take the franchise in an entirely new direction with zero connections to the previous films with it only bearing resemblance to the rest of the franchise by name. In a move that can be considered as being highly bold while also cementing itself for facing total condemnation as well as scrutiny by horror fans for bearing no similarities to the original outside of the whole trapped in the woods concept, the newest Wrong Turn aspires to reinvent the wheel for the series in a similar fashion to what Halloween lll: The Season Of The Witch tried to do for its franchise back in the day. Although that film ended up becoming both a box office and critical disappointment upon release with it later gaining cult status by horror fans as being a solid horror film on its own right, Wrong Turn is unlikely to follow the same pattern despite it coming across as being a better film than what one expects it to be, though a tad pointless given that it bears no connection to the previous set of films. Wrong Turn 2021 is not a perfect horror film by any means, but it surprises with both its desire and ambition to move the series in a new direction with its greatest misstep being its main title.
Abandoning the cannibalistic inbred hillbillies who served as being the first films villains, the newest Wrong Turn focuses on a group of friends hiking on the Appalachian Trial finding themselves being confronted by a community of people called 'The Foundation,' who have lived in the mountains for hundreds of years. The first Wrong Turn wasn't anything special besides being passable horror-themed entertainment as it never attempted to separate itself from the slasher films that came out around its time. That film worked as being more of a guilty pleasure in terms of giving audiences a basic plot with disposable characters, creepy creature like villains, and effective moments of gore. As fun and entertaining as that film turned out to be, it didn't do anything to differentiate itself from others of its kind. That however, isn't the case with the 2021 reboot as the new film attempts to elevate itself to being more of a more realistic and thoughtful horror flick, that carries a more serious tone which contains underlining political undertones underneath its general plot. Whereas the original Wrong Turn carried a brisk pace in regards to introducing the audience to its main characters and having them get stranded early on, the reboot is slower-paced and more atmospheric in terms of building up its suspense. The feels of the two films are completely different with their only resemblance to each other being solely in name with their goals to entertain their audience being completely different. The newest Wrong Turn aims to adapt to the modern style of horror films with a millennial group of characters fighting to survive against an enemy that's less frightening lookwise, though more believable in terms of ideology. The filmmakers took a bold step in trying to give the franchise a much needed makeover in hopes of making it compete with today's modern horror, though the film finds itself being a little too serious and overly preachy for the type of franchise it comes from. One of the main aspects of the original 2003 Wrong Turn that made it fairly entertaining to watch, was the fact that it didn't concern itself so much with giving its story or characters thorough development, but chose to get straight to the point with its concept along with give horror fans what they wanted to see which was a 1970's B movie style thrill ride of terror. As cheesy and predictable as the original Wrong Turn's plot came across as being, it worked with the film never aspiring to be anything more than forgettable horror entertainment. The reboot is a film that wants to be taken more seriously by audiences, with it having much more on its mind in regards to its main plot and themes. As a film that's meant to be an installment of the long-running Wrong Turn series which had a mediocre start and continued its gradual decrease in quality, the newest reboot provides a stronger entry than the previous efforts but is lacking the carefree energy and thrills of the original 2003 film that drew horror fans to it. The reboot works better as being a standalone horror film than it does as being apart of the series whose name it borrows from. For those who view the film as its own separate thing, it's actually better than what one expects.
As far as the films acting goes, the performances from the main cast serve as being relatively decent and standard for a horror movie. With one such as Wrong Turn, it's not required for the acting to be more than serviceable with anything beyond that being a nice plus. The cast as a whole work well together as a group of Gen Z millennials, who find themselves being targeted in the woods by a twisted cult like group while hiking the Appalachian Trial. The cast for the original Wrong Turn consisted of young up-and-coming actors/actresses that were not only appealing but kept continued the trend of new faces dominating the horror genre during its late 90's/early 00's resurgence. Outside of Matthew Modine being the most well-known actor in the new film, the cast presented is mostly unrecognizable yet effective in their roles. Charlotte Vega shines as the films main character Jen Shaw with her convincingly portraying her characters unfamiliarness regarding her surroundings and fear of being hunted in the woods. Vega's performance creates a fairly strong female character that audiences can sympathize with and ultimately want to see survive her ordeal. Adian Bradley also impresses as Charlotte's boyfriend Darius with his character boasting an interesting dynamic as the story progresses. Matthew Modine makes the most of his part as Jen's father Scott Shaw with Modine conveying the audiences sympathy in playing the role of a concerned father, who knows that something is off regarding his daughters sudden disappearance. Bill Sage proves to be effectively chilling as The Foundations leader Venable with the audience being creeped out by the characters hold on the brainwashed community. The rest of the cast give notable performances with Emma Dumont and Dylan McTee playing couples Milla and Adam, who tag along with Jen and Darius on their trip along with Vardaan Arora and Adrian Favela as the groups male couple Gary and Luis. Other supporting roles include Daisy Head as Edith, one of The Foundations young members, and Tim De Zarn as the towns local Redneck Nate Roades who aggressively warns the group against venturing off the marked trail. In terms of making the most of their roles, the cast for Wrong Turn does a good job of making the audience believe in the terror unfolding on the big screen regardless of whether they agree with the direction the new reboot takes with the franchise.
The films directing by Mike P. Nelson comes across as being standard work for a modern horror flick with nothing new or impressive being shown besides the film boasting a carefully paced buildup of suspense. Nelson keeps the film grounded within its woods setting with the atmosphere being both dark and tense. The films booby traps are decent as well as effective in showcasing the films moments of gore for the audience. The violence shown is intensely graphic with characters being shown to be killed off in brutal ways which include the use of traps, arrows, characters being sliced up by knives, and severely beaten. Watching the film, it's clear that Nelson aims to be creative with the kills though he never taps into the level of energy and carelessness that was visibly dominant throughout the 2003 film. Whereas that film was quick paced with it carrying a running time of just 84 minutes, the reboot is nearly a full half hour longer with it clocking in at 109 minutes. The newer film feels more slower-paced and atmospheric in comparison to the previous film with audiences getting a stronger reading of both the main characters and The Foundation tribe. The cinematography is one area that pales in comparison to the original film. Whereas the camera work captures the look and feel of the woods in the newest Wrong Turn, it doesn't quite capture the creepy vibe that the 70's style cinematography in the original film conveyed. The films score works hand-in-hand in adding to the films level of suspense and tension. As far as the directing for the new Wrong Turn goes, Mike P. Nelsen takes the opposite approach of what was done in the 2003 film with him relying heavily on both atmosphere and tension to scare audiences with the occasional splash of blood occurring throughout the film. Although the film isn't as blatant as its predecessor in its desire to kill off its on screen characters in the most brutal and disturbing ways, Nelsen's film relies on old-fashioned psychological terror and suspense to build up the anticipation of the main characters encountering carefully placed booby traps and disturbing death scenes. It's a different approach that the film takes in presenting its horror in comparison to the rest of the series, but Nelsen's slower approach deserves some commending for attempting to try something different in an effort to add substance.
The screenplay by Alan B. McElroy aims to give the franchise a more realistic and modern approach with the new group being more diverse than the previous one with the new batch consisting of two young women, one black man, a Latinx and Indian man with the latter two shown to be a gay couple. Although the attempt to present a more rounded group is noble, it doesn't leave the intended impact with the audience as everyone in the group besides Jen and Darius characters feel both one-dimensional and stereotypical. The films main antagonists, particularly Venable, serves as being charismatic as well as maintaining the audiences interest with his chilling persona as the story unfolds. Though the figures in The Foundation tribe never come across as being as scary as the inbred hillbillies from the original Wrong Turn, they still manage to be effectively creepy with them having a subplot that feels similar to that of Wicker Man. The main characters shown in the film are portrayed as being a diverse group of privileged millineals, who look down on the Southern town they're visiting while being aware that they're out of their traditional comfort zone with them being stared at and harassed by a group of redneck hillbillies, who may or may not be trying to warn them off from going on the trail. Of course given that the story is horror themed, the film wouldn't be complete without pointless throwaway characters such as the hotheaded member of Jen's group Adam, who conveniently gets his leg stuck in a trap and ultimately dragged off through the woods. The dialogue is about what one expects for a horror film with it landing on the level of being average with characters saying nothing more interesting than screaming each other's names out. The more interesting moments regarding character development and dialogue include Darius fantasizing about a cult-like dynamic in which "everyone works and everyone shares", which ultimately presents an interesting dynamic for his character later on in the story. Jen is portrayed as believing that there's only right and wrong with no shades of grey in between. Adams character is portrayed as being a total jerk with audiences eagarly awaiting his demise. Whereas the hillbillies in the original Wrong Turn had no motive in wanting to kill the group of young teens other than them being deformed psychopaths, The Foundation tribes motive is interesting with the group being revealed to have migrated into the woods to avoid being caught up in the divide of the country during the Civil War era with them vigorously defending the village with set traps. The concept for the new Wrong Turn sets itself apart from the rest of the series in the sense that the villains aren't just hunting and killing civilians for sport, but are doing it now with a clear purpose that makes sense and is thoughtful. It almost feels like a plot twist that would come out of a horror film like Get Out with the film playing on both racial and political themes in the midst of its story. Overall, the writing for Wrong Turn surprises in the sense that it attempts to add some depth to its characters, as well as making its villains appear to be more realistic and relatable. The script isn't devoid of falling into the basic traps of modern horror films such as cliched character tropes and uninspired dialogue, but its desire to add more to the series concept is admirable despite having virtually no connection to the previous films.
With how different the new Wrong Turn presents itself as being in comparison to the rest of the series, the question arises of why the filmmakers chose to give it the same title as the original film given that the plots are completely different. It's no question that fans who both watched and enjoyed the previous Wrong Turn films prior will be confused and disappointed to see how much the filmmakers deter from the original story. The film appears to be confident in the story it wants to tell, but requires clearer clarification with horror fans regarding its solo story arc in comparison to the rest of the series. Wrong Turn 2021 is a film that works best as its own thing with no ties to the rest of the series. The problem is its bound to those films whether it desires to or not because of the filmmakers choice to make it an official reboot for the 2003 film. If one can manage to separate the two, they'll see that the new film is better than what they initially expect of it going in. The reboot serves as being a film that appears to have a bit on its mind and aims to take the series in a different direction for a more modern audience. Although its efforts to be more than just a mindless throwaway horror flick are greatly appreciated, the fact that its filmmakers can't decide on whether or not they intend to make the film a true reimagining of the series holds it back from having the maximum desired effect with audiences. Wrong Turn 2021 is dark, violent, ambitious, edgy, and ultimately confusing in what its actual intentions are in reinvigorating a horror franchise which respectably, was never great to begin with.
Final Verdict: Horror fans will find the newest installment of the Wrong Turn franchise to be completely opposite of what was done prior, but may be surprised at how the film does a fairly decent job of telling the new story that's designed to reshape the hit series that ultimately flamed out. Those however, who are hardcore fans of the original should avoid the reboot and revisit that film instead.
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