Scott (Matthew Modine) has not heard from his daughter Jennifer (Charlotte Vega) for about six weeks. She and her boyfriend Darius (Adain Bradley) left to hike the Appalachian Trail with three of their friends. The last phone call he received was early on from a small town where the inhabitants are kin of Confederate soldiers. We find Scott at the town bar asking questions about whether some of the locals have seen his daughter.
The film switches back six weeks to Jen and the group arriving at the small town and getting ready to hike the trail. After some advice on not to leave the trail for any reason, the group begins their trek. The going is good until one of the group suggests they take a slight detour to see an old Confederate fort that he had researched. They go off the trail and find the going rocky and slippery. Jen suggests they go back to the trial, but after some urging, they continue.
When one of the group falls on a rocky slope, things start to get out of hand, even questioning whether they are lost. Director Mike P. Nelson does his best to keep the tone of his horror film scary and with a cutting edge. He does do a pretty good job of it, but if you are a horror fan you probably will start getting thoughts of having seen the film before.
It is very difficult to use the ‘forbidden’ woods theme in a movie as many writers have written so many similar plots. He does try to be different adding a group called The Foundation who are inbreeds starting with their great grandparent settling in the secluded area. They have since become a covenant much like the doomsday preppers of today. Very dangerous they don’t like intruders like Jen’s group that have stumble upon The Foundation.
The film has some good moments that are scary, some even a bit ghastly, but mostly gory. Wrong Turn has been rated R by the MPAA for strong bloody violence, grisly images and pervasive language. It also has a some scenes of brutality that are a bit over the top, but after all if you like being a horror fan for the chills, this one has many.
There’s not much out there right now so you could pick up the Blu-ray or DVD, VOD, and it’s even on Digital. My rating due to the familiarity of the time worn location and similar plot points is 2 Stars of 5.
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Charlotte Vega, Adain Bradley, Bill Sage, Emma Dumont,Dylan McTee, Daisy Head, Tim DeZarn and Matthew Modine
Directed by: Mike P. Nelson
Genre: Horror, Thriller
MPAA Rating: R for strong bloody violence, grisly images and pervasive language
Running Time: 1 hr. 49 min.
Opening Date: February 23, 2021
Distributed by: Saban Films
Released in: VOD, Digital, Blu-ray, DVD
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
