Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines

After one of their kin gets arrested, a trio of inbred mutant cannibals descend upon the small town of Fairlake, West Virginia. With most of the local law enforcement busy at a nearby festival, only the Sheriff, a drunk and a group of college students are left to defend the police station against the cannibals’ onslaught of violence and destruction. Moving the action out of the deep woods and into civilization makes for an enjoyable twist on the Wrong Turn formula. As does the inclusion of Doug Bradley in the role of Maynard Odets, patriarch of the cannibal clan. But, while those updates to the formula are refreshing, this is still a Wrong Turn movie filled with cheap looking special effects, dumb characters and gratuitous nudity. Wrong Turn 5 borrows heavily from classic siege movies like Rio Bravo and Assault on Precinct 13, along with horror staples like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Motel Hell and Saw.

Rating: 58%

(Image from IMDB)

Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings

A group of terribly horny* young people get lost in a snowstorm and wind up taking shelter in an abandoned asylum, only to find out that the asylum wasn't as abandoned as it appeared to be. It was, in fact, home to a trio of inbred cannibals. The kind of inbred cannibals who don't appreciate unwanted house guests. Wrong Turn 4 seems to revel in the brutality of its kills a bit more than previous entries in the series. The bad CGI in the movie is a bit more noticeable this time around as well. The movie opens with an origin story for the cannibals, which also sets up the rest of the plot, but I'm honestly not that invested in the cannibals as actual characters. So the fact that this was a prequel to the other films in the series seemed a bit unnecessary to me.

Rating: 59% 

(Image from Wikipedia)

*"terribly horny" in that they are simultaneously terrible people who are particularly horny

Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead

A prison transfer gone wrong leaves a cop and some convicts stranded deep in the heart of cannibal country. The practical special effects in Wrong Turn 3 are decent but definitely not as good as the ones seen in the franchise's first two installments. Bad CGI is more prevalent in this entry, which is a disappointment. The acting is fine and, thankfully, none of the characters are particularly annoying this time around.

Rating: 60%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Wrong Turn 2: Dead End

The cast and crew of a survivalist reality show are set upon by a clan of inbred cannibals. I'll begin by saying that the special effects in Wrong Turn 2: Dead End are well done. Most of the movie takes place during daytime and we get to see a lot of the deformed cannibal killers. The movie's script might not be anything spectacular but there are at least a couple of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. The acting, however, is hit or miss. The final girl does a great job. Henry Rollins delivers exactly the type of performance you would expect of him. And beloved Canadian character actor Wayne Robson has a fun little part as "Old Timer." The rest of the supporting cast's work is a little spotty. Most notably, the "comic relief" character Jonesy who never stops spewing lazy jokes and desperately horny come-ons.

Rating: 61%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Wrong Turn

Wrong Turn is a cannibalistic backwoods horror flick, in the grand tradition of movies like The Hills Have Eyes and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. A car accident on an unpaved mountain road leaves a group of college students stranded deep in the woods of West Virginia. They're hunted and killed by a trio of profoundly inbred mountain men. What the movie lacks in originality, it makes up in tight pacing and potent performances. The practical effects are well done, thanks to Stan Winston Studios, and there is minimal CGI. It's from 2003 so, you guessed it, it has a nu metal soundtrack. Wrong Turn was followed by several sequels and at least two reboots.

Rating: 62%

(Image from Wikipedia)