The right way to do a fresh spin on horror
Reboot subverts your expectations
After five pretty woeful sequels tarnished its horror legacy, 2003’s Wrong Turn now receives the reboot treatment.
And make no mistake about it, this is a reboot as Mike P. Nelson’s film bears very little resemblance to the original.
Starting with a fraught search for a missing person and ending in a location far removed from the backwoods, Wrong Turn 2021 is its own beast.
But unlike the misguided latest take on Black Christmas, the changes made add interesting new layers and story beats for fans of the franchise, and the genre in general.
The previous flicks’ deformed cannibals are replaced by something very different, with there even being an in-joke about the overuse of the former antagonists.
In only his third full-length feature, Nelson treats us to the slickest shot Wrong Turn movie, using creepy long shots and shadow to keep shady characters and actions shrouded in mystery, and slo-mo to up the physical action ante.
Skull masks and booby traps give the new enemies dangerous menace and the grisly kills – utilising sinisterly simple objects like logs and methods including bludgeoning – make for unsettling viewing.
An unnerving scene in “the darkness” is also truly nightmarish, making you realise there are fates worse than death.
Truthfully, Alan B. McElroy’s script tries to pack too much in as we jump from backwoods to folk horror and then a fight for survival, with the blame game among the protagonists even lazily recreating an I Know What You Did Last Summer moment.
There are hints and racial and generational tensions but, like many things in the film, our initial expectations are subverted.
The cast are solid rather than spectacular for the most part; Charlotte Vega’s Jen is as opinionated as she is industrious and really comes into her own during the third act, while Matthew Modine is a welcome experienced hand playing her on-screen dad Scott.
Better than it had any right to be, Wrong Turn 2021 is a perfect example of a more than worthwhile reboot with something new to say – and an axe to grind.
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