Set, as always in Virginia, where there is a local Halloween festival where people dress up as inbred redneck mutant cannibals. As you do. Our young-ish protagonists (Roxanne McKee among them) have turned up to have a good time, but instead, one of them gets arrested and put in a jail cell. Also in the jail is the creepy Maynard (Doug Bradley), a dangerous and wanted man who seems to be in some way connected to everyone’s favourite inbred redneck mutant cannibal family. And what do you know, sheriff Camilla Arfwedson and our protagonists have a pickle on their hands when One Eye, Saw Tooth, and Three Finger show up to wreak havoc.
Each of the “Wrong Turn” films has taken the idea of pitting a cast of characters against mutant hillbilly cannibals into a different setting, which I admire. None of the films has been a disaster either. However, the first film is the only one really worth seeing and that trend isn’t broken by this 2012 from writer-director Declan O’Brien (who has helmed the previous two films). Essentially taking on a “Rio Bravo” jail/siege motif (town drunk included), it’s just not very good, and that extends all the way to the villainous work supplied by Doug “Hellraiser” Bradley, who frankly isn’t all that scary sans pins. In fact, he’s a subpar Anthony Hopkins, and frankly Anthony Hopkins himself has been a bit of a subpar Anthony Hopkins of late. I would’ve cast Brad Dourif or Bill Moseley in the part myself.
The film starts pretty damn poorly with your typical ‘horny campers knifed by crazy hillbillies’ idea which turns out to be a prank. Two horror clichés for the price of one. Then we get to the festival celebrating the local legend deal, which makes three giant clichés in the opening act alone. The film adopts a semi-spoof “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2”-type of tone this time around (a fair bit of “Motel Hell” influence is evident too), and I’m not sure that was a particularly effective move and “TCM2” is definitely the better film. The masks are terrible and cartoony, and whilst that fits in with the festival thing (making it hard to tell the real killers from impersonators), it just looks silly and unconvincing, and the constant giggling is beyond absurd. I felt like I was watching “Ghoulies IV: Ghoulies Go to College” or something.
It’s a nice and bloody film, and it has good scenery. I wish I liked it, and it’s probably better than the previous film…but that one also had lesbians and lesbians are yummy. This one has lots of sex and the beautiful Roxanne McKee (“Lip Service”, “Game of Thrones”), however, which is something I guess but her character proves to be without question the dumbest horror movie character in horror movie history. Yes, including all of the “Friday the 13th” films. I also have to commend O’Brien for giving us the medicine cabinet scare scene cliché…but with the bad guy being the one who gets startled! I hate that cliché and was glad to see it done differently.
So if you want blood…and sex, you got it. If you want anything else, you won’t get it here. Nicely downbeat ending, though. I liked that. This film gives off a late 80s/early 90s horror sequel vibe (though it’s kind of a prequel actually), but not an especially good one.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Whilst I admire a series of horror films that hasn’t produced an absolute turkey yet, this just isn’t particularly worth your time. Only if you’re desperate.
