As someone who was not a big fan of WRONG TURN 3, I have absolutely no business watching WRONG TURN 4: BLOODY BEGINNINGS and yet I broke down and did just that. I can resist a snowbound horror flick for only so long. Even knowing that Part 4 was directed by the same person who delivered Part 3 could not deter me from plowing ahead. Sure it took me over a year to finally succumb but the only person I was fooling by staying away was myself. I jumped in with the lowest expectations to insure the lowest level of aggravation and my only humble request from this direct-to-DVD sequel was that it delivered snow and people being murdered horribly in said snow. It gave me that.
The best part of WRONG TURN 4 is the opening prologue that depicts the psychotic, inbred troika of hillbillies as young-ins rampaging through a sanatorium. It’s kind of like the MUPPET BABIES version of WRONG TURN, and how often do you get to see mutant killers in the halcyon days of their youth? This part of the movie brought back fond memories of THE DEVIL TIMES FIVE, as the trio take down their adult opponents with somewhat hilarious sadistic glee. If only the movie had continued with the killers at this age it might have ended up as something special. Instead we jump into the future and things slide quickly downhill.
Here’s where I cast blame on the casting. This has been on my mind a lot lately and probably due to the wonderful people that starred in THE PACT. As much as I can enjoy hating on folks and delighting in their demises, I do have to find them at least somewhat bearable in order to properly get into a film. They can’t all be relentless ciphers, which is the case here. I hope it’s not because I’m curmudgeonly and resent whippersnappers. I think I just have a problem with a certain level of douch-iness. WRONG TURN 4‘s douche level is off the charts. I’m not kidding when I say the “monsters” are far easier to relate to than their prey. I found a scene where one of the cannibals is quickly aided by his siblings when he starts choking on a piece of flesh, much more affective then any of the exchanges between the potential victims. Then again, I do favor freaks and the make-up work here is pretty sweet. Perhaps the casting of ONE grounding human presence would have helped but maybe I’m missing the point.
If you want anything resembling artistry, look elsewhere but if you like snow, decapitations and are somewhat soothed by that which is aggressively disposable, here ya go. There are no bragging rights if you hate it. Asking a movie like WRONG TURN 4 to be a good movie is like asking your cat to drive you to the airport. If you happen to be a Cylon and are prone to wanting to erase humanity from existence, this cast will only exasperate those feelings. BUT yes, you do get some cool looking mutants, yes, they do really sick things to the boring people and, yes, they do it in an isolated snow framed setting. Granted the locale could have easily been used to better effect but hey, it’s serviceable.
I take full responsibility for my actions. I do not regret watching this cruddy movie nor do I desire those 87 minutes of my life back. I can think of far more horrible fates than sitting on my beloved couch covered in a blanket drinking some something and watching this half-assed sequel that worked my last nerve but at least didn’t shy away from being depraved. In a way it was exactly what I needed; something merely watchable as a palate-cleansing break from the films that I care about. Is that wrong? I say trash makes the gold shine brighter! In any case, I liked it better than Part 3. At least it had snow and I’m now confident that I can easily avoid Part 5. Or can I?
You make a really good point about the victim’s likability being a factor in making or breaking a horror film. I have been noticing much more lately that the catharsis that should come with a horror film lacks in a lot of recent fare. It is difficult to be scared or troubled by the stalking killers when you really don’t care about the people being stalked.
I hate to automatically pull out the big guns, but Laurie Strode was someone to whom you could relate. Awkward, self-effacing and shy, you actively wanted her to get out of this nightmare. Fast-forward to, say, the Friday the 13th remake and I didn’t give one single piss about any of the potential Jason-fodder in that movie. In fact, there were several characters for whom I actively routed for the most violent deaths imaginable.
In a film like The Woman, that turns the tables on who is the monster and who is the victim, it makes sense that I should dislike those who are normally the protags; however, in standard genre material if I don’t like you, then I am certainly not going to be moved by your situation.
DDD,
It’s really aggravating! Eliza Dushku isn’t the most likable person in the world but in the first Wrong Turn they at least gave her a line about her boyfriend breaking up with her on an answering machine and that was all it took to ground her and make her relatable. Maybe I shouldn’t blame the cast so much as the writing. There’s just zero effort to distinguish one character from another except in the most superficial ways. Me and John were watching Savage Streets last night and I was thinking hardly any of that cast would be hired today. Maybe there is just a modern desire to remove and smudge-out individual characteristics? That would explain all the plastic surgery. In the future we may have to watch old movies to remember what actual humans used to look and act like. Meanwhile, it seems effort was made to make sure we understood the mutant’s individual personalities. Kinda strange. BTW- the mutants totally remind me of Larry, Daryl and Daryl from the Newhart show.
I dunno, I watched this ages ago, and I kinda liked the characters, especially the lesbians. Maybe some of the douchiness was lost in translation, me being Finnish and all. I only wish they had spent less time indoors. Wrong Turn 5 is easily the most sadistic of the bunch, but watchable nevertheless. Can’t say I’m looking forward to the next installment, but I’ll probably watch it anyway :-/
True, they needed get out in that snow more! I figured that was a budget thing. I noticed the windows were often covered when they were inside. It was cool that they had a lesbian couple but they never acted like a couple. I think they were just there to have sex. I really don’t expect too much characterization in a Wrong Turn movie but I definitely needed somebody to stand out a bit & have some personality. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the other movies I’ve been watching lately!? Great, now you’re making me want to run out to the red box and check out part 5! I do have such a soft spot for direct to DVD sequels and I appreciate that the WT movies at least deliver on the gore & make-up effects.
Unk,
Eliza will always get an auto-pass with me. She redeemed herself, with a little soulful, vampy help, and helped to defeat The First. That plus she put her arm around me at Wizard Con this year. *shudder*
DDD, I’m sure any suspicious feelings I have about about Eliza come straight from Buffy! I sometimes forget she ended up 5 X 5 in the end! And she was great in the original WT!
Shameless Wrong Turn/inbred cannibals fan here. Personally I’ve found any of Wrong Turn’s sequels to not ever be part of the same universe as the original film. Declan O’Brien’s treatment just continues to reinvent the origins of the killers once again. Seriously, inbreeding was enough of an explanation for the mutants’ trademark disfigurements. Three Finger is called such not because he chewed his middle digits off, but because they were fused together in a weird mishmash.
That said, I did watch the first 20 minutes of this film and though the mutants themselves had some good dynamic (I particularly liked how they laughed at the doctor’s pleas for mercy before they quartered him), I didn’t like ANY of the leads.
Oh well, here’s to Rob Schmidt and the original film.
I actually did rent part 5! I couldn’t control myself.
I will say that it has better protagonists. They did spend some time setting up the sherif and the victims were way less obnoxious.
But the mutants were not their best! Their make-up looked really bad during the day. & three-finger was out of control with the troll giggling.
It’s a very strange movie. There’s a “Halloween” celebration were everybody dresses up like mutant hillbillies so that the mutant hillbillies can walk freely among them?
And then there’s nobody around and it’s like they exist in a cardboard town. It’s like Sid and Marty Kroft.
It’s actually hilariously bizarre and the ending is a great twist on the old “hailing down the wrong car” trope.
I give up. I’m a fan. They are terrible but I keep ending up entertained!
Wrong Turn 5 sets the bar for awfulness to an almost unreachable level. I can watch any type of horror movie, but it’s the ones with no heart that bother me the most.
I can see the mean-spirited vibe. If the killers were just your average hillbillies I’m not sure what I’d think but I can never take it seriously because they come off as exaggerated 3 stooges-type cartoons to me. Plus sometimes I just get a kick out of plain old bad taste.