Wrong Turn Blu Ray Review (Lionsgate)
Wrong Turn (aKa Wrong Turn: The Foundation, Wrong Turn 7, and The Foundation) is a 2021 horror film directed by Mike P. Nelson (The Domestics, Summer School, and Studio Luma). The film is a reboot and the seventh installment of the Wrong Turn film series. It was written by Alan B. McElroy (Original Wrong Turn, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Rapid Fire, Spawn , and Thr3e). It was produced by James Harris (47 Meters Down/47 Meters Down: Uncaged, The Strangers: Prey at Night, and ABCs of Death 2) and Robert Kulzer (Resident Evil franchise, Wrong Turn franchise, Fantastic Four, and Pandorum). Wrong Turn was theatrically released for one day on January 26th 2021, by Saban Films where it grossed $2.2 million at the box office.
A group of friends from New York which includes Jen Shaw (played by: Charlotte Vega from American Assassin, [REC] 3: Genesis, El secreto de Puente Viejo, and The Lodgers), Darius (played by: Adain Bradley from Riverdale and The 100), Adam (played by: Dylan McTee from Midnighters, The Wind, and Sweet/Vicious), Milla (played by: Emma Dumont from The Gifted, Aquarius, and Inherent Vice), Gary (played by: Vardaan Arora from Party at Micah’s) and Luis (played by: Adrian Favela from Booksmart, Eye Scream, and Real Rob) travel to a small town in rural Virginia before hiking the Appalachian Trail. Several local residents including a local man named Nate Roades (played by: Tim DeZarn from Fight Club, Spider-Man, Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning) warn them against venturing off the marked trail. Jen meets a strange woman Edith (played by: Daisy Head from Underworld: Blood Wars, The Proxy, and Fallen) and a young mute girl Ruthie (played by: Rhyan Hanavan from Donnybrook) before the group begins their hike. Several hours into the trip, things go terribly wrong for the group of friends.
Some of them end up lost and the others are freaking out during this madness. All of their phones are gone when they wake up. They find a plaque dated 1859 commemorating the creation of a group of settlers in the mountains called the “Foundation” who believed the end of the United States was near. Two mysterious men in primitive clothing, wearing elk and deer skulls show up to protect their land from the strangers. Adam thinking that they killed his girlfriend murders one of them when confronted. Milla shows up with no harm soon after and they realized they made an awful mistake. The Foundation lead by Venable (played by: Bill Sage from American Psycho, Welcome to Willits, Fender Bender, We Are What We Are, and Mysterious Skin) capture the rest of them and put them on trial for murdering his brother. Jen sacrifices her body and commitment to save her friends. Jen’s father Scott Shaw (played by: Matthew Modine from Full Metal Jacket, The Dark Knight Rises, Birdy, and Stranger Things) goes looking for after she’s been missing for a few weeks with no answer. Desperate to find his daughter, he goes into the dangerous backwoods. Will he find her before it’s too late? or She already gone from her WRONG TURN????
First off, I think this film is being reviewed the wrong way by most people. They were all expecting the same type of Wrong Turn remake like the 6 other films in the franchise. Let’s be honest, this is much better than 3, 4, 5, and 6 if you want to compare them. No, there’s any inbred cannibals here but it’s still a backwoods horror flick just like the previous movies. Technically, they actually do take a wrong turn and that where all the chaos starts so the title still fits. It’s from the original creator and writer of the popular horror series so yeah I can see why made this horror film into a reboot. It definitely got the attention they wanted but in all the wrong ways. I think if they would have went with the original “The Foundation” title it would have been considered one of the best horror features of this year with no hesitation but now it’s just filled with controversy. The script was impressive and the characters were all fully developed even if they have small screen time here. It did start a little slow but when they got into the backwoods, it really picked up. Charlotte Vega and Adain Bradley had no chemistry at all as a couple, I am glad that wasn’t important here. I thought out of the group of friends, only Jen and Milla were likeable. The others I didn’t care if they lived or died.
That being said, Dylan McTee was great as Adam. He was a prick and he basically starts all these dangerous problems. Both Charlotte Vega and Emma Dumont were quality eye candy plus they gave some of the best performances in this. Matthew Modine gives one of his strongest performances in a long time here as the father that will do anthing to save his daughter. Tim DeZarn was perfect as the suspicious local that you are not sure that you can trust. Bill Sage steals the show again as the powerful leader of The Foundation. Bill Sage has been in all kinds of independent horror films over the years and almost always as the villain which he consistently delivers a high quality turn as the heel. The rest of the supporting cast was solid. The other members of The Foundation which includes Chris Hahn (Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan, The Funhouse Massacre, and ClownTown), Damian Maffei (The Strangers: Prey at Night, Haunt, and I’m Dreaming of a White Doomsday), Mark Mench (The Black Dove), and David Hutchison (The Burning Dead and True Blood) has been villains in so many other horror movies over the years. This was much better than expected. It’s one of my favorite horror movies of 2021 so far. If you go into this not expecting something then you will enjoy much more because it’s not your typical Wrong Turn effort, it’s actually better than that. I won’t lie, I wish Fox would have been smart and made Wrong Turn vs. The Hills Have Eyes when they still owned both franchises because that would have been EPIC! Make sure you stay for the end credits because more to the story. It makes you wonder if they are going to make another one to this reboot because it leaves you wanting more, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Lionsgate! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer looks stunning on blu ray. The backwoods atmosphere, locations, and stylized cinematography makes this horror feature stand out on the format. English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is very good and it has it’s moments where it really kicks in. All of the dialogue is crystal clear. The insanity here is elevated and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Let’s discuss the special features from Lionsgate! It has an “Audio Commentary” with director Mike P. Nelson. He chats a lot about the story, concept, and screenplay here. He shows his appreciation for it. He goes over his favorite material from it and what really grabbed his attention from the film. He gets very detailed on those subjects. He talks about the cast and characters for Wrong Turn. He brings up the various locations used for the production. He mentions the crew and the production design for it, tells a few stories, You can tell he was very passionate about this reboot. It’s a fun track with a decent amount of information in it. “Monsters Among Us: Making Wrong Turn” is a little over 27 minute making of feature for Wrong Turn. It has interviews with director Mike P. Nelson, writer Alan B. McElroy, actors Bill Sage, Dylan McTee, Adain Bradley, Charlotte Vega, Emma Dumont, Vardaan Arora, Adrian Favela, and others from the crew. They chat about the actors and characters, they go over their roles for this. They talk about the screenplay and the locations. They mention that they wanted to do something completely different with the Wrong Turn series. They mention coming up with the ending on the spot and how they put it together. It has behind the scenes footage. It’s a nice little inside look into the production. It has a little over 3 minute “Wrong Turn Promotional Trailer” when the movie was still being worked on. It has a little over 7 minutes of “Deleted and Extended Scenes”. There’s noting special here and I am not surprised none of this made the final cut but it’s still a cool extra to have. It also has a slipcover and a digital code. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
