Wrong Turn (2003) Dir: Rob Schmidt
- Ridley Coote
- 20 hours ago
- 2 min read
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Directed by Rob Schmidt, this 2003 slasher was one of many action horror films that popped up in the noughties. I wouldn't necessarily have been too bothered to watch it, but I'd seen the film's name, or posters of it, popping up on people's horror lists, which made me curious about its quality. The film has fairly mediocre scores on most review sites, which wasn't exactly encouraging, but I was tempted into seeing it, regardless.
It reminded me of 'The Hills Have Eyes' in terms of its style, which is neither a compliment or a criticism. The film looked pretty rugged in nature, with lots of hand-held camerawork, and very typical horror-style shot choices. Like I illuded to above, it would very easy to guess that this film came out in the noughties. It screams low budget horror film - I kind of liked that about it, although, on that point, the practical effects and make-up for the antagonists was fairly basic. I have definitely seen other films do better.
People have tried and failed to recreate or build upon the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' formula, with very little success. This was just another example of that exact thing. I won't say that the film was completely useless, because it did, occasionally, convey its horror well. But those moments were too few and far between for my liking, or for the liking of its general audience, according to its wider reception. The story was very basic, and relied on trope after trope to carry it through to its mediocre finish.
None of the actors provided particularly compelling performances, but, of those featured more prominently, it was Eliza Dushku who was the most watchable. I don't think she was particularly great, but she certainly wasn't as average as the others. Desmond Harrington lacked the charisma his role was crying out for, whilst it felt like both Emmanuelle Chriqui and Jeremy Sisto's characters desperately needed more personality.
Overall, this ended up being just another very average horror film, which left me a little disappointed. It didn't excel in any department, neither did it do anything at all unique, including in how it presented its antagonists, who were all extremely forgettable. There are another six films in this horror franchise, but I can't say I'm particularly bothered about watching any of them - maybe if I need something extremely low effort to watch, one evening.
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