Last year, between the two of us, we watched an average of 317 movies.
This year our goal is to top that by watching at least one a day.
And as an extra special torture, we've decided to write about all of them.

04 May 2008

Wrong Turn, dir. Rob Schmidt (2003)

NIKKI says:
We had this idea to re-watch some of the movies in our collection -- from the beloved classics to the the ones that, for some reason, long ago, we decided we should own.

Wrong Turn falls into the latter category. I remember thinking it was a fairly cool horror flick with a few scary mutants. And we both have a thing for Eliza Dushku, so it's basically win-win. It was okay to revisit, though I don't know if we would have bought it had this been our first viewing.

Still, it's reasonably enjoyable considering it's one of those horror movies, riding the ever-growing bandwagon of new millennium horror. That is, it's got lots of freaky shit in it, some babes, some has-beens, and no real social message. But the frights are good, the horror is imaginative (at times -- girls cut off at jaw on tree, for instance), and you do actually like the characters, which is a major plus.

All in all, not a bad way to kill an evening. And it was the first movie we watched on our new projector and massive screen, so it will go down in history for us that way.

3/5

STEVE says:
Wrong Turn is kind of like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre meets Deliverance, only without the social relevance of either of those films, if you can dig that.

At a lean 84 minutes, it can't afford to waste any time, so it kicks in at the inciting incident and never slows down. We don't hate the characters (except for maybe Lindy Booth and Kevin Zegers, but they die first in true 80s horror movie post-coital fashion, which is kind of cool), but they're never really developed enough to get to know them one way or another. About 15 minutes after we meet them they're on the run from these crazy killer inbred mutants, who we never learn anything about either. It's just run-run-run, chase-chase-chase for the next hour.

On a personal note, I think I could watch Eliza Dushku stand against a brick wall for 84 minutes and read the phone book as long as she's wearing that White Tank Top of Authority, so I'm okay with the whole run-run-run, chase-chase-chase thing in lieu of plot or dialog.

Much as I hate it when movies are compared to rides, that's what Wrong Turn seemed like; an 84 minute long spook house ride. Once it gets rolling, it shakes you up for a bit and then deposits you safely back at the turnstile. It's not a great movie, but it is a good ride, and that makes it okay.

3/5