Director
Mike P Nelson

Starring
Emma Dumont, Charlotte Veva, Damien Maffei and Matthew Modine

When ‘art’ imitates ‘art’– the film about getting lost in the woods, that got totally lost in the woods.

For those of you not familiar, the Wrong Turn franchise is a long running series of films about teenagers taking mountain hikes with American hillbilly cannibals, where gore ensues.

To be completely honest, I have to admit that extremely violent films are not really my cup of tea, so when I do watch them, I want them to be worth the assault on my senses. So please, take my review with that particular grain of salt.

To start with the good things, the location was perfect, beautiful scenery and some lovely cinematography. I also have to say that this film does take a very different, and more interesting trajectory than its predecessors. But something just didn’t quite work. You can feel that the writers were wanting to touch on deeper narratives, but the plot got bogged down in unnecessary detail and (frustratingly) unexpanded plots.

Just like the teenagers taking a segue on the Appalachian trail, this film makes some very strange twists and turns. So perhaps some will embrace its oddness. But perhaps you will be vexed by the lack of attention to detail (please don’t remove knives from stab wounds, this is basic first aid) and acting at maximum volume (I know it’s scary, but why are you always yelling?)

If scary movies are your thing, you might find some enjoyment in this, but strangely I didn’t find it overly scary – just gory and a bit boring.

Wrong Turn is showing in cinemas across Australia from February 4th.

Moviedoc thanks Rialto Distribution, Ned & Co Marketing and Publicity and Annette Smith for the screener link to watch and review this film.

Review by Jemma for Moviedoc

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