Movies
[BD Review] ‘Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines’ Is Vile And Worthless
Sometimes when you’re on the set of a film your expectations for it can be somewhat heightened. I didn’t leave the set of Wrong Turn 5 expecting a great film, but I was expecting something slightly less excruciating. After all, the actors were nice! And writer/director Declan O’Brien seemed to be having fun with the material (at least he verbally professed his love for the franchise and its mutants)! It was a good experience overall and I was treated well by Mr. O’Brien and everyone on set. Plus, I sort of liked Wrong Turn 4 – so I was actually kind of excited to crack the seal on my screener.
But no. Wrong Turn 5 is easily the worst film in the series. I also believe that it’s one of the most worthless films I’ve seen in my adult life. I’m going to list some of the film’s comparatively minor problems first before I head into why it’s a truly offensive piece of work that insults not only horror fans, but humanity in general.
Here are ten minor issues with the film:
1. The direction isn’t incompetent, it’s just willfully lazy. Which is far less charming.
2. The hillbilly makeup is horrible, it looks like aged candle wax and is applied by people who clearly do not understand the concept of blending makeup to an actor’s existing skin tone.
3. The cannibals don’t actually seem interested in eating anybody (except for the first victim they kill). I’ve never seen hunters go so far out of their way to destroy, leave behind and bury potential sources of food.
4. Doug Bradley’s Maynard is the most annoying character I’ve seen in a horror film since I started working at Bloody-Disgusting.
5. They managed to photograph the sets, which actually looked okay in real life, in a way that makes the whole film seem like a nightmare someone had on the set of Synecdoche, NY.
6. We’re supposed to go along with the logic of a Sheriff who lets a group of kids out of jail because they asked to leave.
7. It takes place at a music festival that doesn’t seem to actually exist.
8. Three Finger, One Eye and Saw Tooth won’t stop giggling. They, like Maynard, are profoundly annoying.
9. The kills are unbelievably smug and and wholeheartedly stupid. I’ve never seen a film that thinks it has elaborate kills, but actually doesn’t. It’s like a 5-year-old watched one of the Saw sequels, whipped out his crayons and tried to design his own trap.
10. It’s boring.
Now that I’m warmed up, let’s get to the film’s major problem. It’s ugly, mean-spirited, stupid and seems to truly hate women. That’s an unwieldy combination. Have I watched gorier films than Wrong Turn 5? Yes. Have I watched darker films? Yes. Have I watched films with graphic depictions of rape? Yes. Does Wrong Turn 5 have a graphic depiction of rape? No. But somehow, through the sum total of its parts, it managed to be the one of the most truly unpleasant viewing experiences of my life.
I think part of the key here is the utter disdain the film has for its audience. This movie doesn’t care if you like it or not. It’s not meant to be enjoyed, it’s meant to be bought. It’s so cynical that it may very well be the first film in history that is actually 100% product. Since Thomas Edison invented the motion-picture camera , film has been involved in a tug-of-war between art and commerce. Here, commerce wins out. I feel like Mr. O’Brien doesn’t like this film and he doesn’t care if you do either.
All of this not giving a sh*t leads to an even deeper problem. As a piece of pure commerce, WT5 goes to places it has no right going to. I suspect O’Brien intended the film’s mean-spiritedness to play as goofy fun, but it’s grating to a punishing degree. Even worse, the film ends on the implication that Roxanne McKee’s character is going to be raped repeatedly by Maynard and the cannibals. This is designed to be a punchy ending that sends you out of the theater (or hitting the eject button on your Blu-ray player) on a high note. Instead, you just want to take a shower and pray to the heavens above that you never live to see a Wrong Turn 6. I guess O’Brien forgot to take into consideration the fact that four people raping a girl whose eyes have been gouged out is never funny!
Score: 1/10 – please note that the only reason I’m giving it a 1/10 and not a 0/10 is because I don’t want someone to look at the complete lack of skulls on the film’s page and think that it simply hasn’t been reviewed. Please just think of this one point towards the film’s ranking as a warning flare – stay away.
The holiday weekend means a light week for new horror releases, but it does bring the return of Dark Castle Entertainment to select theaters. It’s being joined by 6 new horror movies.
Here’s all the new horror releasing June 29, 2026 – July 3, 2026!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
You wished for it. The highest-grossing horror movie of the year (so far), Curry Barker’s Obsession, arrived on Digital on June 30.
In Curry Barker’s theatrical debut Obsession, after breaking the mysterious One Wish Willow to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Michael Johnston (“Teen Wolf”), Inde Navarette (“Superman & Lois”), Cooper Tomlinson (“That’s a Bad Idea,” Milk & Serial), Megan Lawless (The Death That Awaits), and Emmy Award-nominee Andy Richter (“Conan,” Elf) star.
Based on a story by director James Kondelik (Behind The Walls) and a screenplay by Canadian writer Victor Rose, survival thriller Pitfall headed home to Digital on June 30. Family is murder in this Cineverse release.
In Pitfall, a young man becomes separated from his friends in the woods and plunges into a ten-foot pit lined with spikes, impaling his leg and leaving him helpless. As reality sinks in and his situation grows dire, he realizes the fall wasn’t an accident.
The film stars Richard Harmon (Final Destination: Bloodlines), Alexandra Essoe (The Pope’s Exorcist), and UFC champion Randy Couture (The Expendables) as the ruthless killer who stalks his prey in the woods. Marshall Williams (The Ice Road), Jordan Claire Robbins (The Umbrella Academy), and Matt Hamilton (Murder for Sale) also star.
The Amityville IP leans into Jaws with Amityville Shark House, just in time for the Fourth of July holiday too, as it released on Digital June 30.
Will Collazo Jr. (Amityville Thanksgiving) and Shawn C. Phillips (Amityville Karen) co-direct from a script they wrote with Julie Anne Prescott.
In the movie, after discovering an ominous shark idol hidden beneath the decaying floorboards, Richard unknowingly awakens an ancient and savage force. As the entity begins to merge with him, a quiet coastal town descends into blood-soaked chaos.
With each victim claimed, the monstrous predator grows stronger, fueling a cult’s belief that their dark god has been reborn. Now, the race is on to stop the carnage before evil consumes everything in its path.
Phillips and Prescott also star alongside Tasha Tacosa, Maritza Brikisak, Gigi Gustin (The Retaliators), Adam Marino, and Carl Solomon.
Available on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD as of June 30 is Jacked, directed by John Fucile from a script he co-wrote with Simon Fraser.
The synopsis: “Set in the summer of 1987, JACKED follows two small-town teenagers whose day at the lake turns into a fight for survival after their car breaks down and they encounter a violent stalker.”
Marla Jean Robison, Tom Koch, Anthony Cipriani, Wynn Reichert, Kam Perez and Bella Marie star.
Get ready to work up a killer sweat and maybe spill some blood with Slashercise, a workout meets slasher hybrid that arrived exclusively on Bloodstream on July 1.
Written and directed by Ama Lea (Deathcember), the retro-styled feature follows “a masked killer known only as Meathead as he stalks the fitness clubs of Los Angeles, turning workout sessions into blood-soaked nightmares. As the city’s top trainers are picked off one by one, a group of determined fitness fanatics must fight back before they become the next bodies on the mat.”
Vanessa Decker (Stiletto), John Bloom (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills), Sarah French (Blind), Kelli Maroney (Night of the Comet), Sarah Nicklin (V/H/S/Halloween), Diana Prince (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Jared Rivet (The Once and Future Smash), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Tiffany Shepis (Victor Crowley), and Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) star.
After a record-breaking box office run, A24 and director Kane Parsons’ feature debut is heading back to theaters with bonus footage. AMC Theatres is unleashing Backrooms: Everything Must Go Editiontoday, July 3.
In the film written by Will Soodik, the owner of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire discovers a strange doorway in the basement of the furniture showroom. He sets out to explore the mysterious, liminal space, walking headfirst into a creepypasta nightmare.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsvestar.
AMC describes this release as a “theatrically exclusive post-credit” with additional footage from Kane Parsons. Expect 16 minutes of bonus footage, with the new version clocking in at 2 hours and 6 minutes.
The Last Exorcism director Daniel Stamm and Dark Castle Entertainment are back with Lockbox, in select theaters July 3. It adapts Soren Narnia‘s Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop” by Emmy-winning playwright Justin Yoffe.
In Lockbox, “Seeking peace after her mother’s death, Ellen retreats to a rural town and takes in her severely traumatized cousin Winthrop. Their fragile domestic balance shatters when an erratic neighbor warns that Winthrop is dangerous. As strange phenomena escalate, Ellen must put everything on the line to defend Winthrop from a dangerous otherworldly entity determined to track him down.”
Lou Taylor Pucci (Touch Me, Evil Dead), Carla Gugino (The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald’s Game, The Fall of the House of Usher) and Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, Backrooms) star.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by Lockbox.
Be careful who you let in. Carla Gugino and Lou Taylor Pucci star in Lockbox, only in select theaters this Friday. Get tickets.
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