Editorials
‘Wrong Turn’ – How Does the Survival Horror Movie Hold Up 21 Years Later?
May of 2003 was almost bone-dry for big-screen horror until 20th Century Fox released Wrong Turn; director Rob Schmidt and screenwriter Alan B. McElroy’s collaboration arrived in theaters the weekend after Memorial Day. Later on, the fairly successful film inspired a whole franchise of follow-ups, which exceeded the original in terms of sheer gruesomeness. However, this underrated offering of backwoods horror still delivers in areas its direct descendants do not.
As a reflection of the real world, horror steadily became urbanized. The late 1990s had all but abandoned the great outdoors as a dreadful destination and backdrop, especially in the wake of Scream. No longer did characters have to leave their neighborhood in order to feel threatened. The next decade, however, saw a comeback for travel terror; vacations overseas and across borders commonly unfolded in horrific fashion (Hostel, Turistas), and local sojourns, like that of Wrong Turn, did not turn out any better. Regardless of its distinguishing aspect of domestic ecotourism, as opposed to those horrors found abroad, this film still deals in the universal concept of fearing the unknown.
In Wrong Turn, the unknown is manifested as the Odets Family, who have largely gone undetected in this rural neck of West Virginia. Or, at the very least, denied by locals. The mythology of these cannibalistic mountain folk transformed over the course of the franchise’s straight-to-video phase, but the first film only provides a basic and underdeveloped suggestion for the villains’ origin: inbreeding. After the title sequence, the story does not dwell on this taboo, which is often used as a narrative shorthand for strangeness, abnormality, and depravity. Even the family’s latest victims are repulsed not so much by their attackers’ grotesque appearance and lineage, but by their crimes both old and new.
Image: Desmond Harrington, Eliza Dushku, Jeremy Sisto and Emmanuelle Chriqui’s characters hide in Wrong Turn.
Wrong Turn wastes no second of its short runtime. McElroy pared the wilderness horror subgenre down to its best elements, and Schmidt supplied a fast pace to go with his sleek direction. The characters, including a time-pressed doctor named Chris (Desmond Harrington), are all doomed before the film even passes the fifteen-minute mark. The condemned in question are thrust into this backwoods misadventure as their cars collide on an ominous country road and their cell phones become useless. Admittedly, there is not a lot of fat on this film, which can be challenging for anyone seeking more substance and nuance. Even so, there are bright spots of writing to go with the surface-level enjoyment.
The horror trend of self-awareness had been, more or less, overplayed by the time Wrong Turn was released. This meta act would eventually be adapted for pure comedy, as seen in the Scary Movie franchise. Meanwhile, biting and fussy commentary on horror within horror was not as novel as it once was, and treating the genre with a little seriousness again was refreshing, even if critics and audiences did not realize it at the time. Schmidt’s aim for a straightforward survival film was precise, and in hindsight, undervalued. The closest this film comes to indulging postmodern horror was when two destined-to-die characters, played by Lindy Booth and Kevin Zegers, get frisky in a conscious but also facetious attempt to summon both company and help. Otherwise, the unaffected method going forward ensures a more immersive experience.
In these rustic, culture-clash horror films, there is a tendency to blame the victims. These outsiders usually go where they do not belong, and due to their ignorance or arrogance, they offend their aggressors. Accordingly as well as unduly, they are then punished as a result of that error. Wrong Turn, on the other hand, is not built on any discernible set of black-and-white ethics. The antagonists would have hunted Chris and his fellow prey regardless. And as demonstrated by the perfectly good but neglected deer carcass spotted on the foreboding Bear Mountain Road, the Odets are not driven to cannibalism because there is a lack of their normal food supply. Overhunting by urbanites or an ecological concern are not to blame, either. No, this family simply fancies human flesh. Not everyone agrees, but there is something rather freeing about a slasher film where the script does not have to bend over backwards and surrender to ridiculousness just to rationalize a series of murders. Particularly in an era where convoluted murder motives ran rampant.
Image: Emmanuelle Chriqui’s character loses her head in Wrong Turn.
No one enters any Wrong Turn film and expects profound character writing. Or rather, no one should. Indeed the attention to character became negligible as the franchise grew (not counting the 2021 reboot), however, the first is where the targets are not reduced to stereotypes or are just another number in the overall body-count. Even though they are underdeveloped, Chris, Jessie (Eliza Dusku), Carly (Emmanuelle Chriqui) and Scott (Jeremy Sisto) still feel believable. And more importantly, they are sympathetic. That bad habit of 2000s horror, where the characters are intentionally obnoxious and grating out of an attempt to make their vicious deaths entertaining, is not here. Beyond a slightly annoying couple (Booth, Zegers), McElroy’s script turns in characters worth caring about. It helps how Chris and the others are altruistic; they look out for one another, be it physically or emotionally. Instances of them being comforting and vulnerable in the face of adversity tend to go unnoticed.
Above all, Wrong Turn fans tune in to witness carnage. What followed this first chapter is far more violent and over and top; based on this merit alone, gorehounds understandably prefer the straight-to-video installments. Yet the executions here also scratch the itch, if not for bloodlust, then the element of surprise. Namely one character’s treetop beheading, and later an unexpected arrow to the eye. These set-pieces were one-upped in Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, but in spite of the grislier results, they did not boast the same startle factor. Another benefit was the late and great Stan Winston, who not only co-produced the initial film, his studio handled the practical effects and makeup. It goes without saying, Winston’s unique workmanship is sorely missed.
While not considered an outright classic from its own time period, the first Wrong Turn is a wicked love letter to ’70s brutality. Its unapologetic yet sincere approach has been long underappreciated.
Image: Desmond Harrington and Eliza Dushku respectively as Chris and Jessie in Wrong Turn.
Found footage movies rely on immersion and a particular kind of suspension of disbelief in order to scare viewers, so it stands to reason that playing along with the “kayfabe” of it all is necessary for these movies to be effective. However, despite being something of a purist when it comes to in-universe recordings, I’ve come to accept that traditional productions can benefit from the occasional injection of found footage thrills.
For instance, Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation makes genius use of the analog gimmick in order to trap us in the titular rooms alongside our main characters before effortlessly switching back to a more cinematic language. In honor of these dynamic films that manage to combine the best of both worlds, today I’d like to share six other hybrid horror movies that successfully incorporate found footage into their scares!
For the purposes of this list, “hybrid” horror movies are defined as any flick that shifts between diegetic recordings and traditional filming techniques for a significant amount of time (or at least for pivotal scenes).
As usual, don’t forget to comment below with your own hybrid favorites if you think a particularly freaky one was missed.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
5. The Last Broadcast (1998)
Internet critics may have overstated the influence that Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler’s The Last Broadcast had on The Blair Witch Project, but the found footage subgenre still owes a huge debt to this underrated piece of avant-garde filmmaking. However, while the movie sets itself up as a documentary about the disappearance of a group of cryptid-hunters attempting to track down the Jersey Devil, things take a darker and much more grounded turn towards the final act.
I won’t get into details in order to avoid spoilers, but suffice to say that the jarring shift in perspective actually helps to sell the idea that everything we’ve seen before the finale was an attempt at using filmmaking to manipulate the public perception of a “real” incident.
Not bad for a movie with a $900 budget!
4. Cam (2018)
When you consider just how much the internet affects our daily lives, it’s strange that we don’t see Screenlife elements pop up in more movies these days. For instance, Isa Mazzei & Daniel Goldhaber’s highly underrated Cam only works as a freaky parable about online sex-work because it masterfully balances Madeline Brewer’s intimate moments with highly immersive segments within cyberspace.
While one might argue that the entire film could have been produced as a Screenlife experience, the hybrid approach allows the filmmakers to explore our main character’s life beyond the screens – with the duality of modern human existence actually becoming a recurring theme in the story.
3. Banshee Chapter (2013)
Most of H.P. Lovecraft’s popular stories were told in the epistolary format (where the text is presented as an in-universe compilation of letters or personal notes), so it makes sense that a spiritually faithful adaptation of his work would incorporate elements from the modern-day equivalent to epistolary fiction – found footage!
That’s why Blair Erickson’s Banshee Chapter is such an effective scare-fest, as this hybrid adaptation of From Beyond -retold through a conspiratorial lens as it references MK-Ultra and even secretive numbers stations- immerses viewers in a mind-bending tapestry of Cosmic Horror that blurs the line between fiction and reality.
2. The Deep House (2019)
The underwater setting does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s The Deep House, with the film being especially uncomfortable if you’re already scared of tight spaces and being deprived of oxygen. However, even the universally unsettling elements of the flick only work because the POV often shifts into claustrophobic footage courtesy of our main characters’ GoPro cameras.
Telling the story of a couple of YouTubers who encounter a haunted house at the bottom of an artificial lake while vacationing in France, The Deep House’s first-person exploration sequences contain some of the film’s scariest moments. In fact, I’d argue that the movie didn’t even need ghosts, as becoming trapped in the titular House already sounds like a fate worse than death.
1. Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
My personal favorite instance of filmmakers successfully managing to combine traditional cinematography with POV filmmaking, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, is proof that the two formats can co-exist if the right story comes along.
After all, what better way to conclude a mockumentary all about reality getting increasingly more cinematic than by ditching the found footage gimmick altogether during the finale? Not only does this shift in presentation work on a conceptual level, but it also elevates Behind The Mask into a proper Slasher, which is probably why we’re so excited for that long-overdue sequel!
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