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.
The problem with filming sequels back-to-back is that, unless you can afford expensive reshoots, there’s no easy way to adjust course in between movies if fans react badly to where the story is headed. That’s why it’s important to have a complete narrative thought out well in advance lest you accidentally kill a budding franchise.
However, this isn’t always the case. Every once in a while, it seems like the cinema gods smile upon certain chaotic productions and gift moviegoers with complete franchises that feel like more than the sum of their hastily produced parts. Ted Nicolaou’s Bloodlust: Subspecies III is precisely one of these miraculous pictures, with the raw talents of the artists involved (as well as the continued support from Romania) turning the feature into an effective conclusion for a series that kind of made things up as the filmmakers went along.
That’s why I’d like to invite my fellow readers to join me on this third part of our journey through the Subspecies franchise as we look into Bloodlust and talk about how it remains a surprisingly satisfying finale to the original trilogy.
A Trilogy Planned on the Fly
Released only a year after Bloodstone found plenty of success in rental stores and mail-in VHS catalogues worldwide, 1994’s Bloodlust was produced at the same time as its predecessor in (mostly) the same locations and with the same team. This means that the movie benefited from all the same upgrades as Bloodstone, with the crew now being more experienced with the ins and outs of surviving a low-budget Romanian production and the cast really settling into their characters.
At this point, everything from location scouting to the makeup process had been streamlined, with Wayne Toth and Norman Cabrera, the main duo behind special effects, even switching out time-consuming prosthetics for latex gloves in order to speed up Anders Hove’s monstrous transformation. The titular “subspecies” demons were also once again relegated to a mere cameo appearance due to the laborious puppetry required to bring them to life.
The only real hiccup came from the fact that actress Denice Duff had replaced the first film’s Michelle (Laura Mae Tate) and was immediately expected to portray the character as both an innocent victim in part II and as a secondary villain in part III. According to behind-the-scenes interviews, the hectic production schedule that blended two different movies meant that Duff would often find herself having to alternate between two incredibly different versions of Michelle during the same shooting day – though it’s obvious that she’s having more fun with Bloodlust’s more traditionally vampiric version of her character.
In the finished film, we pick things up immediately where the previous entry left off as Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) is forced to leave her vampire sister Michelle (Duff) behind in the dungeons of Castle Vladislav due to the rising sun. This allows Mummy (Pamela Gordon) to use Michelle’s blood to revive the vicious Radu (Hove) so that he may continue his quest for the coveted Bloodstone – a magical artifact that perpetually drips the Blood of Saints.
Meanwhile, the dreamy US embassy agent Mel (Kevin Blair) agrees to help Rebecca plan a rescue mission, though they’re unaware that Radu has become infatuated with Michelle during his attempts to guide her growing bloodlust. This all culminates in a climactic confrontation meant to tie up all of the series’ loose ends in one of Full Moon Pictures’ most ambitious productions.
The Evolution of Radu
Like its predecessor, Bloodlust: Subspecies III was also warmly received by fans who argued that the series was an even bigger success than Full Moon’s other major horror franchise, Puppet Master. This praise wasn’t unanimous, however, as 1994 had seen the rise of a more modern breed of sexy vampire popularized by Anne Rice, with old-school Nosferatu like Radu being viewed as obsolete when compared to the likes of Lestat and Gary Oldman’s take on Dracula.
In a way, one might argue that Nicolaou’s film is something of a swan song for the classic vampire story, as Bloodlust combines all of the traditional elements we tend to associate with these tales into a single tragic yarn that ties a neat little bow on Radu’s story as well as the old-fashioned monster movies that he represents. The finale remains shocking despite the fact that this is the third time we see Radu get brutally killed onscreen, with the brief tease that he may one day return feeling more like a nod towards the nature of evil rather than sequel bait.
The film dabbles a bit in gothic romance and even explores the inherent power fantasy behind transforming into an immortal creature of the night, but the filmmakers never lose sight of Radu as a demonic force even when he’s willing to betray his beloved Mummy for Michelle’s sake. In fact, his twisted “love” for his fledgling makes him even creepier as we get the feeling that his passion comes from a dark and disturbing place.
Anders Hove is at his absolute best in this film, with the effects department boosting his moments of what the younger generation would call “aura farming” whenever Radu emerges from shadows like a 90s version of Count Orlok. There are even a couple of surprisingly effective jump-scares here, which is why I’d argue that Bloodlust cements Radu as one of the most memorable cinematic vampires of all time despite his humble origins.
Subspecies Saves Its Best For Last
Nicolaou and Vlad Panescu also saved the best for “last” (more on that in a bit) regarding the film’s visuals, with the cinematography and overall atmosphere of Bloodlust absolutely surpassing what we saw in the previous films. Everything feels appropriately climactic this time around (including the wonderful soundtrack that was co-composed alongside an authentic Romanian orchestra), and I appreciate how this is the fastest-paced entry in the trilogy since the film doesn’t need to waste time setting anything up.
Bloodlust still suffers from some of the same low-budget blemishes as its predecessors, but there’s so much creative passion here that no amount of wonky effects work or stilted dialogue can get in the way of appreciating the flick’s gothic grandeur. That’s why it’s not surprising that the movie’s definitive(-ish) ending would later be retconned as fans begged for more Radu.
Of course, the next entry in this series would be a different kind of vampiric endeavor altogether, with the filmmakers attempting to engage with the same trends that ultimately killed Radu and his antiquated kin. That, however, is a story for another time. For now, I’ll merely insist that Bloodlust: Subspecies III remains a highlight of Full Moon’s expansive catalogue and is definitely worth seeking out today.
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