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.