Creeptober Night 13: Wrong Turn (2003)
Pure brutal fun.

Table of Contents
Over the past few days in this Creeptober movie marathon, I’ve been picking movies that follow a specific timeline of influence. Scream (which we watched two nights ago) made a huge impact on horror cinema, and Urban Legend (last night’s pick) was a movie that followed more or less in its footsteps. Tonight’s movie is one that is also a reaction to Scream, but in a much different way. Tonight for Creeptober, we watch Wrong Turn (2003).
Reacting to Wrong Turn

When I think about great decades in horror, the 2000s are never near the top of my list. But then when I actually look at the horror films that came out during that time, I’m reminded that some of my favorites were released between 2000 and 2009. Wrong Turn is high on that list of faves.

What I like most about Wrong Turn is that its only goal is to be a straightforward, brutal horror movie. It’s not trying to be overly clever with it’s plot or themes. It’s not trying to wink at the audience like so many of the post-Scream films tried to do. The director, Rob Schmidt, even mentions this a few times on the movie’s commentary.

Rob Schmidt specifically says that Wrong Turn is, in part, a reaction to Scream. It’s not a push-back necessarily, but with Wrong Turn he wanted to deliver something that feels like a throwback. He wanted to make a movie that echoes feeling of 1970s horror like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes. While I don’t put Wrong Turn in the same league as those two in terms of impact, it absolutely belongs in the same category of horror.

Wrong Turn is a simple backwoods horror movie with creepy villains, enough likable characters to care about, and really good pacing. The editing in the action scenes sometimes feels too choppy, but I expect that was probably by necessity to get an R rating rather than showing too much and getting an NC-17. The director didn’t mention this specifically, but he did say that a few things were cut, so I’m just inferring.

Overall though, Wrong Turn still does have a fairly brutal tone. The kills of Scott and the trooper towards the end of the movie are probably my two favorites, and they’re brutal in different ways. Carly’s death in the trees is also a fun one. Also, the tree trap Chris springs on the killer stalking Jessie is a lot of fun. And that’s what I like about this movie. Fun kills and exciting chases. That, plus Eliza Dushku. I’ve been a fan of hers since Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and she’s good in this.

So yeah, that’s all I really have to say about Wrong Turn. It’s a fun piece of an era of horror that was all over the place in terms of direction. The influence of Scream could still be felt, but there was a more brutal side re-emerging as well. Lots of remakes began popping up on the bigger-budget side, but the lower budget movies seemed to have a lot more experimentation. Wrong Turn was neither a remake nor experimental, but it existed in a middle are where the only thing that mattered is how fun it is. For me, Wrong Turn is a lot of fun.
Wrong Turn Trivia
The commentary track on the Wrong Turn DVD and Blu-ray isn’t the best. Director Rob Schmidt and stars Eliza Dushku and Desmond Harrington are on it, but they aren’t the most informative. Rob and Eliza try, but Desmond checks out mentally at some point and just starts making jokes. So, there’s not a ton of trivia to be had, but here’s some of what they said.

I mentioned above that Rob Schmidt wanted to make a 70s style horror film with Wrong Turn. That goes beyond just the brutality and scares though. He also said that the camerawork is meant to emulate the feeling of the 1970s with a handheld aesthetic at times and some “drifty” zooms. Watching it this time I did notice the zooms more.

Apparently the physicality in the movie was rough on the actors. Emmanuelle Chriqui, who plays Carly, dislocated her shoulder while falling through the tree limbs. Schmidt said that you can actually see the dislocation in the final cut of the movie.

Also, Desmond Harrington, who plays Chris, broke his right ankle during the shoot. He kept going, but it was particularly difficult because his character gets shot in the left leg. So, he constantly had to put the most weight on the ankle that he broke in real life.

The villains were all originally going to be giants, but special effects artist Stan Winston suggested that they make one of them small and fast.

There’s a moment in the final scene when Eliza Dushku’s character, Jessie, hits one of the villains with a flaming stick. She says that she accidentally set the actor on fire during filming.