Wrong Turn (2003 film)

Wrong Turn
Promotional poster for Wrong Turn
Directed by	Rob Schmidt
Written by	Alan B. McElroy (story & screenplay)
Produced by	Stan Winston, Brian Gilbert, Erik Feig, Robert Kulzer
Starring	Desmond Harrington Eliza Dushku
Cinematography	John S. Bartley
Edited by	Michael Ross
Music by	Elia Cmiral
Distributed by	20th Century Fox, New Regency, Summit Entertainment
Release dates	May 30, 2003
Running time	84 min.
Country	U.S.
Language	English

Wrong Turn is a 2003 horror film, directed by Rob Schmidt and written by Alan B. McElroy. The film stars Desmond Harrington and Eliza Dushku. The film was shot in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and was followed by Wrong Turn 2: Dead End.

Cast

• Desmond Harrington... Chris Flynn
• Eliza Dushku... Jessie Burlingame
• Emmanuelle Chriqui... Carly
• Jeremy Sisto... Scott
• Lindy Booth... Francine
• Kevin Zegers... Evan
• Yvonne Gaudry... Halley
• Joel Harris... Rich
• Wayne Robson... Old Man
• Kyle Green..."Tin-Tin"

Plot

Medical student Chris Flynn (Harrington) is on his way to a job interview and is driving through the mountains of West Virginia. Due to a chemical spill in the road ahead, he decides to take a different route, leading him through an abandoned dirt road in the middle of the woods. He then crashes into a car stranded in the center of the road.

The car he crashed into belongs to a group of friends on a hiking trip, which includes Jessie (Dushku). The car's tires were punctured by barbwire strung across the road. Francine and Evan stay with the cars, while the remainder of the group goes for help, only to find an old cabin isolated in the West Terre Haute woods. Meanwhile the two who stayed behind are killed by the cannibals. The others discover that the cabin has many grisly horrors inside, such as entrails in a fridge and body parts in the bathtub. The cabin is home to a group of cannibalistic mountain men, who are horribly disfigured due to generations of inbreeding.

The group realize that the owners of the cabin will not be friendly. They hide within the house when the cannibals come back home. The group is forced to watch as the remains of Francine are cut up and eaten. After the cannibals fall asleep the group tries to escape but accidentally wake them. A confrontation erupts with the disfigured men and the group flee through the woods. They spend a couple of days running from the mountain men. They succeed in stealing the cannibals' truck but Scott is killed by being shot with arrows.

Then the remaining three survivors hit a dead end in the road and continue on foot, meanwhile the cannibals track them. Eventually they end up at an old watch tower in hopes of finding a radio or rangers. They find a radio but get no response. Someone responds just as the cannibals reach the tower and alerts the cannibals to the group's whereabouts. The cannibals then proceed to burn down the tower, but the three escape by jumping into a nearby tree. Unfortunately Carly's head is cut off by an axe wielding cannibal who climbed up the tree. The remaining two people, Chris and Jessie, make it out of the woods alive and end up destroying the cannibals and their cabin. However at least one cannibal survives, as shown in the ending credits.

Response and Box Office

The film received mixed reviews from critics. It earned a 41% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Many criticized it as the film having no originality, taking its plot from other horror films such as The Hills Have Eyes and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The New York Post called it a "dull, humorless slasher flick." The Boston Globe called it "A stultifying blend of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, boot camp, and maybe The Blair Witch Project, Wrong Turn is profoundly less than the sum of its influences." Positive reviewers considered it to be a fun, scary Friday night horror film. The Detroit Free Press called said "While this movie doesn't have the warped sensibilities of 1977's similarly plotted The Hills Have Eyes, it has decent performances and genuine suspense." Also Glenn Lovell from the San Jose Mercury News praised the film quoting "Schmidt makes us flinch the old-fashioned way — by giving us a box seat to the unspeakable." The film also did moderately well at the box office, debuting at #6 with $5.1 million. The film went on to earn a total of $15.2 million at the box office. It also earned an additional $5.2 million with DVD rentals, bringing its box office total to nearly $21 million.

Soundtrack listing

Note: The following list does not include composed music

• Label: Lakeshore Records
• Release date: June 2, 2003

1. Dream Syndicate - "Halloween"
2. Queens of the Stone Age - "You Can't Quit Me Baby"
3. Queens of the Stone Age - "If Only"
4. Simple - "Birthday"
5. Breaking Benjamin - "Wish I May"

External links

• Wrong Turn at IMDb