Wrong Turn

***Wrong Turn*** is a 2021 American Germany Canadian Action Horror Film directed by Mike P Nelson with the written by Alan B McElroy, a reboot version of 2003 film Wrong Turn starring Desmond Harrington. It stars Charlotte Vega, Adain Bradley, Bill Sage, Emma Dumont, Dylan McTee, Daisy Head, Matthew Modine, and follows Jen Shaw, her boyfriend Darius, and couples Adam and Milla and Gary and Luis, travel to a small town in rural Virginia before hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Mike P Nelson announced the project in October 2018. Alan B McElroy have been a written debuted, who was wrote the film. Principal photography began on September 9, 2019, and wrapped on November 2, 2019, in Felicity, Ohio.

*Wrong Turn* was theatrically released for one day on January 26, 2021, by Saban Films. It received mixed reviews from film critics who praises Performance and production values but criticized the screenplay, narrative, and underdeveloped characters. But it gross $3.8 million against the budget cinema in $30 million, making it a box office bomb with wasting time.

## Plot

Scott Shaw, a worried father arrives in the nearby town to search for his daughter who has been missing for a month and a half and gets little to no help from the local police, and after speaking around to the residents of the town, he finally gets help from the motel owner.

Six weeks earlier, Jen Shaw, her boyfriend Darius, and couples Adam and Milla and Gary and Luis, travel to a small town in rural Virginia before hiking the Appalachian Trail. Several local residents, including a man named Nate, warn them against venturing off the marked trail. Jen briefly meets a strange woman, Edith, and a young mute girl, Ruthie, before the group begins their hike. Several hours into the trip, Gary is crushed and killed by a rolling tree trunk. Lost and distressed, the remaining friends set up camp for the night. The following day, the group discovers that Milla is missing as well as their cellphones. Nearby, they find a plaque dated 1859 commemorating the creation of a group of settlers in the mountains called the "Foundation" who believed the end of the United States was near.

While looking for Milla, Adam is caught in a trap. Shortly after, the group finds Adam restrained and being carried by two men donned in primitive clothing and wearing elk and deer skulls. After confronting the men, Adam escapes and kills the man with the elk skull. Moments later, Milla appears and reveals she was hiding after encountering the men earlier. The group attempts to flee but is surrounded by more mask-wearing men. While chasing after Adam, Milla falls into a pit and is impaled on sharpened tree branches. Adam abandons her before she is killed by an arrow shot by one of the masked men. The remaining group members - Jen, Adam, Darius, and Luis - are all captured.

The friends are taken to the group's primitive settlement deep in the forest, put before their court. On their way to the village’s court, Jen recognizes Edith and Ruthie from the day before. It was revealed by Morgan, the brother of the person Adam killed, that Adam accidentally walked into one of their animal traps and they had found him unconscious and planned to bring him down the mountain where someone would find him and that they killed Milla to spare her from a painful death due to the spike pit she accidentally fell into. Morgan recounts his encounter with the group and how Adam had brutally murdered his brother Samuel. Venable asks Jen to speak the truth on whether the accusation was true, not wanting Adam to die, so she lies and says it wasn't. The leader then orders two others to bring in the decomposing body of Samuel and asks Ruthie to point out the person who killed him, accusing Adam of killing him, and so the group is charged with murder.

The Foundation's leader, Venable, finds Adam guilty and sentences him to death while declaring Jen, Darius, and Luis guilty of lying and sentences them to "darkness". Adam breaks free from his restraints and grabs a knife and holds Ruthie hostage and demands the release of his friends. Ruthie then reveals a concealed blade in her makeshift toy and stabs Adam in the leg, Venable then proceeds bludgeons Adam to death in front of his friends with the same log he used to kill Samuel. Shortly after, Luis tries to flee, but Venable sears his eyes shut with a hot knife, blinding him. Jen begs Venable for mercy, claiming she and Darius would be helpful to them. Venable agrees, and both are welcomed into the community. Jen reluctantly seduces Venable.

Scott pays a local tracker to take him through the forest. After the tracker and his son are killed by a trap, Scott finds the settlement but is surrounded. Jen, apparently brainwashed and married to Venable, shoots her father with an arrow. Venable sentences Scott to "darkness" for trespassing and imprisons him. That night, Jen sneaks away and releases her father, revealing that she only shot him so as not to raise suspicion. As Jen and Scott flee, Jen encounters Darius, but he refuses to leave. Jen then finds Ruthie, who helps them escape before Venable and several other cultists pursue them. On their way, Jen and Scott kill one of the cultists and discover the blinded, disheveled prisoners, including Luis, who Jen then shoots in the head out of mercy. Jen and Scott flee and kill multiple cultists, including Edith. They encounter Nate and other armed townsmen who offer help when cultists attack them, killing one of the townsmen and wounding Jen. They manage to escape, and Venable looks on as they drive away.

Several months later, Jen and her father have returned to their normal lives. Jen visits her stepmother at home but inside finds her welcoming Venable and Ruthie to the neighborhood. Jen confronts Venable, who notices that she is several months pregnant with his child and asks Jen to return with him to the Foundation. Jen reluctantly agrees on the condition that Venable never again interferes with her family. Jen, Venable, and Ruthie leave, driving away in a recreational vehicle (RV) with three other cultists. As the end credits roll, the RV swerves out of control and crashes into a parked car, presumably killing or incapacitating two of the cultists. Jen throws open the door and stabs Venable to death before hurling the knife at the other cultist, cutting him down before she proceeds to kill him. Jen holds Ruthie's hand as they walk back towards her family home.

## Cast

* Charlotte Vega as Jennifer "Jen" Shaw
* Adain Bradley as Darius
* Bill Sage as Venable
* Emma Dumont as Milla
* Dylan McTee as Adam
* Daisy Head as Edith
* Matthew Modine as Scott Shaw
* Vardaan Arora as Gary
* Adrian Favela as Luis
* Tim de Zarn as Nate Roades
* Rhyan Elizabeth Hanavan as Ruthie
* Chaney Morrow as Hobbs
* Damian Maffei as Morgan / Deer Skull
* Mark Mench as Standard / Wolf Skull
* David Hutchison as Cullen / Boar Skull
* Chris Hahn as Samuel / Elk Skull
* Valerie Jane Parker as Corrine
* Daniel R. Hill as Reggie

## Production

### Development

In October 2018, a remake of the *Wrong Turn* film series was announced. The film was directed by Mike P. Nelson and written by Alan B. McElroy, who wrote the original film in 2003. In May 2019, it was announced that Charlotte Vega would star in the film.

In an interview with director Nelson for *Fangoria*, he stated:"I was fully prepared on the first read to be thrust into a crazy slasher world of cannibals eating human flesh and splitting people down the middle. When that didn't happen, I was pleasantly surprised. There was something else at the core of the story that got me."

### Filming

Principal photography began on September 9, 2019 in Ohio and wrapped on November 2.

## Release

*Wrong Turn* was originally scheduled for release in 2020, but was pushed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On December 16, 2020, it was announced that the film would premiere in American theaters for one night only on January 26, 2021.

### Home media

The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on February 23, 2021 by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

## Reception

### Critical response

On Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the site gave the film a 64% approval rating based on 61 reviews, with an average rating of 5.90/10. The site's consensus reads, "*Wrong Turn* is a cut below more effective horror outings, but viewers in the mood for some gory chills will find that this franchise reboot does more than a few things right". On Metacritic, it assigned the film a weighted average score of 46 out of 100 based on seven critics who gave the film "mixed or average reviews".

Nick Allen of *RogerEbert.com* gave the film three out of four stars, writing that "McElroy and Nelson evolve *Wrong Turn* into a bizarre, winding odyssey, albeit with a lot more on its mind than just a cool kill."