Wrong Turn 2: Dead End

by | Dec 28, 2014 | The Horror Review News | 0 comments

I first saw the original Wrong Turn in theaters the day it came out back in 2003. While I didn’t find it to be the best cannibal slasher film I have ever seen, I did respect the suspense it bought to the screen and the great and original special effects provided by Stan Winston Studio’s. Well here we are a couple of years later and a new direct to video sequel has been made. I was actually pretty excited about this one, a Long Island native would be directing it, and I was impressed by who was in the cast. Needless to say I was kind of excited to see how this film was going to pan out.

Before I popped this screener into the DVD player, I asked my wife if she wanted to watch it with me. She hated the first one. Said it was nothing but a bunch of topless girls getting killed off and mumbled something about lesbians being in it. I don’t remember anything to do with lesbians, but whatever. She joined me anyway. As the film started and the characters and plot were beginning to develop the film seemed promising. However when one character in the fist half says she’s a lesbian and another topless actress got killed off, my wife turned to me and said; “I told you so”. Hate to say it but she was right, Wrong Turn 2 is just another one of your run of the mill direct to video horror films, that has nothing original to offer the genre.

Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, pretty much follows the story of another family of redneck cannibals living in the West Virginian mountains. It’s not said if they are related to the cannibals in the first film, but we do get a background of soughts on their origin. The story follows a group of filmmakers and actors whom are going to be part of a reality television show that is about survival in the wilderness. It takes seven ordinary contestants and pits them against one another by giving them certain tasks to complete in a mock post apocalyptic environment. The loser obviously gets kicked off the show, if they fail at one of the tasks. The show is hosted by Dale Murphy (Henry Rollins) a former army special forces soldier. Whomever survives will be rewarded one hundred thousand dollars. However lurking in the woods in the hardcore family of cannibals, whom become part of the game. The show pretty much just got real as now the contestants as well as the filmmakers must really now fight in order to survive.

Right off the bat, I wasn’t a big fan of the script. The plot was good and I thought the film had a great storyline going for it, but the overall script it’s self is what ruined the whole film for me. I didn’t care for the majority of the characters, some were developed more than others, but there was not much to relate too with most of them. Second, this script took a lot, and I mean a lot from other notable more respected films. There was a seriously lack of originality within the script, and I was able to pin point and determine a lot of scenes where the actions were taken from other films. Normally I can respect a film maker who can pay tribute to other more notable horror films. But to take from the likes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a key scene from Texas Chainsaw Massacre and try to spin it into something new. It just didn’t work for me. References to other films are best kept hidden within the film as for only a select few people will be able to pick up on them. Wrong Turn 2 slammed these scenes down our throats, as if we are supposed to point to the screen and say, cool that’s from Texas Chainsaw Massacre or from Evil Dead and so on. So yes I thought the story was not half bad, but the actions in which it was told did not sit well with me. I would of enjoyed this film more, if references to other films were not thrown in my face.

The direction in the film, is pretty much where this film has it’s strong point. While I did not care much for the script and it’s over use of horror references, I can at least give credit to director Joe Lynch for at least giving us a decent looking film on celluloid. this is Joe’s freshmen effort at directing a feature film after mainly being known for directing music videos. There’s no doubt that the guy has talent, as his use of shots and eye for the camera seem to be apparently good. His direction with the actors could of been a bit better, but over all, he did a good job on his part directing this direct to video sequel. The only thing that I feel I should really bust his balls about was the Evil Dead shot he used in this film after Henry Rollins characters blows away one of the mutants with a shot gun. If you saw the Evil Dead films, then you’ll know that I’m referring to the hand held fast close up of Ash. That same shot is used in this one where Rollins character re-pumps the gun, but fails to say “Groovy”! I probably would of tacked an extra star on this review for the laugh it would of given me. Because I sure as hell said it at the right time just to be let down with a quick cut to the next shot.

The acting is alright in this movie. There are times where I truly believed that the characters were in real trouble and times where the acting was poor. Erica Leerhsen is the real star of this film and her character of Nina was the most believable and the one that I was able to relate with the most. Her acting was very good, to the point where I feel she out acted the rest of the cast. Henry Rollins seemed like he had a great time making this film. His acting wasn’t the best, but you can honestly tell he had a great time with his role in this film. His character of Dale Murphy was awesome, and I was gunning for him in this flick, however without giving any spoilers away; his character is also the reason why my feeling for the film became so negative towards the end of the film. The rest of the cast was ok, but I didn’t get much of a good feel from the majority of them. In a nutshell their characters all seemed one dimensional, and they were your basic horror characters whom demise was seen coming from miles away.

The production value was not half bad, although I will admit it does not compare to the first film. The first film had a very eerie feel to not only the cannibals cabin but the forest itself was a scary place. We don’t get that with Wrong Turn 2, The first film had scenes that left me on the edge of my seat, this film didn’t have those moments. The set design was not half bad, but I didn’t care much for the forest location in this film. The same can be said for the visual and make-up effects. While the film did have some great effects, and a lot of original kills for that matter. They still could not compare to the likes of the effects in the first film. Sure there is plenty of blood and guts to go around but the effects didn’t feel as realistic as they were in the first film. However I will be the first one to say that the effects in the conclusion of the last scene which involves the final battle between the family members and the survivors of our cast ends with a much more original kill than the first film did.

Overall, I am disappointed with this film, I expected it to be a lot better than the original, but that was not the case. Really the way the script was written is what killed the whole entire film for me. I saw nothing original in the story, and the constant references to other horror films I though was a bit much. My personal opinion is that horror films need to start being more original, sure it’s cool to have a movie with a killer cannibal family in it, but must they always revert back to the classics like Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Sure Wrong Turn 2 had some great original kill scenes in it, I won’t take that away from the film, I just felt that it has nothing original in terms of story to offer horror fans. It’s an entertaining film to say the least, and it was a fun film to watch, but I got nothing from it that would make it a memorable one for me.

– Horror Bob

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