Wrong Turn Original Movie vs. Remake
The Wrong Turn franchise is the epitome of what a slasher film embodies: not a whole lot of background or plot development but a whole lot of gore, blood, and revolting images. Regardless, films like these bring in a lot of revenue and have been and still are very popular, especially considering this franchise in particular brought us seven… yes, seven… different installments, the latest having just come out in theaters for only one day in January 2021.
When I first discovered that there would be a remake of Wrong Turn, I was immediately intrigued. I tend to find slasher films boring and lacking in originality, but something about this franchise drew me in and I can’t help but watch them. I was curious to see how this remake would compare to its predecessor and I was hoping to see more of a plot development versus just a bunch of killing. Today, I will be comparing this new remake with the very first installment of Wrong Turn that it is based on which came out in 2003. Without further ado, let us begin.
Wrong Turn 2003
The first Wrong Turn installment takes place in the Appalachians of West Virginia and follows young professional Chris Flynn and a group of stranded campers, Francine, Evan, Jessie, Carly, and Scott. The movie begins with two young hikers being brutally murdered by a mysterious source. It flashes forward a couple weeks to Chris and a traffic jam. Chris is in a rush to get to a job interview and decides to take a back road around the highway. He accidentally crashes a car belonging to Francine, Evan, Jessie, and Carly, which had blown its tires due to a trap of barbed wire being lain in the road. The group ventures deep into the woods in search of help, oblivious to the dangers ahead of them.
Francine and Evan are picked off first after the group asked them to stay behind with the car. The group is unaware of their demise until coming across a cabin belonging to a trio of hillbilly cannibals, Three Finger, Saw-Tooth, and One-Eye. The rest of the film follows the group attempting to escape the woods with the trio on their trail filled with a murderous rage. In the end, the only survivors were Jessie and Chris. They leave the woods after setting fire to the cabin with the boys inside. Viewers are led to believe that the blaze killed the cannibals, but in a cut scene at the end we are shown that Three Finger was the sole survivor, left to continue his tyrant behavior on unsuspecting visitors to the woods.
Wrong Turn 2020
This film begins with a group of young friends from New Jersey, Jen, Darius, Adam, Milla, Gary, and Luis that travel to a small, rural town in Virginia before hiking the Appalachian Trail. Several local residents warn the group not to stray from the marked trail during their hike, but of course the curious adults do not heed their warning. Hours into the trip, Gary is crushed and killed by a rolling tree trunk. Lost and distressed, the group decides to set up camp and begin their search for the main trail again in the morning.
When the group awakens Milla was missing, and their phones were all gone. While looking for Milla, Adam is caught in a trap and drug into a hole leading to who knows where. Shortly after, the group finds Adam restrained and being carried by two men donned in primitive clothing and wearing elk and deer skulls. Darius, Jen, and Luis confront the men, allowing Adam to escape who then kills the man with the elk skull. The other man disappears, and the group continues on to search for a way out of the woods. Moments later, the group is surrounded by more mask-wearing men. Milla falls into a trap and is impaled on sharpened tree branches and then shot with an arrow and skilled by one of the mysterious men. The remaining members, Jen, Darius, Adam, and Luis are then captured.
The friends are brought to the cult’s settlement deep in the woods and put on trial for the murder of one of their men. Jen recognizes Edith and Ruthie, two townies she met prior to their hiking trip. While in the trial, the group of friends discover that the cult is a group of hunters, not murderous fiends. Adam is then sentenced to death and the others are sentenced to “darkness” for lying in court. The cult leader, Venable, bludgeons Adam to death, similar to how Adam killed their friend. 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 useful to them. Venable agrees and they are welcomed into the community and Jen reluctantly seduces Venable.
Several weeks later, Jen’s father, Scott, arrives in a nearby town in search of her daughter and gets help from the motel owner. Scott pays a local tracker to take him through the forest. The tracker and his son are killed, and Scott finds a settlement and his surrounded. Jen appears having been brainwashed by Venable and married to him and shoots her father with an arrow. Venable sentences him to darkness for trespassing. Jen sneaks away later that night, releases her father, and fled. Several months later, Jen and her father return to their normal lives but they are later visited by Venable and Ruthie. Venable discovers that Jen is several months pregnant with his child. Jen agrees to return to the community as long as her family remains safe. In the end, Jen kills Venable, and the film ends with her and Ruthie walking back to her family home.
Comparison
Based solely on the descriptions of the films, it is evident that the newer film has more of a plot development revolving around more than just murder. In the first films, they follow a group of cannibalistic murderers. But in the newer film, the individuals that live in the woods are part of a cult called “The Foundation” which originated in the late 1850s. Both films have their positives and their negatives and some similarities as well. Although a part of me was a tad disappointed that they didn’t bring back the cannibalistic family and their crazy behavior and antics, I did enjoy the development of the newer film in comparison to how it develops in the 2003 version. Overall, if you enjoyed the older Wrong Turn films and are looking for a decent new movie to watch, I highly recommend checking out the 2021 version of Wrong Turn.