Screamfest LA 2007: Wrong Turn 2
Posted by Robert Fure (robert@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 20, 2007
What do you get when you combine Henry Rollins, inbred mutants, and a guy named Texas Battle? Wrong Turn 2, a film at this years Screamfest and recent DVD I also happened to get my mitts on, that’s what! This movie is available now on DVD and has been getting some pretty positive reviews in the genre community. Does it live up to the hype? Read on!
Wrong Turn 2 finds us back in the woodlands of America where people mind their own business and pork their relatives like wild dogs and occasionally eat the human flesh of unfortunate passerbys. In this installment we get Henry Rollins as retired Marine Colonel Dale Murphy, host of a new reality show like Survivor, helmed by mega-douchebag Matthew Currie Holmes. Along for the ride are of course The Jock, The Goth, The Nerd, The Slut, The Lesbian, and The Comedian. They’ve got real names, but my stereotype handles are much funnier.
Almost immediately the show gets off to a rough start and before long everyone has realized something is very wrong here. But, me oh my, they’re too late in their realizations. One by one, or sometimes two by two, they’re picked off by a family of inbred mutants with a flair for violence and a taste for blood. There are some original kills, some standard kills, and some actual character development, get this, on the side of the mutants! Acting through prosthetics is tough, but the mutants actually get a lot of emotion across and have some of the more character based moments. Weird, I know.
So what works and what doesn’t? Well, on a story level it was very promising. I thought I knew where it was going and it was going to land somewhere fantastic. However it split off from my prediction and veered back towards a more predictable genre piece and I felt that made it a touch less interesting. But it was good in killing off a few people who you’d normally expect to go the distance. There is a lot of focus on the mutants, and if you’re not on board with that, you’re adrift in the ocean of Wrong Turn 2. I thought it was pretty funny. Sort of like Al Bundy and family if they were hideously disgusting and ate Marcy and Jefferson.
The absolute highlight of this film is, without a doubt, Henry Rollins. He fits the role perfectly and gets a little bit of room to kick all sorts of ass. While he gets a pretty decent role, I think he should have been the true star of the film. I want to see a horror movie just follow this guy laying down all sorts of hurt against mutants. Hell yeah! There is enough of him for the film though and he really is what makes it enjoyable for me.
So I don’t feel this film is necessarily good enough to generate some of the hype it’s getting, but it is enjoyable as a genre film, and as a genre film it gets a pretty high rating from me. It’s fun, has blood and boobs, Henry Rollins and violence. There was room for improvement but you’re not wasting your time with it. In an enjoyable experience. Recommended for fans of the genre and fans of Henry Rollins.
Grade: B-
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