An efficient, unpleasant and tiresome hick horror flick, "Wrong Turn" is stocked with victims you won't care about, chased by villains you won't believe.
The photogenic fodder is four friends and a stranger (Desmond Harrington), who end up stranded in the country after a car crash. Vehicle-free, the group set out for help, but as they are in the woods, and this is in America, BAD THINGS are bound to happen.
Scott (Jeremy Sisto) knows this, and when they stumble upon a dilapidated, creepy old house, says to his companions, "I need to remind you of a little movie named "Deliverance"."
Except, of course, he doesn't: John Boorman's thriller is a familiar territory, as is "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", which this is inevitably derivative of, without being anywhere near as unrelenting or as scary (or scary, full stop).
Sisto is an engaging presence, but as he's the designated 'Funny Guy', you know it's only a matter of time before he's butchered, leaving the blander cast members to make a break for it.
Their pursuers, you've no doubt guessed by now, are variations on the theme of 'Grotesque Redneck Freak' - three inbred, deformed grunters, identified in the credits as Saw-Tooth, One-Eye, and Three Finger.
They're not very bright, but then neither is their prey, who on one occasion reject the chance to kill the killers in their sleep - opting instead to sneak out and be slaughtered themselves.
There are some decent jumps as the hunt tears on, but mainly of the cheap, BOOM! LOUD MUSIC type, while the dialogue is of the state-the-bleedin'-obvious variety ("They're trying to smoke us out!").
As the would-be gutsy totty, Eliza Dushku is surprisingly bad, while Harrington is reminiscent of Paul Walker ("2 Fast 2 Furious"), which tells its own story.
As sub-"Friday the 13th"-style slashers go, there are plenty worse, but this is really only for desperate genre fans - who've already been there, seen it, and bought the bloody t-shirt.
Wrong Turn (2003)
