Wrong Turn (2003)★★★☆☆

I’ll admit, a movie has to be pretty bad for me to rate it lower than 3/5…and this one got pretty close. But as my dad once said (and I happen to agree), “I would watch Eliza Dushku brush her teeth for 45 minutes.” So Eliza Dushku, the extra one’s for you.

Throughout most of the movie, it was hard to feel much sympathy for the main characters. I felt like they were making one poor choice (or shall I say “one wrong turn”) after another and basically asking for whatever they got. Eliza Dushku and Desmond Harrington are the real stars of this film, though everyone acts reasonably well. And is it just me, or does Jeremy Sisto always seem noticeably older than the rest of his cast?

There were a couple scenes where the background music was hilariously over the top (the scene from the watchtower with the incredibly sappy music, perhaps?), and the dialogue was pretty stilted. The gory death scenes saved this movie from being completely boring, though – the scene with the axe while they’re climbing trees was perfect.

All in all, Wrong Turn is your standard slasher film that takes place in literal back country, West Virginia. I think of it as The Hills Have Eyes but in the forest instead of the desert, but the premise was apparently decent enough to spawn several sequels (none of which I’ve seen), and it will likely keep you entertained for the whole hour and a half, if that’s your thing.