USA, 2007
Review: JA Kerswell
Ultra gory, fast-paced, and fun. While it may lack the polish of the 2003 original, this slasher sequel gets it right. A group of contestants on a Survivor-type reality TV show find themselves fighting for their lives when the production takes them into the backwoods territory of another mutant hillbilly cannibal family.
WRONG TURN 2: DEAD END begins as it means to go on, when a woman on her way to the shoot (real-life reality TV star Kimberly Caldwell) is cut in half when she stops after hitting one of the hillbillies with her car. A steaming pile of guts is left on the tarmac, and the cartoonishly gruesome tone of the film is set. Unaware that their only celebrity has quite literally been axed from the show, the other contestants gather to listen to tough guy presenter Dale (Henry Rollins) explain the rules of the game, where they must survive in a faux post-apocalyptic world. As is perhaps to be expected, the contestants are given limited backstories and character traits, including Nina the grumpy vegan (Erica Leerhsen) to failed athlete Jake (Texas Battle) and no-nonsense army vet Amber (Dianilla Alonso). Wearing head cameras, Dale sends the contestants off into the woods in pairs.
What the audience knows, but the characters don’t, is that these backwoods are home to a family of mutant cannibals who may have watched THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974) one too many times. Soon, the simulated fight for survival becomes all too real …
A direct theatrical sequel to the original WRONG TURN was proposed, but reportedly the refusal of star Eliza Dushku and solid—if unremarkable—box office results meant that the delayed sequel took the straight-to-home-video route. Admittedly, the lower budget is somewhat evident, and the cheaply produced titles don’t initially inspire confidence. However, arguably, this more affordable approach—plus not having to restrict its violence and gore to secure an R rating—allows Joe Lynch to go all out. The director was quoted as saying he wanted to make a Fangoria-style horror movie, and that’s exactly what he achieves.
The freedom that the makers of WRONG TURN 2: DEAD END have means that the film goes to some pretty extreme places, from the ample splatter but also to unexpected places, including a mutant hillbilly having a wank in the bushes and then having incestuous sex with his sister! However, despite the film’s graphic nature, it rarely strays into so-called ‘torture porn’ territory (apart from a dinner scene clearly inspired by Tobe Hooper’s 1974 classic). Lynch clearly wanted it to be more of a throwback to the fun ‘80s slasher sequels, and despite all the gore and dismemberment, the film has a light, zippy tone and sense of humor that works without undercutting the suspense derived from the situation. Dale—his character is local to the area—takes umbrage at the stereotype that all hillbillies are violent and inbred. The joke, of course, is that the film gleefully exploits those very stereotypes. It also has a nicely subversive edge in the scenes where the family, despite killing and eating people, are still God fearin’ folk who say grace before sitting down to a plate of freshly slaughtered human. Also, perhaps unexpectedly, the characters, despite their initial one-dimensional drawing, actually surprise as the film progresses. This is a rare slasher movie from the time when you might be hard-pressed to guess who is going to survive until the end credits.
The film is somewhat vague about its connection to the original movie. Although not explicitly stated, it seems that the backwoods cannibal family is related to those in the first film. The only returning character is veteran actor Wayne Robson, who plays an old timer who may or may not have links to the killers. The family is led by Pa (Ken Kirzinger), who oddly looks like the spitting image of Elon Musk in his mutant make-up! Kirzinger is no stranger to horror and previously played Jason Voorhees in FREDDY VS. JASON (2003). Similarly, Erica Leerhsen appeared in the remake of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (2003) and the sequel BOOK OF SHADOWS: BLAIR WITCH 2 (2000). Daniella Alonso also battled a different family of mutants the same year in THE HILLS HAVE EYES II (2007).
WRONG TURN 2: DEAD END had a budget of around $4 million and was filmed in the spring of 2006 in British Columbia, Canada (doubling for the backwoods of West Virginia). Always intended as a straight-to-video release, the film turned a healthy profit, with sales strong enough to spawn numerous similar STV sequels up to WRONG TURN 6: LAST RESORT (2014) and the 2021 theatrical remake. However, Lynch’s first sequel remains the best reviewed in the series, and it's easy to see why.
BODY COUNT 14:
Female 6 / Male 8
WRONG TURN 2: DEAD END (Trailer)
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