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Review: Wrong Turn 5

As you can see, the Wrong Turn franchise is still alive…but is it doing well? All four previous Wrong Turn films have made back their original budgets, which is probably the reason why the series continues. Critical reception has been mixed, with certain features being received much better than others. Still, Wrong Turn 5 exists. Wrong Turn 4 was a big hit for me and other’s that I have spoken with about the film; we’ve even gone as far as to say it was the best entry next to the first installment. So how did Wrong Turn 5 stack up? Read my review to find out.

A small town in West Virginia is hosting its annual Mountain Man Festival – an event to commemorate the most brutal massacre in West Virginia state history. The festivities are shattered when real mountain men – the hillbilly cannibals – show up to “visit” their father. It’s up to the local sheriff, the town drunk, and a group of teenagers to fend off the killers until help can arrive.

Wrong Turn 5 is written and directed by Declan O’Brien, who also directed Wrong Turn 3 and 4. The film stars Doug Bradley (“Pinhead” in Hellraiser), Camilla Arfwedson (The Dutchess), Simon Ginty, Roxanne McKee (“Game of Thrones”), and Paul Luebke.

Wrong Turn 5 is not one of my favorites. How would I rank it compared to all the other films? In order – 1, 4, 2, 5, and 3.

My biggest gripe is the “soap opera” feel that the film possesses. You know how soap operas have bad acting and their stages look like badly painted pieces of hollow wood? That’s what the town looks like in Wrong Turn 5; so unbelievably fake. I know the film was done overseas and this was the first entry in a town, but I was really let down. Instead of the majority of the action taking place in the center of town, I think it should have taken place in the woods at the Mountain Man Festival itself. Don’t even get me started on the acting from the opening kill victim. Oh, my god – I can’t… I just can’t. I’ve seen examples of Declan O’Brien’s work and I know he is an awesome horror director. I don’t know how he even let the performance from the actress go in the movie as “the best take.”

Also, the special FX make-up job on the killers – Three Finger especially – was very poor compared to all the previous jobs. It almost looked like they had unpainted prosthetics on their face and nothing else. The body structures of the actors playing the trio wasn’t similar to the former portrayers either.

Ok, with that out-of-the-way, I have to say the rest of Wrong Turn 5 was pretty enjoyable. I thoroughly enjoyed the main characters – especially the town drunk – and was really rooting for them…for once. Sure, there were your typical stereotypes who you know are cannon fodder, but for the most part the characters were all flushed out well. Well, to be honest, there was one character I didn’t like towards the end. She was attractive and was somewhat intelligent for a horror film character, but then she messes up and is irredeemable. You’ll know who I’m talking about when you watch Wrong Turn 5. It’s currently available on DVD.

While I didn’t like the make-up on the cannibal brothers, I was thrilled with the special fx in regards to the bloody death scenes. There were some creative ones, including a death scene involving a huge lawn mower. There isn’t too too much gory matters in the film, but when it’s time for someone to die…oh, they die!

Wrong Turn 5 was a decent entry in the Wrong Turn franchise, but really nothing to write home about. At this point, I’m sure many of you didn’t even know this title was out. I think there should be a Wrong Turn 6, and O’Brien should use it as a way to cap the series off and bring it to a close.

Michael DeFellipo

(Senior Editor)

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