'Wrong Turn' Trailer: Stop Going Into The Damn Woods

It's time to head back to the woods with Wrong Turn, a remake/reboot/sequel/whatever you want to call it, based on the 2003 film of that same name. That film launched a whole franchise, but this new film is just called Wrong Turn again, and it definitely looks a little different. It also looks...surprisingly good? Once again, it involves a group of young folks who head into the Appalachian woods only to confront a horde of killers. The villains in the original were inbred mutant cannibals, while in the new Wrong Turn, it's a group known as The Foundation, which appears to be some sort of survivalist militia. Watch the Wrong Turn trailer below.

The first Wrong Turn, in which college students are targeted by mutant cannibals in the West Virginia wilderness, is a lot of fun. Is it high-art? Oh, fuck no. It's trash – but it's entertaining trash. And some of the sequels are kind of fun too, in a dumb way. All that said, I wasn't exactly jumping up and down for a reboot/remake. Not because I find the original franchise to be sacred texts too pure to change, but just because it didn't feel necessary. But you know what? This is a good trailer. Trailers are, by nature, deceptive – they're meant to lure you in, no matter what. So while the final film could turn out to be a let down, I have to admit this trailer sells the new Wrong Turn exceedingly well.

Per EW, the film follows Jen (Charlotte Vega), who "sets out to hike the Appalachian Trail with a group of friends. Despite warnings to stick to the trail, the hikers stray off course — and cross into land inhabited by The Foundation, a hidden community of mountain dwellers who use deadly means to protect their way of life. Suddenly under siege, Jen and her friends seem headed to the point of no return, unless Jen's father (Matthew Modine) can reach them in time." As I said above, the original film featured mutant cannibals, complete with gnarly make-up effects. This trailer keeps the antagonists mostly hidden, but based on the footage, and that synopsis, this makes it sound like they're a group of militant survivalists rather than inbred monsters. Not entirely sure how I feel about that, but I suppose that makes this Wrong Turn a bit more timely since stories about right-wing militias appear on the news seemingly every other day here in this hellscape.

Mike P. Nelson, director of The Domestics, helms the film from a script by Alan B. McElroy, writer of the original Wrong Turn. Look for it in theaters for one night only on January 26, 2021, after which I presume it'll head to VOD.