MovieFreak.com - "Wrong Turn" DVD Review by Dennis Landmann

A young man, Chris Finn (Desmond Harrington) and a group of five youths (including Eliza Dushku, Jeremy Sisto, and Emmanuelle Chriqui) are on a hiking trip in the Appalachians of West Virginia and become prey to a family of cannibalistic mountain men who have become horribly disfigured through generations of in-breeding.

It's nice to see Wrong Turn carry a hard R rating for strong violence and gore, but sadly there's no time for sex or nudity. Oh well, a guy can't have everything work out perfectly. Instead, interested viewers like me will have to make due with the T&A from hotties Eliza Dushku and Emmanuelle Chriqui. They give their characters a little more life, but also make themselves easy targets for the nasty and horny in-bred rednecks. Well, there are three of them to be exactly, and one is uglier than the next. Desmond Harrington plays the unlikely hero convincingly while Jeremy Sisto (TVs Six Feet Under) makes a nice appearance as the boyfriend of Chriqui's character.

I think Stan Winston's participation in Wrong Turn gives the film a little bit more credibility, and why not. Despite coming off as silly from time to time, the film is pretty fast-paced and includes enough blood, guts, gore, screams and inventive deaths to entertain any easy-going audience. By no means does this film benefit from a smart script. Instead, Alan McElroy tells an incredibly simple story, but he makes more of of it as he injects some good jolts and creepy moments. But really it is director Rob Schmidt who gives the film's creepy moments an edge. For example, the scene with Dushku bound and gagged inside the rednecks' cabin is pretty chilling, especially when you get to see the mauling of a character from the very beginning. Or take the scene in the trees where the demise of one character will first make you go "holy crap" and then "haha" as you realize how cool it is, but I won't divulge the type of death or it loses its effectiveness.

On the other hand, at a mere 84 minutes Wrong Turn is too underdeveloped. The story is not only very simple, but there is not enough of it. And really the film's opening scene doesn't count because it feels like it's from another film or something. So, I'm kind of divided on Wrong Turn. Part of me enjoyed it, part of me thought it was kind of stupid. But don't listen to me. Chances are you'll either like the film or dislike it. Sometimes it's that easy, although Wrong Turn deserves to be recognized for some of its good parts. Now if it were only just as simple to look over the bad spots.

Fox presents Wrong Turn in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. However, you need to play side B of the disc to watch this version. Side A features the film in dreadful fullscreen. Print quality is sharp and overall in pretty good condition. Colors are bright and well saturated. They add nicely to the film's moody atmosphere. Color detail looks good. The film looks pretty good in general since it's a new release. Source material is fresh and nicely detailed. There's little grain during scenes at night, but I didn't notice any print flaws. Black levels are deep and thick. Overall, this is a pretty clear presentation.

Fox presents Wrong Turn in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. The soundtrack focuses mainly on the center channels. Dialog is neatly reproduced for a clear presentation that's easy to understand. Surround usage is a here-and-there affair. Rear speakers act up nicely as they present the sound effects, like gunshot blasts, screams, trees, and an explosion, in noteworthy fashion. The woods and other surroundings make for a chilling atmosphere. Elia Cmiral's score sounds formidably haunting and the presentation handles the sounds nicely. The presentation is not exceptional by any means, but it gets the job done in a very decent fashion.

Also, Dolby Surround dubs in Spanish and French are included on both sides of the disc.

The arrangement of the special features are just as odd as the ones on The Good Thief DVD. In order to see them all you have to flip the disc one way or the other. Let me explain in more detail.

The commentary by director Rob Schmidt, actors Desmond Harrington and Eliza Dushku can be found on both sides, which is kind of a waste of space. They chat about the film passionately, but most of their comments didn't really interest me. Schmidt sounds the most enthusiastic and provides more information, while Harrington and Dushku reflect mostly on their experience while making the film and stuff like that.

Put in side B and you get the following extras. The 3 deleted scenes are really just extended cuts. One scene adds only about 15 seconds while another shows endless takes (at least 14 altogether) of a character's death with a little more blood. Big deal! Also, there's the circa 8-minute Fresh Meat: The Wounds of Wrong Turn featurette. It's pretty self-explanatory. Rounding out the extras on side B is the film's theatrical trailer and a poster concept gallery that includes 4 cheesy poster designs. One shows a scary, monster-like face with the film's title as its teeth. Too weird!

Now flip to side A and you get the remaining three featurettes. The first is The Making of Wrong Turn with interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, film clips, make-up, etc. It's decent, nothing special. Then, Eliza Dushku: Babe in the Woods is probably the most interesting featurette, but not really. You get the idea what it's about, well, who it's about. Again, nothing special. Lastly, the Stan Winston featurette examines the guy's special make-up effects for the three redneck monsters. He comes off as incredibly enthusiastic and even proclaims his make-up work here is the best he's ever done. I don't buy it.

You can select to view the film with optional English, French and Spanish subtitles. The 84-minute feature is organized into fourteen chapters.

Wrong Turn feels like a silly horror film from time to time, but there is enough blood, guts, gore, screams and inventive deaths to entertain any easy-going audience. Video/audio quality is pretty good. The DVD includes a decent quantity of extras that are pretty OK. Give this disc a try at the video store maybe.

THE MOVIE	5
THE VIDEO	8
THE AUDIO	8
THE EXTRAS	6
OVERALL (not an average)	6