Wrong Turn is better than the typical cat scare monster movie, if you like horror films.  It doesn't waste time with a fancy plot or character development.  And (not to give anything away that isn't given away in the opening credits), the bad guys aren't inhuman demons, or metal-clawed scar faced burn victims, or giant machete wielding hockey mask-wearing bruisers.  This time, the horror comes from something we all can related to: inbred rednecks from West Virginia. 

There is no pretense about this film: it's just about hacking, slashing, screaming, and running.  The film is missing the now standard comedic relief...there isn't a laugh to be had, and the Masked Reviewer assumes that was the tone the filmmaker was going for. 

The acting is fine for what it is.  No one is too corny or especially unbelievable.  Scott, played by Jeremy Sisto, has a  voice that sounds more like an actor than that of a terrified young person running around in the West Virginia woods, being stalked by a fearsome foe.  Maybe his voice is less like an actor than a voice of a guy who does used car ads on the radio. 

Desmond Harrington plays another hapless person stuck in the woods.  He's fun to watch.  He's serious.  He has a great intensity, especially for such a silly film.  He plays a doctor.  You don't see enough doctors in horror films.  The Masked Reviewer wonders what happened to the Hippocratic Oath that doctors take to "do no harm"?  I guess that all goes out the window when a scary inbred hick comes at you with a rusty axe.  Then again, HMOs have changed the medical community forever.

Fans of the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" TV show will recognize Eliza Dushku.  She was also in Bring It On and played Arnold Schwarzenegger's daughter in True Lies.  She plays a tough chick stuck in the woods.  She's good and she's cute, and she doesn't scream too much.  What more could you want?  The Masked Reviewer knows the answer to that question, and no, there's no nudity in this film.  A tragic oversight.

Remember, this is a horror movie.  It wants to scare you.  The Masked Reviewer finds many horror films to be difficult to sit through, because they have become so formulaic.  Suspense has been replaced by cheap scares by cranking up the volume and having someone jump out at very predictable moments.  Well, Wrong Turn had a couple of genuine startling moments that caught the audience off guard.  That's more of a payoff than many horror movies have these days. 

The gore is pretty good...medium on the Masked Reviewer Raunchiness Scale.  It's not so much about blood and guts as it is about the tension between the hunter and the hunted.  The completely unbelievable stuff is kept to a minimum (oh, there's still plenty that would never happen, but much less than other films in the genre).  And, the "why did they do that?" moments of the poor people stuck in the woods are virtually non-existent.  For the most part, their actions make sense...for people being hunted by inbred monster rednecks.

At one point, a character suffers an injury (yes, there is violence...people who abhor violence might want to stick with something else).  Another character pours iodine on the wound.  To show that it hurts, there's a sizzling sound.  It's not bacon cooking, it's iodine!  Maybe they heated the iodine to 212 degrees before pouring it on?  Well, okay, maybe the Masked Reviewer is nit-picking.

The bad guys have a cool mumbly language that you can't understand.  One must assume it's "inbredese."

The sound effects are top notch in this film.  In fact, the sound does a lot more for the gore than the visuals.  Every chop, cut, break, squish, and rip are very vivid to your ears.  It seemed to get a stronger reaction from people than the visual effects.

If you like standard slasher movies, Wrong Turn is worth a look.  While it lacks the humor that can be a welcome break from constant running, screaming, and dying, the film does the horror well.  It's not groundbreaking in terms of fun new ways to kill or be killed, but it does build some nice suspense and has a few genuinely scary and surprising moments.  Fans of Final Destination and I Know What You Did Last Summer will enjoy Wrong Turn, which is the scariest movie about inbred hillbillies since Fried Green Tomatoes. 

If you don't like horror films, pass on it.  That's all it is, but it's better than the umpteenth sequel with Freddy or Jason. 

Wrong Turn will make you squeal like a pig!   In the good way.

Expectation from the Title:  A story about a man.  A man with a pickle jar.  He wants a pickle, but can't remember the old saying, "Lefty loosie, righty tighty".  Find out what happens when the lid only gets tighter.

Mother's Rule (Always Say Something Good About Everything):  The West Virginia forests that they show are very beautiful.  It seems like a nice place to go hiking, aside from the psychopathic killers.

The Pros: Scary in parts, serious, solid acting, nice premise for a horror flick.  Two excellent shocking moments will be worth the price for some.

The Cons: Just a goofy horror flick.  Not too bloody, no nudity, nothing groundbreaking.