Directed by Declan O’Brien (2011)

SUMMARY: A group of college kids head out on snowmobiles to celebrate their winter break. After getting caught in a storm they seek shelter in an abandoned sanatorium that is home to crazed inbred mutants.

THOUGHTS: I’ve gotta say, I’m pretty forgiving when it comes to horror movies. Even if they are bad, I can usually find at least something to like about them whether it’s the kills or the bad acting or the premise. Then there are also the so-bad-they’re-good films that I love so much. Unfortunately, Wrong Turn 4 is no such film. In fact it’s so unbelievably bad that I’m going to say it’s one of the worst films I’ve seen all year. I wish I could wipe it from my mind, but then again I chose to watch it. I did this to myself.

Let me first start by saying that I really like the original Wrong Turn. I even grabbed it for $5 at Wal-Mart several years ago in one of the bottomless pit discount movie bins. It’s just a fun backwoods maniac flick and we just don’t get those kind of horror movies anymore. And even though it was a drastic change in tone, I also enjoyed Wrong Turn 2 for what it was. Sure it was stupid and over-the-top, but it was meant to be a campy splatter comedy and for the most part it worked… And then there was the steaming pile of garbage that was Wrong Turn 3. I won’t even go into it here, but let’s just say that it sucked. It sucked big time.

So heading into Wrong Turn 4 I more or less knew what I was getting into. Written and directed by the same guy that shot Wrong Turn 3, I figured that maybe just maybe it would improve on the third film. WRONG. If 3 buried an axe in the brain of the franchise, then 4 kicks it in further with its clunky boot heel.

Pretty much everything about this film is inept. And when you think about it, a slasher film is pretty hard to screw up. Basically all you have to do is follow a simple formula and just make it a little fun to watch. Wrong Turn 4 couldn’t even do that. Sure, the acting is going to be bad; that’s a given. But when the script is this awful (it seriously seemed like a 14-year old kid wrote it) it just makes the film an unbearable experience. There was also pointless gratuitous sex, boring sets, poor lighting, and blah blah blah.

What should have been the film’s saving grace were the kills, but they even found a way to screw that up too. Instead of sticking with practical gore effects, we are treated to a grotesque amalgam of practical and CGI. When things are CG they are terrible, and when they are practical they are the worst rubber dummies with wigs you could ever imagine. It’s just bad, bad, bad.

I could further list the things that make this film terrible, but frankly I think I’ve pretty much conveyed how much I hated it. It was made for a quick buck in order to cash in on a name and absolutely no heart went into it at all. It’s just a slew of lazy ideas that were chewed up and then vomited onto the screen in hopes of turning some money. Don’t give them the satisfaction. Skip this one.

*Side note: There was actually one particular scene that I rather enjoyed. While his girlfriend is being killed, one of the guys screams and screams and screams. It is loud and feminine and downright hilarious in a completely unintentional way. And for that I give this film:

VERDICT: 1 screaming boyfriend out of 10

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Posted by cactus-mouth