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Judging from my other reviews, you would not think that horror films would be my thing, especially very gory ones. Actually aim to have a diverse taste in film, so seeing films from all decades and genres with no bias intended. Plus have seen my fair share of horror franchises where at least one film has been good.
Found myself surprisingly enjoying 'Wrong Turn' when slowly working my way through the films. The second film, and first sequel, 'Wrong Turn 2: Dead End' is not quite as good but is easily one of the better sequels and films in the series and perhaps the only one of the sequels to be nearly equal to the first. 'Wrong Turn 2: Dead End' is bloodier and gorier than 'Wrong Turn', with the in-jokes, one-liners and put-downs the dialogue is wittier and less cheesy than that in 'Wrong Turn' and it is just as fun. The ending also works better here, it is contrived somewhat but at least there is much more of a sense of a film-knowing-how-to-end-it ending.
At the same time, 'Wrong Turn 2: Dead End' does lack the tension-building, suspenseful claustrophobia and mystery of the first film and it is let down by some of the first half being dull and dumb with some of the dialogue being too self-conscious. The story is as simplistic and derivative and the characters as thinly sketched as before.
Things pick up significantly in the second half, where things become more thrilling, inventive, fun and skin-crawling. Visually, it is imaginatively and slickly shot if not quite as atmospheric as the first film due to times of being too clean. The setting is wonderfully mysterious and creepy and the effects and make-up are as appropriately horrifying as one would expect. The music has some genuine eeriness and Joe Lynch directs very competently with little time wasted after a slightly too overlong beginning.
Despite the lack of development for the characters, the acting is not bad at all. Henry Rollins and Erica Leerhsen are especially well-cast and are just as ballsy as the three leads in the first film.
Overall, decently solid and shows that the 'Wrong Turn' series is not yet dead. A dead end this is not. 6/10 Bethany Cox
6/10
