Wrong Turn 2: Dead End

I always found the original 2002 film 'Wrong Turn' to be a modest backwoods slasher item, and this straight-to-DVD sequel doesn't add anything particularly new other than more blood, gore, perversion and mutilation to the survival trek. Nice! Now that opening death scene has guts… literally and shows what your really in for. Director Joe Lynch cooks up rollicking jolts and an over-the-top attitude that lends well with the films mock send-up of a reality TV show about the apocalypse, where is has contestants competing for 1 million dollars by trying to survive in a remote West Virginia. The characters don't really set themselves apart from your usual clichéd victim, but here the deformed hillbillies happen to be part of a family. Children and parents sharing their love… for bloody pulp! Even a back-story is thrown right in. However due to its concentration of thinking up new twisted ways to shorten the cast, the pacing can drag before the next nasty surprise surfacers. I didn't find the material to be overly predictable, but it never went away from its stereotypical format. The camera has that rapid style, and the music score packs a ominous charge. Performances won't win any awards, but are commendable enough. Henry Rollins superbly commands the screen, and Erica Leerhsen leads the way with a fine turn. For me this is what "The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007)" wanted to be, but fell way short. Nothing grand, but an absurdly fun and in-your-face horror romp. I guess this is what it wanted to be, and true to that it is.

So cool that Henry Rollins is in it and he was nothing but cool in the whole flick. Every time he was on the screen it was the right movie.

Rollins plays the host of a stupid looking reality show were the contestants pretend they must survive a post-apocalyptic world, but they soon discover how real that scenario is, as they end up taping the show in the same woods as a group of psychopathic killers.

In this film, somewhat of an origin story is given to the inbreed family that does the slashing in the woods, but I have to say, the group that did the killing in the first film were far more better. Just a little bit more creepy and creative in Wrong Turn. In Wrong Turn 2, it seem they were trying to up the extreme of these characters when it was not needed.

By itself it's more of a Stereotypical horror film with elements of Predator-like action, thanks mostly to Rollins. As a franchise, while the original brought freshness to the genre, it's sequel was stale.

In Greenbrier Back Country, West Virginia, the retired military Dale Murphy (Henry Rollins) is hosting a tough survivor show where the winner takes US$ 100,000.00. The proposal of the reality show is to survive in the woods in the most adverse conditions, following predetermined rules. Sooner the contestants find that they are really fighting to survive against a strong, sadistic and violent cannibalistic family with the appearance of monsters. Further, Colonel Dale discloses that many years ago, an abandoned pulp mill released chemical wastes on the creek, killing the animals and transforming the descendants of a local family in deformed mutants. Without animals to hunt or fish to catch, the next generation chases travelers to feed themselves.

"Wrong Turn 2: Dead End" has an unoriginal story that I have seen many times, and seems to be a replay of parts of many other movies, like for example "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "The Hills Have Eyes", "Timber Falls", "Wrong Turn" plus breasts of a sexy girl and a collection of clichés of the genre. However, this film is surprisingly good, having more gore and originality in the deaths than the usual; and works, hooking the attention of the viewer until the very last scene. The death of Kimberly Caldwell in the beginning gives a great introduction of how bloody this film is. When I see this type of movie, I try to guess what will happen to the potential victims, if they will survive or die, and the gore resolution of this movie is good. The make-up and the special effects are impressive. In my opinion, fans of the genre will not be disappointed with this film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Floresta do Mal" ("Forest of the Evil")

Low-rent slasher sequels are usually garbage, I mean has anyone seen Hostel 2, The Grudge 2 or Hills Have Eyes 2? As a result I really wasn't expecting much of this movie despite enjoying the first, not merely for the gorgeous Eliza Dushku either. The premise is nothing new, but the characters, gore and inventive kills make it well worth watching.

The always cool Henry Rollins (who I'd pay money just to see reading the bible) plays a retired Army Colonel who is now hosting a faux-post apocalyptic reality game show. The setting: the woods. But not just any woods, this is inbred hillbilly territory and they are only too happy to devour a bunch of young city folks.

Erica Leerhseen (who seriously does not look as old as she is) plays Nina, the cynical, jaded one of the group who keeps her cool when the guts start spilling. Usually with these movies you can tell exactly who is going to die and in what order, but Wrong Turn 2 still managed to seem fresh. I wasn't simply waiting for characters to die or wishing that they'd hurry up and meet a grisly end, since such fodder are usually highly annoying.

The one thing that I didn't like was the utterly flat photography. The original had a dark, grainy and hardcore look to it but the sequel just seems so clean and bright and open. I think that if Joe Lynch was perhaps a more experienced director then the film would look tighter and more dynamic, as it is the cinematography does little to compliment the above-average production design.

If you are a fan of the first movie then I totally recommend that you give this one a go. It surpassed my expectations and I'm usually quite a snob when it comes to movies.

This movie essentially carries a plot and contains scenes we have definitely seen before. All the actors are cliché actors and everything you see has been done before. However, this was done better than most other movies.

The plot revolves around a reality TV show in the woods and of course the cannibals are there. It is simple but was good enough to keep me intrigued to go with the movie. There were characters you root for and characters you wanted to die like in any movie, but the way they died was awesome. There was a plethora of blood and guts and even some tense moments.

A lot better than most other sequels in regards to similar movies like Jeepers Creepers 2, The Ring 2, The Grudge 2, Hills have eyes II, etc. I do recommend renting this so you can cheer for those awesome gory kills and waiting to see if they get their revenge.