A Good Day For A "Wrong Turn" Movie Review (Part 2)

Hey guys! Since my last review was on the first Wrong Turn, I thought it would be a cool idea to make a series out of these films. So this next review is going to be on Wrong Turn 2: Dead end, directed by Joe Lynch (Everyly).

In this 2007 sequel to the first movie Wrong Turn that came out in 2003, a group of individuals that come from different backgrounds are brought together to take part on a post apocalyptic reality game show. But what they don't know is that our favorite family of hillbilly cannibals have returned for another feast of epic proportions, literally.

To start the film we meet Kimberly, ironically played by Kimberly Caldwell (Recipe For Love). She is a celebrity that has been brought on this game show. Shes driving a red Ford Mustang while arguing with her manager on her headset because she doesn't get any real work. While in this mindset, she runs into a family member of our cannibal friends. In a panic she goes to make sure that he is okay, but this act of kindness loses her part of her face, and ultimately her life when she gets split in half by Pa (Ken Kirizinger- Watchmen, X-Men: 2).

Now we are shown a preview of the new hit reality survival game show called "The Apocalypse". Where six (seven including the host) lucky survivors must come together to stay alive after the end of the world. We then meet the six contestants: Kimberly (MIA), Jonesy (X-Games loser), Amber (US Marine), Jake (college football star), Elana (stuck-up princess), and Nina (Vegan with a bad attitude). We also meet Dale (Henry Rollins- Heat), who is the host of the show, Mara and M (producer and director). Sorry, quite a few characters, but it will all come together.

Since Kimberly was unable to attend due to extreme circumstances, Mara is put in to take her place. We then find out that M and Mara are a couple. Now each person gets assigned a teammate to work together with. There are radiation tripwires in the woods, and if one is triggered you have to do a task. If the task is not performed then you pretty much lose the game. So the teams are Amber and Jonesy, Elana and Jake, and Mara and Nina.

So now the groups part ways, and they are not allowed to use any electronics what so ever. Now the game begins. So Mara and Nina make there way into the woods. Mara tries to start conversations with her partner, but Nina is really in this for herself. But they soon have to work together because Mara hits a tripwire and ends up falling into a river getting the antidote. She eventually survives and is unaffected by radiation.

Now at this time M is trying to get Jake and Elana to make some "chemistry", but Jake doesn't feel what M is asking is right for family TV. So he goes off on his own. Elana takes advantage of the opportunity, and eventually M cheats on Mara with Elana. But not before Mara spots them from a hill in the distance. M leaves and Elana starts tanning, but what she doesn't know is that one of the cannibals is watching her. Then the wife of the one watching her becomes enraged and slashes Elana to death.

In the meantime Jonesy flirts constantly with Amber, but soon finds out she is a lesbian, but this doesn't stop him. They eventually make a truce and come upon a camp with some barbecue on the fire. They take it and make there way to a field where they meet up with Jake. They then chow down on their findings.

All while this is going on, Dale is being shot at with arrows by Three-Finger, and he is eventually knocked out by Pa and brought back to a cabin to be cooked. He wakes up, upside down to find Three-Finger chopping up some flesh for their meal. But Dale with his marine background eventually escapes and sends our favorite three-fingered cannibal into the water with a buckshot to the chest. He then moves on.

Now since Mara saw M with Elana, Mara has been pretty upset. But her and Nina come upon another cabin and they go inside to try and get service. But they are suddenly trapped when a group of the cannibals bring in one of their women, put her on the table and help deliver her baby.  They are eventually seen and escape through the bottom of the house. Nina makes it but Mara isn't quick enough and gets a nice tomahawk to the skull. Nina is now alone.

Dale makes his way to another cabin, and if I'm correct, that's three cabins already. But Dale meets an old man living by himself. Dale patches himself up while making small talk with the old man. We then find out it is the man from the gas station in the first movie. He is also the father of some of the cannibals. They start to wrestle around but then Dale quickly ties some of the old mans dynamite to an arrow and shoots the old man in the back. Then the dynamite goes off, and I'll let your imagination finish the rest.

Nina finally runs her way into the field where Jonesy, Amber and Jake are eating their meal. She tells them that Mara is dead and they need to leave now. At first no one believes her but they soon find out, thanks to a tattoo on their food, that she is telling the truth. They then leave as a group to try and get out of this place.

Now I know we've been wondering about M. Probably not. But he gets to the TV truck after all this time. He gets back but is soon stalked and attacked by Pa. We don't know if he is still alive or not.

So the four survivors make their way into the woods, but come across a couple of the hillbillies, one of which wearing the skin of Elana. Jake runs to save the Elana-masked cannibal  but the group gets attacked. Jake and Nina go one way, Jonesy and Amber the other way. But quickly Jonesy and Amber both get caught in foot traps and are hanging in the trees. They are both then killed by a single arrow that goes through both of their heads.

Jake and Nina go through a couple of obstacles, like trap holes, and waterfalls. But they eventually make it to an abandoned mill. Inside they find the TV truck. While Jake investigates the truck, he sees M getting killed on the monitor and he is soon take hostage. Soon after, Nina is found and taken as well. But Dale is still out there trying to save everyone. He gets to the mill and kills off two of the cannibals. Nina is tied to a chair and Jake is tied by his arms, hanging from the ceiling. While the family is distracted, Dale releases them, but while doing so he gets shot with two arrows and is choked by barbed wire.

Now in the final fight, Pa tries to put Jake through a meat grinder, but Nina saves him. Pa is then pushed into it and loses his arm. Ma (Ashlea Earl) comes and helps Pa, but thanks to Nina, a piece of machinery knocks both of them into the grinder, sending them to the basement in now liquid form. The two survivors now take the red mustang that Kimberly drove in the beginning of the movie and make their way to safety. The last shot shows nuclear waste going into the water, and the water is being put into a bottle and fed to the deformed baby that was born during the movie.


Pros:

• I thought the acting was overall very good by all of the actors. Especially Dale, because he brought such an awesome presence to the movie. 
• The makeup use on the cannibals was genuinely believable.
• I liked the idea of a post-apocalyptic game show and how the characters actually have to fight to survive. Ironic huh?
• The kills of course were awesome. Stepping up their game from the first movie.

Cons:

• Some of the gore effects were a little sloppy. You could really see the CGI in some of the shots.
• There were in my opinion too many story lines to follow. You would be watching one group, and forget what happened to another. A little hard to follow.

Now on a scale from A-F, I give "Wrong Turn 2: Dead End" a... B+!

I thought this movie had a lot of the same aspects of the first one, but this one brought it to a whole other level. The kills were knew and still very gory. The story was interesting and fun to watch. The characters were very relatable and they make you almost want to cheer for them, almost. A very solid sequel that proves the legitimacy of the series.

Thanks for reading everyone and come back anytime for everything that is horror!



Image References

• https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/6e/90/c2/6e90c207ec52adb33a58ea36881c37bb.jpg 
• http://www.programme.tv/media/cache/relative_max_355x272/upload/epgs/2013/01/wrong-turn-2-voie-sans-issue_9942971_1.jpg 
• http://www.bearmccreary.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/blog033a.jpg
• http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/wrongturn/images/8/82/Amber_and_Jonesy.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120428182324
• http://images.screenrush.co.uk/r_760_x/medias/nmedia/18/65/47/75/18864791.jpg
• http://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/posters/800/W/Wrong-Turn-2-Dead-End-1969-movie-poster.jpg