Wednesday 4 October 2023

Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines (2012)


Truly one of the horror movie franchises of all-time, the "Wrong Turn" series began with a proficient backwoods slasher flick and has survived creative bankruptcy on its way to becoming seven films strong. This fifth entry is one of the better ones, although that's not saying much. And much of the reason it's tolerable is because of a scenery-chewing Doug Bradley, who enters the series as a fugitive serial killer in command of inbred hillbilly cannibals Three Finger and company and becomes the primary antagonist of the movie when his arrest triggers a bloody rescue mission. Also roped into this saga is a group of prototypical slasher teens who are really just there to be annoying and die horribly. Oh, and there's a dumbass lady sheriff (Camilla Afwedson) whose insistence that Bradley's character stays behind bars all night doesn't really help anyone.

The kills here are what "Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines" is all about and on that front it only almost delivers. People are gutted, literally mowed over, set ablaze and even battered with sledgehammers, but a lot of it is so poorly lit that gorehounds probably won't leave happy. The plot, meanwhile, is equally predictable and silly -- just an excuse to get the blood and viscera spilling. This is probably better than the two sequels immediately preceding it and definitely more tolerable than the recent reboot, but it's a bad movie all the same.














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