Wrong Turn (2021)

Pack your bags 🎒We're hiking into the killer woods of WRONG TURN (2021) 🌲Enjoy our discussion of Caroline and Ian living Wrong Turn irl and tune in this Friday for our review of WRONG TURN (2003) at patreon.com/scarymoviepod 🔪

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Theme by Alex Shawver

Other music zapsplat.com, "Panthalassa" and "Bush Week" by nihilore.com

Audio clips from Wrong Turn (2021)

Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:00

My country is a story people know but don't talk about except in whispers like a ghost story of liberty we don't bother them and they don't bother us but anyone who goes up there is displaced They don't come back Descendants of these people are still living up there on the mountain they said they would be the foundation on which a new nation would be built. Hello, Sydney.

SPEAKER_03 1:11

Uh hi. Who is this?

SPEAKER_00 1:14

It's your killer host. My name is Parker, your resident horror fanatic.

SPEAKER_03 1:19

I'm Caroline, Scaredy Scream Queen.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

I'm Ian, Scary Movie Skeptic. And welcome to.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

What's your favorite scary movie?

SPEAKER_03 1:39

What's your favorite scary movie is a horror film podcast where we're on a journey to find our favorite scary movie one at a time.

SPEAKER_01 1:47

Whether you hate them or love them, join us and discover yours.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Spoilers ahead. So plan your movie screening every weekend before the episode release. Hey. Hi.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Hey.

SPEAKER_03 2:02

You wanna like you wanna do something this weekend? You wanna like go like hiking or something?

SPEAKER_01 2:10

Oh my god, that would be great. You know, we're right next to the Appalachian Dragon. Yeah, let's all go hiking.

SPEAKER_03 2:16

Let's go to REI, buy all new hiking gear, and just like go out into the woods.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Never been used. Breaking in boots. That sounds great.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

You know, I've been needing a little fresh air lately. I'm so stuffed up in my apartment. And I love shopping. Yeah. Let's do it. All right. Well, uh, we're headed out right now, and we'll check back in with you listeners when we're back from our hike.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Ooh, we have a foley artist in the group.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Wrestling of leaves.

SPEAKER_03 2:57

JK, let's not go hiking. Let's just watch a movie about hiking.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

That was weak, but okay. A movie about hiking. Wow, that sounds like fun. Very inspirational. Is this perhaps like an inspirational documentary about how we can achieve against all odds?

SPEAKER_03 3:21

It is. It is inspirational documentary. It is an LL Bean commercial. It is um uh, you know, Game of Thrones, it is commentary on our current political climate in the US. It is all of the things you could ever ask.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

It's cult-like.

SPEAKER_03 3:40

Yeah. Cult.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

I mean, there's a little cultness.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 3:44

It's nature porn. It is nature porn. It's small town America.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Small town America.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

Wow. Okay, well, episode's over. That was really great. Now, if if you had to combine all of those elements and name them something, what would you name it?

SPEAKER_03 4:02

Uh wrong turn.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Whoa! The creativity on this episode is boundless. Here we are. Uh, hot off the press. Wrong turn was released just this past Friday, February, um February 26th was when Wrong Turn 2021 came out on VOD. It was actually in theaters before that, but theater never matter. You know, we're in a pandemic, we're still not going to those. So hot off the press, like I said, and I'm so excited to chat with y'all about wrong turn 2021. But if you listener are going crazy right now, like, what the heck? I want to hear about wrong turn 2003, not this new stuff. Well, you're in luck. Because this Friday, on March 5th, you can head over to Patreon.com slash scary moviepod, where we will be reviewing what wrong turn 2003 and comparing the two films. But for now, zip mums the word.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

Let me tell you, you want to hear those thoughts, friends. So head on over. Subscribe.

SPEAKER_00 5:14

Alright, well, the car's packed. Let's head out into the woods on our journey into wrong turn.

SPEAKER_03 5:21

Into the woods. Into the woods.

SPEAKER_00 5:25

Yes, psyched. This is a musical podcast now. Let's dig in. Wrong Turn 2021 was directed by Mike P. Nelson, who this guy, he also wrote and directed The Domestics from 2018. Domestic America. Wrong turn. I'm seeing a thread here.

SPEAKER_03 5:49

Apple pie.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

Oh, yeah, yeah. He has done previous film work as a foley artist. Ian, coming for your gig. Editor, producer, sound designer, mixer, effects artist, cinematographer. This guy, he knows the film biz. Are you saying I know the film biz? No, no, that's that guy. I'm saying he's a foley artist, so he's coming for your uh that gig, Ian. We can't go zero to a hundred quite quite yet. Maybe when what's your favorite scary movie turns three, we'll see, we'll see. Now, here's something that you might find interesting. Wrong Turn 2021 was written by Alan B. McElroy. If you want to know something crazy, Alan B. McElroy is the writer of Wrong Turn 2003. Really? Wow. Were you expecting a twist like that so soon in the podcast?

SPEAKER_03 6:44

Well, someone had to explain the same title of the movie.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Were we expecting a wrong turn so quick?

SPEAKER_00 6:50

But besides wrong turn 2003, Alan first uh his first writing credit was Halloween 4, The Return of Michael Myers. Pretty cool. And from there he wrote Spawn in 1997, and also he's written and produced episodes of Star Trek Discovery and the Vampire Diaries.

SPEAKER_03 7:09

Alright, we have Charlotte Vega as Jen Gorgeous. Gorgeous, yeah. Regal. She was in Rec 3, Genesis from 2012. That's where I saw her from.

SPEAKER_01 7:25

Shut up.

SPEAKER_03 7:27

She was also in The Lodgers in 2017 and the Netflix show Warrior None. Now that is something I gotta see.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

You know what I've seen of the this list? None of them.

SPEAKER_03 7:45

She really did a fantastic job, Charlotte.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

Charlotte, are you listening? Did you hear that, Charlotte?

SPEAKER_03 7:53

Her agent just called and said thanks.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

We're being paid.

SPEAKER_03 7:59

Um Matthew Modine plays Jen's daddy, Scott.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

You know, he's a face I hadn't seen in a long time. And I he's a face you recognize in film, but you don't really know from where.

SPEAKER_03 8:16

Well, I'll tell you where. He was in 47 meters down.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

Nope.

SPEAKER_03 8:22

He was in 47 meters down in 2017. The Dark Knight Rises in 2012, seasons one and two of Stranger Things. And this is for me, apparently. He plays Movie Within Movie Actor in Notting Hill from 1999. The rest of the cast includes Aiden Bradley as Darius, Adrian Favella as Louise, Emma Dumont as Mila, Dylan McTee as Adam, Vardane Aurora as Gary, Tim Desarn as Hillberry Hillbilly Towney, Nate, uh, Bill Sage as Jen's Zaddy. Venable. Hi. Daisy Head, yeah. I would agree, actually. I would carry his child. Oh, oh.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

Um you wanted kids.

SPEAKER_03 9:23

Well, no, you just hand it off and then he kills you. Daisy Head is Edith and Ryan Elizabeth Hanovan as Ruthie.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

Sweet little Ruthie.

SPEAKER_03 9:36

Token creepy child actor.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

I think we need one more uh cast member.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

I have a lot of people playing critical roles, I felt like in this movie. I felt like this movie was a plot line a second.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

The summary reads A group of young, fun, and diverse young adults travel to Virginia to hike the Appalachian. The town Appalachian, is is it plural?

SPEAKER_03 10:05

It's the Appalachian Trail.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

The Appalachian Trail. The town that they set up base in is full of Confederate flags. Hmm. Sound familiar? Bigots, and the vibe is not chill. They're told to always stay on the marked trail because nature is dangerous out there. Well, they don't stay on the trail. It appears they're being hunted as a few of the youths are picked off, and Jen and her boyfriend Darius are taken to a primitive community called the Foundation. It is revealed that the Foundation was founded before the Civil War by a group of families fearing the collapse of America. Sound familiar? They welcome people of all races and backgrounds. Everyone works. Everyone contributes. Everyone lives equally. Preach. Darius becomes a hunter with the boys, and Jen is married off to the community leader, Venable. Six weeks later, Jen's father, Scott, ventures to the Virginia town to find her. He finds the community, and he and Jen escape, murdering a lot of people in the process. Darius chooses to stay behind. Sometime later, Jen is Prego, and Venable pays her a family visit. She leaves with him, but during the closing credits, slaughters them all out of an RV. Wow. The Rotten Tomatoes, the critic score is 68%, and the audience score is 49%.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Now he gets offended when people shit on things he likes.

SPEAKER_01 12:02

The uh critics' consensus is quote, wrong turn is a cut below more effective horror outings. But viewers in the mood for some gory chills will find that this franchise reboot does more than a few things right.

SPEAKER_03 12:19

A cut below. What's what the fuck?

SPEAKER_00 12:23

You know, my my thought for Rotten Tomatoes here is I don't even know what this means. A cut below more effective horror outings. Like, what's an effective horror outing? Like, I need anything.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

Can they give it praise?

SPEAKER_03 12:33

Yeah, what are they comparing this to?

SPEAKER_00 12:36

Yeah, it's a little confusing to me. You know, cut below. I would say 2020 got a lot of shit. So this year, anything is a cut above, I would say. Well, you know, like I said, this movie came out only moments ago. And I want to know from you two wrong turn 21 enthusiasts, I would assume, um, what you think of wrong turn?

SPEAKER_03 13:03

Well, first of all, I would just like to give a little shout out to both Parker and our Patreons who have curated this last slew of I would qualify these movies as um Appalachian wood slaughters.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

It's a it's a deadly hitting subgenre.

SPEAKER_03 13:24

Yeah, really hitting home.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Yeah, because what are you referring to that we've watched recently?

SPEAKER_03 13:31

Ean Lake and also um Willie's Wonderland was based in not too far from here. Not exactly like a wood, woodsy, outdoorsy killing spree, but definitely like had those vibes, you know.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

Well, and then the f the parody one. Tucker and Dale.

SPEAKER_03 13:51

Oh yeah, tuck Tucker and Dale definitely.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

Tucker and Dale was a request from one of our patrons. Eden Lake was a con a request from one of our patrons, and you can hear us discuss that at patreon.com slash scary moviepod. And then wrong turn, this smackdown that we're having between this and on our Patreon on Friday was actually requested by our patron Samantha. So they really are, they really do have our backs.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

We literally live in in the Appalachian region.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

Yeah, this this whole slew of movies started when we moved into our house here.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

So the scenes, the scenes are literally, we drive by those same-looking scenes.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

Yeah, I was about to say the like forest things in this movie, that looks like the real the real estate listing for the house y'all bought. So I was a little spooked for you.

SPEAKER_03 14:45

We could walk to the Appalachian Trail from our house. Oh my god, really?

SPEAKER_01 14:49

So I mean it would be it would be.

SPEAKER_03 14:56

Uh, we could if we really wanted to.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

You know, and not going off the trail, I think is pretty good advice, even when there aren't killer people in those woods. So, I mean, that that innkeeper who seemed to sh I was a little confused by what her deal was, but um, she was uh, you know, doing some good info for them.

SPEAKER_03 15:16

I have to tell a story. I was on TikTok the other day, and this story popped up about this girl who was in a national park and she heard like a family like screaming bloody murder, and she called the Rangers and they're like, Don't worry, we'll take care of it. And then the next day she went and ch chatted with the Rangers and they were like, What are you talking about? And then someone stitched it, and they said that they live in the Appalachian Mountains, and this happens all the time, and it is well known in the communities here that there are woodsy people that live out there off the grid, and people go missing all the time, and the locals know that it is people that live out there, and I was freaked out, and then I watched this movie. Yeah, they're like cannibals, and they like there's documented cases of people that have seen them, apparently. It's a folklore, but but then I watched this movie and I was like, was she paid? Is this marketing?

SPEAKER_00 16:21

Influencer marketing, but yeah, so that's pretty spooky. Um, and you know, I wouldn't be surprised, but that's pretty crazy. I would be, you know, I'm always just on the f everywhere I go, I don't care if it's the woods, I don't care if it's down the block, I think someone's gonna kill me all the time. So add a little bit of truth and legend to that, and I'm out of there. So y'all wanted me to come visit you at your new house, not happening anymore.

unknown 16:49

No.

SPEAKER_03 16:49

But I just think there's like this I mean, it's gated going all the way back to like Texas Chainsaw Massacre or like the Hills Have Eyes, like that kind of like phenomenon of that existing has got to come from somewhere. And we see it again in 2021.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

Exactly. And this time, uh again, we're not going to spoil anything about our thoughts on Wrong Turn 2003, but this is a very different movie. And I'm I was really actually, from the second this movie started, fascinated because you can tell immediately that they're setting up a more uh a more thoughtful social commentary. Um and uh I thought that the first like third of this movie was incredible. First of all, I love gays. Anytime there's a gay in a horror movie, I'm just like, the that's me. Uh so I was very excited about that. And also I felt like like that time that we got with them at the bar and having fun out on the trail hiking. I don't know if it's because these are more modern young adults that are probably around our age and are like taking selfies and doing things I connect with, but I was like, wow, this movie is really showcasing how to do a little character development, something that some of the horror movies we watch, I don't think they've heard that word before. Uh, I felt really connected to this group, and I have to say, when the first death hit, a little tear trickled down my face.

SPEAKER_03 18:23

The the character development individually, I also think that like LL Bean commercial montage of them having a great time on their hike, like bonding, yelling over the little cliff. I was like, I want a fun little gaggle of close friends that we'll buy hiking gear and yell off the side of a cliff with, and um, yeah, and then tragedy strikes, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:49

Well, and of course, that's why, you know, young people love things like the perks of being a wallflower or um what's another teen thing where it's just like, you know, the it gives you some like we are infinite, like people, like arms in the wind. People love that because you want your life to have that kind of meaning and those moments of like, wow, the world is happening around me. This is life. And so I think wrong turn is smart to tap into that desire, especially as well, one, we're all trapped inside, but two, when we're getting the air that we want, a lot of times that we have to go on these little hiking trips. I I've gone on hiking trips with a couple of friends during quarantine, and so watching this, it was like, I think it's time to plan another one. I think it's really hit and right, even though they filmed it in 2019 before any of this.

SPEAKER_03 19:42

That wanderlust ever present.

SPEAKER_00 19:45

Yeah, well, another thing about this uh little group of nomads, as we uh might call them, is that um I think that from the first second, you know, some old boomer watching this might be like, oh, of course, we've got the diverse kids, like who's checking off their boxes? But it's interesting to know as we go throughout the rest of the movie how that diversity comes into play. But before we get to those larger themes, I don't think we've heard the full reviews from each of you on uh your general thoughts.

SPEAKER_03 20:23

This just like really combined all of the things that I typically love in a horror movie with things that I normally don't appreciate, and mesh them together so I have like a new love for basically all the horror history that we went through that we that I didn't enjoy. Like they brought in those Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibes, the Hills Have Eyes vibes, and spun it into something. There's a little bit of Midsummer in there with the cult factor. There's a little bit of like kind of like teen drama with the friendship bonding. Um I also like it was a lot looking back on the entire plot of the movie. Like I thought the dad coming to get her was like a little extra, but then at the end I was like I I kind of loved that that was there, and it started the movie really strongly, in my opinion. Like I was hooked when the dad was going after. Yeah, rather than starting with like, oh, the teens go into the woods, like another one of those movies.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

Yeah, and I think that also family is a strong theme throughout this movie, whether that's chosen, created, or blood. Um, but I agree with you that sometimes I was like, All right, wrong turn, you're doing a lot. And sometimes like it could have scaled back just a little bit. Like I was never confused, but it was like I could handle it. It was just like chaos sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Yeah, I feel like um first of all I reiterate what Caroline said for the most part. I I'm in the same boat. When the scene where what is the the scene where it could have ended right there?

SPEAKER_03 22:15

Oh, like when he takes her to bed to impregnate her.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

Yeah, I think I think that yeah, yeah, that is the scene. That's when I thought it was gonna be the end. And then we had like the rest of the half of the movie. And like to your point, Parker, I was never confused. Um, and for one of the few times I'm I you know I'm a critic of films being too long. I was okay with it going extra long because the extra long was, in my opinion, still interesting enough to to warrant being there, but I definitely think like it could have ended at that scene in bed, and it would have been a a well-done movie, in my opinion. But um for the most part, other than that, I mean uh the actual technical and aesthetic aspects of the movie all were great and gorgeous. Um you know, I'm a a lover of cult-esque. You know, it has some of those vibes, and I just love sub-cultures being in these scary movies, and you get that, and I love the the lure of not know or like thinking there could be other like communities that we don't know about.

SPEAKER_00 23:40

Yeah, it gives you a little something to to have nightmares about.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

Right. In our backyard. Kind of want to meet him.

SPEAKER_00 23:47

Yeah, and something that I uh uh love that you you said was that yeah, it could have ended at multiple points, and so you know, they put her down into that hole where they put the like lid on. And I thought when that was happening, I was like, well, we have seen like each of her friends be picked off in some sort of way, even though not all of them had died. Like, could have been there, that could have been something sinister. Could have ended with the bed, that would have been super sinister. Uh, it's interesting how to how you see this movie constructing uh the different endings because I think you know it has a relatively happy ending. Uh, but even with this uh, you know, there's a little like daydream what if thing at the end where uh Vinable like kills her stepmom and those two brothers. I was holding my face. I was like, holy shit, that's crazy. And when it when that was false, I was a little disappointed. Uh, because that would have been insane. But like the movie's really playing with like it has a this is what's going to happen, we have a message to deliver.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

I thought that was super creative because I feel like uh films use flashback too much sometimes, and then it's just like okay, we're going through a flashback again, and they'll use it like a dozen times throughout the movie. But that maybe I'm incorrect, but I think that was like the only time or the only um maybe it's not a flashback, is not the right word, but like a foreshadowing uh or like uh what would you call that?

SPEAKER_00 25:19

It was just like a I like a like false, like I don't yeah, I don't know what to call like a trick or something.

SPEAKER_03 25:24

It was her imagination. Yeah. I love I love that alternate route she could have taken.

SPEAKER_01 25:30

I love that they used it only once and it was super powerful because I was like, holy shit.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

Yeah, yeah, and that part was really scary, and like like I said, like I my jaw on the floor. Like I thought that was crazy. But I think that what that moment, the significance of it, is that uh, you know, she um she cares so much about family. Like I said, that's a big through line of this movie. You know, she rejected the family that they tried to force her into because she loves her real family, even if her stepmom was a little bit of a bitch. Um, and so she saw that reality and it was like, I can't do I can't fight because that will jeopardize like this family that I have here. I have to go. And then, you know, she gets out anyway. And I'm assuming, well, I mean, who knows? Maybe she's gonna get arrested. But, you know, it's interesting how uh she's making choices throughout, and she's kind of the pack leader as they're going through the woods. You know, Darius tries to take them off the route to find this Confederate fort that he wants to see. And after that, she's kind of like the moral head of the group, being like, no, we're doing this, this, this. And um, yeah, it's interesting how that that power and that confidence and strength that she has to build throughout the movie is then evident there at the end. But yeah, that was going way ahead. Let's zoom back just a little bit. Let's discuss a bit everything pre-foundation. Um, we have this sequence of them in the town with the Confederate flags, which I always find um uh sequences like this really uncomfortable because like there's that horrible scene where the two gays are holding hands at the in and the woman gives them a weird look and they kind of like snatch their hands away. That made me really sad. Also, just like the discomfort of some of the characters, especially the ones of color, as you know, they're in the bar and those hillbillies are confronting them, but the white characters are being really like like kind of raucous and uh unaware of the discomfort that some of the other characters are being put through at the time. I thought there were some interesting ways that the film uh built up that discomfort and saying, like, hey, this isn't a place where these people are welcomed, and then at the end it was flipped to where this guy was like, Hey, you found something in me that really helped, and maybe he saw um, you know, some kindness in them that he wasn't expecting. And uh, you know, I it was kind of full circle, full circle. Empathy, I think, is what this whole movie is after. Empathy, kindness.

SPEAKER_01 28:17

Yeah, I could agree.

SPEAKER_03 28:19

I just remembered, I had completely forgotten about this part, but they get a flat tire, and I thought, like at the very beginning, and I thought that that was gonna like start us off, and then it was a fake out because they just got a flat tire. We get all this background story, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:36

That might be a homage.

SPEAKER_03 28:38

Yeah, I think it was.

SPEAKER_00 28:40

Yeah, I would agree. Um, so then they're in the forest and people are dying. I want to know what did y'all think was happening as huge log crushes Gary, or Adam gets pulled away by this chain, or uh Mila falls into this pit of stakes, and then Adam, freaking douchebag, is like, uh, see ya, and runs away. Uh, what were y'all thinking was happening before we get to this trial?

SPEAKER_03 29:09

I mean, this is just kind of the classic updated version of any kind of like teens go into the woods slasher. Um, so I mean, as a viewer, I was like just up until that point, I was like, cool. So, like an updated, like prettier version of all of these movies that we've seen. Um I did appreciate that like I didn't notice like the background music. Was there background music?

SPEAKER_00 29:43

I can't remember.

SPEAKER_03 29:44

I didn't it was just very like upfront and kind of like plain during the day, like none of that over-theatrical like horror tropes. So I did appreciate that, but it it seemed fairly standard to me.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Yeah, I think what I appreciated about it is as with a lot of movies, like you just said, like we discussed the same thing in Eden Lake, it's kind of like this group of kids comes in with uh a certain amount of uh not necessarily even privilege, but just like uppity, like they're from uh a wealthy area, they come in and they're like, look at these poor people, they're so unevolved because they're bigots and they're stupid and they don't know anything. Like, hey, I'm a medical student, your yellow eyes, liver cancer, go check yourself, Dumbo. And then they go out into the woods and it's like, oh, well, of course they're being picked off because they've gone in and they've insulted these people. But I think, um I think what tipped me off a little bit, and this is me thinking a little too hard while I'm watching it, is they were dying fast. And I knew that this was a longer movie, and I kept thinking, like, wow, this soon into it, and they're all pretty much gone, something else is going to happen. I really loved how kind of heavy and visceral a lot of the uh things that were happening to them too, like when that tree when they were falling down and that tree slammed Gary, that had a crunch to it. Like I really felt every time they were hit in this movie, they did a really good job of making you feel it. Even in the end, when Jen is being kind of like badass killer and she's stabbing that guy a billion times, like those were stabs I felt like I could feel. Like I thought this movie did a pretty good job with the the violence and making it feel a little more grounded. Um but then this all leads up to the reveal that they weren't being hunted at all the whole time, which I mean they kind of were a little bit, but they seemed to have um by the foundation's uh opinion, they seem to have initiated all of this violence themselves by killing that guy. And I'm wondering what y'all think of this uh well, one, this moral dilemma that Jen seems to be having, and then two, what follows it. Uh I see a hand in the classroom, Ian.

SPEAKER_01 32:11

I have to get this out before I forget to talk about it.

SPEAKER_00 32:14

But yeah, you can go to the bathroom.

SPEAKER_01 32:17

The foundation, um, you know, they claim that well, I don't know if they technically claimed it or not, but they alluded to the fact that they weren't hunting them, instead all of that was, you know, for their survival and to get, you know, food and all that fun stuff. And then I was like, alright, that makes sense. But then I was kind of like bullshit. Because when the lady was in town with her bracelets, and what's her face runs up and asks how much she takes her money. But money's not good in the foundation, so like there's a front going on, plot hole.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

Yeah, I mean, I wonder maybe they were like marking her, or um uh I also thought, well, because to your point, uh, you know, they were like, we were carrying Adam back on that spit because he was knocked out and we wanted to help him. They weren't gonna help him.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

And not to fry him up.

SPEAKER_00 33:23

Yeah, they well, well, that's the other thing. I don't think these people are cannibals like we are dealing with in other wrong turn movies. But uh, it is interesting that they present this, and I think that part of the movie is that the um moral superiority of the foundation has a a pretty huge double standard to it. That in order to preserve their peace and solitude, they have to impose the same violence they're trying to escape on the people who intrude on that.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

The irony.

SPEAKER_00 33:57

So now that we've kind of built up to this discovery of the foundation, I had laid out a little bit of my idea of what this movie's trying to say, and I want your thoughts on it. And to set the scene, I watched this movie and immediately had to sit down. I was like, I have to put this on paper. Right now I'm gonna forget. So I'm going to read this verbatim as I wrote seconds after the credits rolled. Very diary intriguing. Okay, wow. Straight from the end credits, I have a lot of emotions. And I really am tossing my opinion back and forth. This movie has some really interesting things to say about the state of America's social predicament right now around race. It's not a question that these Confederate flag idiots are bad news. Their comp is an asshole. That was my first thought. But on the other hand, the main crew of youths are really victim to their class privilege, even if they're more woke, air quotes. I think the whole point of the foundation is that yes, this community where you give as much as you take and respect and community or top priority sounds nice, but aren't they doing just as much bad as they are good to sustain themselves, like I just said? And more importantly, isn't it more meaningful to fight for what you believe in amidst a world of absolute shit than to hide from it? However, I wrote that in all caps. I also don't know what to make of Darius choosing to stay at the foundation and Jen fighting so hard to leave. I don't think it's a bad thing that Darius wants to stay where he, one, is supported, and two, is in a community contributing to sustainable living, which is what he's built a whole career around wanting. But with the characters aside, I really felt like the movie was posing staying as representing weakness and leaving representing strength. But then putting the characters back in, one, why wouldn't Darius want to keep fighting to make the entire country sustainable? And two, now in the end, I kind of feel like Jen was more comfortable at home where she has more privilege, parentheses, although you could also just read it that she wants freedom. So I was tossing around a lot of ideas, and I'm wondering if any of those ideas struck a chord with you, you two.

SPEAKER_03 36:24

Uh, one big pondering question in my brain that would kind of change my opinion on everything you just said. Do you think Jen would have left if her dad didn't show up?

SPEAKER_00 36:38

See, that's a good question because I don't know if Jin like I got the impression that Jin couldn't didn't think she could leave until it was a matter of life and death. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 36:52

I don't think she would have left.

SPEAKER_03 36:54

I d I kind of think she would not have left either, and then it was more so I have to get out because they're gonna kill my dad.

SPEAKER_00 37:04

Yeah, and it's sad because also when she was leaving, you know, it becomes apparent that she had no emotional connection to any of these people. Like she was just there playing the part so that they wouldn't get their eyes burnt out, like sweet little Louise.

SPEAKER_03 37:20

I mean, I I think it's like, yes, commentary on our climate, as you will, but I think Darius just did not, you know, he's really well versed in like planning these communities that are sustainable and all of that, which is in theory very good and supported in our world, but in practice is not supported, and you see him struggling with that, like, oh, it has to be a nonprofit because we kind of see that type of living as a charity case, like he's just like working against the grind so much to carve out a career for that, and for the first time, that is listed as a priority in this community. So, you know, like you're saying, is it a cop out because you want the whole world to live like that, but he's not getting validation in the real world for that?

SPEAKER_00 38:18

Yeah, and I also think, like I said earlier, the full circle moment of the rednecks coming back to help them out, like that also poses an interesting question because sometimes it can be frustrating in these movies that are trying to be political but also trying to be nice to everyone. I do think that wrong turn takes a stance about what's right and what's wrong, and it seems like a pretty liberal leaning movie to me. Um, but I mean, like I said, kindness and empathy, I think, are kind of the main goal in the end that they could show those people in that community, like, hey, if you think larger than yourself, then you can benefit too, and also if you understand other people, you know, like the foundation isn't doing, they're all about themselves and how to sustain their community, then maybe there can be more harmony in the end where you can help each other out of sticky situations.

SPEAKER_03 39:16

I did text Parker whilst watching the movie, and when they're in their hunting gear, I said, Did these people just get back from storming the Capitol?

SPEAKER_01 39:29

Yeah, when they had those deer horn things.

SPEAKER_03 39:32

And then I also thought, going back to the TikTok story, were the people storming the Capitol paid to dress like that as marketing for this movie.

SPEAKER_00 39:46

And you said something else interesting to me. Um do you smell that? Smell a little uh juice in the air?

SPEAKER_03 39:57

Ugh. Put that on a t-shirt. I could what was it? I could smell your job.

SPEAKER_00 40:03

I can smell your juices, an iconic line.

SPEAKER_03 40:07

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 40:08

I could smell your juices.

SPEAKER_03 40:11

I'm gonna start saying that all the time. I'll walk in. Ian'cause we're not gonna make any friends here. I could smell your juices. Sick.

SPEAKER_01 40:18

Hi, my name's Ian. I smelled your juices.

SPEAKER_00 40:22

Yeah, just walk into a friend's house. Like, oh, uh smelling a lot of juices in here.

SPEAKER_01 40:29

And we're not having meat for dinner.

SPEAKER_00 40:32

Oh my god. All right, well, so from wrong turn 2021, what would you say is your most memorable murder?

SPEAKER_03 40:40

Memorable murder.

SPEAKER_00 40:43

Do you want me to go first?

SPEAKER_03 40:45

No, no, no, no, no. I can do this. Um not memorable from like a gore satisfaction, but memorable from an emotional is when she finds Louise in the cave. I know, and he's blind and he's like nibbling on something, and he's very scrawny, and she shoots him. That was very sad.

SPEAKER_00 41:12

Yeah, that was sad, and what a horrible fate to have to be scurrying around in those caves blind and hungry.

SPEAKER_03 41:22

I know. I was thinking, oh my god, how many people do they banish down there and they're all still alive? Like, you'd think they'd die off pretty quickly.

SPEAKER_00 41:31

I know, but another kind of uh indicator of the corruption in their air quotes ideal society.

SPEAKER_03 41:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:39

I feel like for me, the memorable murder would have to be what's her name when she gets impaled on the stage.

SPEAKER_00 41:46

Mila. Oh, Mila, poor sweet Mila. She just wanted a good boyfriend, couldn't get one.

SPEAKER_01 41:52

I don't think it's a unique death, but I do think I felt it, and I was like, oh, I would hate to be her. I think that's what makes it memorable.

SPEAKER_00 42:02

I know, and also just like, don't go, Adam, don't go, please just help her. And then the second he does, and that horned head pops over the edge, and it's like, if he would have just pulled her out, even though it looked like she had a stake through the chest, so that probably would have uh entailed more than just pulling her out. Uh, my most memorable murder, and again, this is kind of not exactly a murder, but when she has that little daydream of Veneable killing the stepmom and brothers, I that's one of the more shocking things I've ever seen. And that had me like clutching my hair. Like I was shocked. Uh, I thought that was a really powerful moment. And yes, I was angry when it was a lie, but then I also felt uh pretty good about her killing everybody in that RV. Kind of best of both worlds, as one Ms. Montana might say.

SPEAKER_03 42:58

That was just the timing was so good because they start to roll the credits and you're like, no, and then wham, bam, stabbing on the street, Ruthie coming out, and then with Ruthie by her side, I had the realization, oh my god, she still has that baby. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 43:20

Yeah, it's crazy. And I mean, honestly, like it was super sinister if she if the it had ended with that that RV driving away. And you might think, like, if I were not reviewing this for a podcast, it might the credits might start going, I'd be like, oh, garbage, and turn it off and miss that whole ending. So, you know, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 43:40

Ian got up and was like pacing about her driving off, and I was just like sitting there, and then I was like, Wait, oh my god, we have to watch this.

SPEAKER_00 43:53

Yeah, I think that's pretty, honestly, dare I say iconic on a scary. Scale one to five. How would you rate wrong turn 2021?

SPEAKER_03 44:05

I feel like the scary scale gets off and it more of just like goes to show how much I like a movie, you know? Like this isn't like typically scary, but I'm gonna give it a four because there were some scares, there was some good gore that, but I really just liked it.

SPEAKER_01 44:24

Yeah, I don't I think yeah, I think I'm just like a two to two and a half.

SPEAKER_00 44:31

I'll agree with you. I'm going to give it about a two and a half because I think that there's, you know, psychological depth to dig into this movie. But the uh the thing that's going to be the scariest is that it's pretty violent, it's pretty gory, it's pretty gross, so it takes a bit of a stomach. But uh besides that, I don't think it's particularly scary. Uh, but more importantly, would you give wrong turn 2021 a smash or a slash?

SPEAKER_01 45:00

I would definitely give it a smash. Total smash.

SPEAKER_03 45:04

I would give it a bear trap falling on top of a man into a hole smash.

SPEAKER_00 45:12

I'm also I'm giving it a smash. Smash so hard, I'm pregnant. So, you guys, any uh any thoughts on what's your favorite scary movie?

SPEAKER_03 45:28

Man, I mean, Black Swan, a beautiful film. Stunning in every way. Do it a little creepy. But I think that this movie deserves its recognition for making me a believer in these these types of horror films. So for the first time in scary movie podcast history hursory, Caroline is getting down with some backwoodsy slashers, and wrong turn 2021 is my favorite scary movie.

SPEAKER_00 46:10

Damn, Ian.

SPEAKER_01 46:13

Wow. I've been reeling this whole time we've been recording on what I'm gonna say.

SPEAKER_00 46:20

Reel no more.

SPEAKER_01 46:21

And I want this to outpace Black Swan. But unfortunately, I'm going to stick with Black Swan. Even though with the the major caveat of saying this will go down in herstery as, you know, you take every season's favorites, this will be the one right behind those. And this one might even be some of the other seas I just don't remember, but Ooh, are we gonna do All-Stars?

SPEAKER_03 46:55

What's your favorites carrying?

SPEAKER_00 46:56

We'll have to do an All-Stars episode at some point.

SPEAKER_01 46:58

I really enjoyed it, and it's a great movie, and I would watch it again. And for the record, we watched it at like 7 a.m.

SPEAKER_03 47:08

and still loved it.

SPEAKER_00 47:10

Yeah, Caroline had texted me like five thoughts about it, starting at the beginning and ending at the end of the movie, and I saw them all when I woke up. She'd watched the whole movie before I'd even gotten up.

SPEAKER_01 47:21

Uh so at twelve.

SPEAKER_00 47:23

My uh no, it was like ten. My favorite scary movie uh is still Black Swan. I enjoyed Wrong Turn quite a bit, and I think that it is uh hopefully kind of setting a bar for what these air quotes woke horror movies can do that other ones that we've watched should take a couple notes from. But um I uh I I didn't love it as much as y'all did. Uh Black Swan, it was no question for me that this would not be my favorite scary movie. That's not to diminish uh that I think this was a great movie.

SPEAKER_01 48:00

In a lot of ways, looking back, I don't know what I said about Black Swan, but I don't I get more fear or I I get s more scared by that movie than I do this one, and I feel like if I had a little more scariness or psychological if there was I think there was an opportunity to have some more psychological scare in this movie that they didn't lean into, and I think it was just a time issue, like the the cult thing doesn't really come to fruition until later in the movie, so they can't really develop as much of that as they as I would like. So that's the reason why I feel like Black Swan's psychological and we all know I'm a psychological scary movie slut.

SPEAKER_03 48:49

Here's the thing I think they could have added a psychological element through additional characters in the cult. Like just give me like a scary old woman that's like leering in the background.

SPEAKER_00 49:01

You know, like more characters. It doesn't need more characters. But they tried a little bit because the guy that goes in when Jen is trying to escape and he attacks her in those caves and she stabs him in the face tw a a billion times. I had to think really hard about who that was, and I think they wanted some of the so I think I think uh they didn't have the ability.

unknown 49:26

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

SPEAKER_00 49:28

A hand in the classroom, Caroline.

SPEAKER_03 49:30

I I think the cult characters were a little bland.

SPEAKER_00 49:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:35

I think the beautiful brunette woman that she sees in town, that that's a character that sticks with us. Yeah. I mean, she was lovely looking, but like not scary at all. And I think that's where they could have added some of the psychological.

SPEAKER_00 49:50

That's the thing, is I thought that Edith was good. I thought she was trying to help Jin the whole time until the very end when it's like, oh, she's trying to kill her now. Okay. Uh so yeah, I thought I thought some of the outside of the main cast, some of the characters, I was like, okay, I guess cool. Go up. Like I said, the innkeeper. Was she good or was she bad? Like, what does she want? I thought, did she just have the hots for her Jin's dad?

SPEAKER_03 50:15

Yeah, that that whole plot line, and then like hooking up the dad with the guy that the nephew, and they die in two seconds. Two seconds.

SPEAKER_01 50:25

Or the they didn't even we didn't even get to the kid, like the the whole dynamic with the Ruthie. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:33

I was waiting for Ruthie to turn on them too.

SPEAKER_00 50:35

That would have been, yeah, I thought Ruthie was going to stab her right at the very end in the credits.

SPEAKER_03 50:40

I thought the cave wasn't gonna have a way out.

SPEAKER_00 50:43

That would have been scary. Yeah. All right. Well, uh, next week on What's Your Favorite Scary Movie, we are still finalizing that March programming, so you're just gonna have to wait and find out. And follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at ScarymoviePod to discover what you should be watching next time for what's your favorite scary movie. But until that big reveal, head on over to Apple Podcasts, leave us a rating and a review, and you might just hear us scream your name over the airwaves. Uh, my name's Parker. You can find me on Instagram, Twitter, and letterboxed at Parker Del Rey.

SPEAKER_03 51:24

My name is Caroline. You can find me on Instagram at Carol Manifesto.

SPEAKER_01 51:29

And my name is Ian. You can find me on Caroline's Instagram.

SPEAKER_00 51:34

You can find Ian on the Appalachian Trails.

SPEAKER_01 51:37

Oh, yeah. Or in my yard doing yard things.

SPEAKER_00 51:41

Oh, but little does he know, eyes in the forest watching.

SPEAKER_03 51:47

I am. I'm looking out the window right now. And I'm imagining that man just leaning out from behind the tree.

SPEAKER_00 51:54

The shadow passing their hotel window while they're uh doing a little hanky panky. Yep. All right, all right, enough silence. Uh, you can find the entire pod, the whole crew on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter at ScarymoviePod. You can head on over to Patreon to hear our thoughts on Wrong Turn 2003 this Friday at patreon.com slash scary movie pod. Check out our website, scary moviepod dot com, and send us your thoughts or requests at scary moviepod at gmail.com. And until then, goodbye.