In its first 12 minutes, Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings lets you know exactly what kind of movie you’re watching as it shifts from a gruesome scene of torture during an insane asylum breakout to a few scenes of pointless sex between three girls and a guy. Violence and sex: everything a horror fetishist ever wanted. Such treats come at the expense of decent writing or direction, but if you’ve been keeping up with the Wrong Turn series, then you’re not expecting much anyways. The characters are two-dimensional morons who ridicule smart decisions and never hesitate to do something stupid; in short, they’re like every other horror movie characters in every other worthless horror film ever made up of clichés. If all you want to see is attractive twenty-somethings being brutally sliced, slashed, mauled, and eaten by a bunch of inbred freaks in snowy wilderness and an abandoned clinic, then you’re the target audience, but if you’ve got a brain in your head and any discretion as to the quality of the horror films you enjoy, Wrong Turn 4 might be one of the most insulting direct-to-DVD sequels in a long time.
Years after a collection of murderous inbred mutants lead a riot at their asylum and unleash all the patients in a storm of blood and guts, a bunch of horny friends go out for a snowmobile trip on a winter’s day, get lost in the woods, caught in sudden nightfall and a blizzard, and take refuge in the abandoned mental facility. Being the clueless youth that they are, they go off exploring only to discover they’re not alone. So begins the slaughter of the humans by the deformed monstrosities. Why don’t they call for help, you ask? Darn, no cell service. Escape? Their snowmobiles have been sabotaged and their strongest skier looks like she learned how to ski minutes before the camera watches her head off.
To call this a prequel gives the franchise far too much credit as a series with any real story or discernible timeline. Even if that means the inbreds aren’t living in a cabin in the woods and killing unlucky passersby, it makes little difference. The characters are so shallow that instead of wanting to see them die, you just don’t care to start. There are no scares to be had and so all it really delivers is a few moments of skin and a lot of pointless gore. For some, that’s perfect, but for 99% it’s just obnoxious and a waste of time.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The Blu-ray and DVD combo set has more extras than a film this bad really deserves. Featurettes include a basic behind-the-scenes piece, a look at the cannibalistic hillbillies, a series of production diaries and an audio commentary with Director Declan O’Brien, and a music video. Deleted scenes close out the disc.
"Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings" is on sale October 25, 2011 and is not rated. Horror. Directed by Declan OBrien. Written by Declan O'Brien.
