A reimagining of a horror classic comes to life in this very tense thriller that fuses flashbacks and present day with a hell of an ending!

Jennifer Shaw is heading on a road trip with her boyfriend Darius, her best friend Milla and her boyfriend Adam, as well as gay couple Luis and Gary. They are heading to the Appalachian Mountains. Upon their arrival to town, they are warned that there is trouble in the mountains. They are told to stay on a certain path and never veer off as trouble lies ahead. The group decides to veer off and soon find themselves hunted down.

The ones responsible are known as the Foundation, a community that has emerged since the 1950’s and feel they are superior and put the group on trial. However, to ensure their safety, both Jennifer and Darius make a decision set to change their lives forever. When Jennifer’s father Scott discovers she is missing, he becomes hellbent and decides to look for her. If he should find her, what will he discover?

In 2003, the horror film Wrong Turn, the story of a group of people in the mountains terrorized bby inbred cannibals, would be such a hit it would be a franchise with six installments. The original film’s writer, Alan McElroy, has decided to write a reboot of the original film, but make a new set of killers who are more akin to the Manson Clan or more correct, Sawney Bean and his family of the 16th Century. McElroy does bring some small nods to the original, but under the direction of Mike P. Nelson, this reboot brings the same idea and yet offers something very fresh.

While the original is more or less a straightforward horror film, this one brings a style of storytelling that will make you not want to move or at least push the pause button. They actually start in the present day with Scott, played by legend Matthew Modine, searching for his missing daughter Jennifer, played by Charlotte Vega. We then are taken to the main story of the film, a flashback in which we see Jennifer and her friends deal with their eventual deadly encounters. What’s great here is that the cast is very diverse and even include LGBTQ characters, showing how things are these days.

Bill Sage brings the evil as Venable, the leader of the self-sufficient Foundation clan, a group who uses medieval style torture methods and in a major nod to its predecessor, there is some cannibalism involved as well. The Foundation seem to be a meshing of The Village, The Hills Have Eyes, with shades of the original all meshed up in a crazy sadistic package. The main henchmen of the Foundation are names after the type of skull mask they sport and replace the cannibal brothers of the original. And just wait until the final moments because they really bring in a sense of shock value and jaw drops.

Wrong Turn may be a reboot, but it brings something fresh while giving nods to its predecessor. A great diverse cast, shocking twists, and a jaw-dropping third act and finale make this one reboot worth checking out.

WFG RATING: B+

Lionsgate and Saban Films presents a Constantin Film production in association with The H Collective and Tea Shop Productions. Director: Mike P. Nelson. Producers: James Harris and Robert Kulzer. Writer: Alan B. McElroy. Cinematography: Nick Junkersfield.  Editing: Tom Elkins.

Cast: Charlotte Vega, Adain Bradley, Bill Sage, Matthew Modine, Emma Dumont, Dylan McTee, Daisy Head, Adrian Favela.

The film will be released on DVD, Blu-Ray, On Demand, and Digital on February 23.