Rent Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings (2011)

Dismember this lot, will you? (Spoilers) - Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings review by NP

A truly grisly selection of set-pieces opens up this film (the fate of visiting psychiatrist Dr. Ann McQuaid, played by Kristen Harris, is horrific) before we’re introduced, after the opening credits have rolled, to the inevitable teen heroes. Here, ‘Wrong Turn 4’ immediately plummets, from its promising opening, into awfulness. Only the original film in this series presented its non-cannibal characters as anything approaching ‘likeable’ – subsequently, any notion that the gang is meant to be anything other than ciphers is grossly misguided. Don’t worry about their blandness though: this blemish-free bunch is first shown having obligatory sex, which shows off their obligatory flesh. There’s some mild interracial lesbian titillation too. Who needs character? We have to wait until they’re making their way towards the West Virginian sanatorium in which much of the action takes place before the inevitable rock soundtrack always associated with such lukewarm characters kicks in but, when it arrives, it’s as instantly disposable as you would expect. And remember, kids, if anything mildly unpleasant occurs, the standard response is ‘eeww’, alright?

Do I sound unnecessarily grumpy? It is important that you be warned: these people are arrogant idiots, and you cannot wait for them to die in as graphic a way as possible.

We get a back-story for the cannibals in this one, which would be interesting, if it didn’t go some way to contradict what we already know about them. The woodland dwellers seem to have picked up their outdoor hunting skills in the sanatorium, which would be news to the inbreds in the original three films.

Alright, I’ll stop whinging. The location is evocative, and the snowy surroundings give off a further sense of the isolation for these unfortunate cretins, who are soon (a) stoned, (b) drunk and (c) horny. Well done! Ah, I promised to stop whinging didn’t I? Oops – one of them has just witnessed recordings of grotesque torture on a video playback. Another ‘eeww’, for the collection. Come on, Three Finger, Saw Tooth and One Eye – dismember this lot, will you? Don’t even build up to it – just do it.

Bloody and loud though the subsequent torture and death scenes are, they are never quite enough. You largely know what you’re going to get with this, and it delivers. One of my favourite bits is when four silly girls accidentally group-hack their friend to death. If you’re in the mood, it’ll entertain, but you might feel the need to fast-forward over the scenes before the cannibals turn up. My score is 6 out of 10.