Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines (2012)

A small West Virginia town is hosting the legendary Mountain Man Festival on Halloween, where throngs of costumed party goers gather for a wild night of music and mischief. But an inbred family of hillbilly cannibals kill the fun when they trick and treat themselves to a group of visiting college students.

I’ll keep this review brief as eventually it will move onto my Wrong Turn franchise review post, but for now here are my thoughts on the newest entry in the Wrong Turn collection.

Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines is a sequel to the prequel and takes place sometime between Part 4 and the original Wrong Turn. After the disappointment I felt after part 4, I wasn’t holding out much hope for the fifth entry; I mean not many films get to a part 5, and when they do, they aren’t renowned for their quality, and it becomes more about fan service. That’s ultimately what Bloodlines is – fan service – but man what a treat this was!! Talk about a return to form! For me, this is the best entry after the original. Here is a brief rundown about the plot.

Our usual inbreds have escaped the abandoned building they occupied in part 4, and we see them living with and working for this movies main bad guy – Maynard (Doug Bradley, who played Pinhead in eight Hellraiser films). Maynard is a psychopathic serial killer who has been on the run from authorities for three decades. He has given the hillbillies housing in exchange for their help in find fresh victims. They manage to wreak havoc virtually unnoticed in the small town of Fairlake, West Virginia, which is the home of the annual Mountain Man Music Festival. People from all over the country attend the festival every Halloween, many of them in costume. All the twisted and gruesome costumes make it easier for the gang to move throughout the town without attracting attention.

Right on cue, a group of friends arrive for the festival and almost immediately encounter Maynard, who pretends to be injured when struck by their car. After this all ends badly, some of them end up the local jail. The film then starts to resemble a messed up version of ‘Assault on Precinct 13’ as the inbred cannibals seek to free Maynard from the prison.

As usual with these films, we get some great kills. The one below is along the lines of the hobbling scene in ‘Misery’, but much worse. After 5 films I guess it’s hard to come up with new ways to kill the victims, but fair play to the writers as we did see some new stuff here. My favourite would be one on a football field……….

As far as acting goes, it’s all pretty strong here. Doug Bradley is a genre veteran and steals the show everytime he is on screen. There are no other big names on show really, which isn’t unusual for the franchise, but Roxanne McKee (UK fans may recognise her from ‘Hollyoaks’!, everyone else will have seen her in ‘Game of Thrones’) really impressed, not only as she is beautiful but didn’t act like she is a former soap star. She is arguably on screen the most and does a solid job with her role. The whole cast was pretty likeable, and it was always hard to predict who was next to be killed and who would survive. The ending was a particularly nice touch.

In conclusion, if you’re not a fan of the franchise by now, this fifth film certainly isn’t going to convert you. For people like myself, who have enjoyed at least a couple of the entries in the Wrong Turn saga, I hope you will be as surprised and impressed by Bloodlines as I was if you give it a chance. There is the usual nudity, some violent kills and cheesy lines, but as far as Wrong Turn films go, this is one of the best entries. I look forward to an inevitable Wrong Turn 6!

Posted by Tysoncarter182 on October 24, 2012

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