Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead – Blu-ray Review

The Film:

Welcome back, Three-Finger.

Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead is a pleasing direct-to-video horror flick, that fills it’s 85 minute running time with enough gore and thrills that should definitely please Wrong Turn fans. After a humorous entry in Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (here), long time Roger Corman student Declan O’Brien gets back to what the original Wrong Turn (here) was: gritty, gory, and unflinching. I feel as if this formula works better than what Joe Lynch tried to do in his sequel. The humor was off putting in my opinion, and the cannibals we followed were uninteresting. Luckily, Declan must have felt the same as I did, and brought back that wild, crazy cannibal in Three-Finger. Picking up after the denouement of the second film, we follow Three-Finger and that ugly mutant baby, now older, as they head out for food.

Structurally, this film is no different that what you’d expect from these a Wrong Turn film, even with the prisoners that are used over pretty teenagers. They get lost, and some end up as food. Simple as that. Hey, the film is not perfect, and I’ll understand your reservations for viewing this flick, but look at it like this: If you like cannibal killers, gore, this series, and are bored on a Thursday night, you won’t be disappointed. Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead is a B-movie through and through, and if that isn’t in your expectations, then you shouldn’t be attempting to watch this. Declan is no stranger to B-movies, I mean the man worked and learned from the King of B’s Roger Corman, so if you’ve seen his Cyclops, you know he’ll deliver a quick, unobtrusive movie, and that’s what you get from scene one. We see a few college kids rafting, and being silly. As one beautiful girl takes off her top, her friend Alex (budding Scream Queen-to-be Janet Montgomery) leaves her to be with her boyfriend. As she sits on him topless, Three-Finger shots an arrow into her breast. It’s like that, you know, and what’s wrong with some beer and pizza thrills every now and then?

Wrong Turn 3 has some problems, mostly some clunky dialogue, and some impossible “look at Three-Finger who miraculously appears everywhere”, but that’ll make the difference in your entertainment of it. Are you able to shrug it off, and watch a solid DTV horror flick, or are you going to roll your eyes, and use it as a reason why horror usually sucks? Understanding your expectations will allow you to be entertained here. Hey, look. Wrong Turn has been nothing more than an inbred kissing cousin to the classics Deliverance and Hills Have Eyes, but that’s been fine since the first film. Declan provides a quick, entertaining entry that gets back to the first film’s gritty killing spree with some cons who might be as dangerous as the cannibals. I would even go as far as saying it’s a step better than Wrong Turn 2: Dead End. So, like I said, welcome back Three-Finger, you crazy cannibal friend of mine.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: For a cheap DTV film, Wrong Turn 3 looks pretty good on high def, coming from Fox. There’s some grain, mostly in the shadows and night scenes, but it’s never that distracting. The details are mildly high, even though the opening scenes look beautiful, but then the later scenes look murky. After recently reviewing all the film’s, this is the better looking of the three.

Also, the DTS track is pretty solid for such a low budgeted film. Decent levels of rear speaker activity, like rustling leaves or bullets whizzing by, and an average bass level. All things considered, 20^th Century Fox gives us a pretty good presentation.

All extras are in standard definition.

Action, Gore, and Chaos!: This nine minute piece has the director talking about the stunts of the film.

Brothers in Blood: Here’s the interviews with the actors. Everything is a bit EPK, though.

Three-Finger’s Fight Night: Declan returns to talk about the fights Three-Finger gets into, and what he wanted.

Deleted Scenes that are quick and disposable and some forced Trailers at the beginning of the disc, round out the extras. In my opinion, my interview with Declan O’Brien provides more in-depth look at the film, and you can read that here.

Conclusion: Not meant to be anything more than a second DTV sequel, Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead is a bit of B-movie fun that this series fans should really like.

The Film: Rating:

The Blu-ray: Rating: