Chazography

Over the weekend, I watched a few movies to unwind as I started studying for finals. I’m not a horror movie fan, but I did watch one movie that would probably fall under this genre. At least, that’s how I would classify it. The movie, “Wrong Turn”, starred Elisha Dushku, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Desmond Harrington, and Jeremy Sisto. Since the female cast members were quite pleasing on the eyes, there will be no complaints from me in that department. The story took place in West Virginia, and though I’ve never been there, it’s a place with a rather strong redneck stereotype. Sure enough, that was the very basis upon which the movie was based, and let me tell you, it sure did make for some absolutely terrifying antagonists!

The movie starts out with a number of newspaper clippings detailing a “Mountain Men” legend somewhere in West Virginia. Stories of disappearing individuals became entwined with this urban lore, and this is the first place where the redneck stereotype of West Virginia came into play as these psychotic individuals were the product of inbreeding. This supposedly led to the physical disfigurement and insanity of the “Mountain Men”. Immediately after these opening clips, the first two victims of the movie met their demise while rock climbing in the mountains of West Virginia. However, in this early scene you never see what these freaky “Mountain Men” look like, and really you just hear the screams of their victims.

The movie actually begins when a medical student crashes into the car of some other college age students. Of course, their accident doesn’t happen on the highway but on some creepy little road off the beaten path, and herein lies the problem. Now they’re stuck in the middle of nowhere, their cell phones don’t work, and they’re in the turf of the “Mountain Men”. At this point in time, there are six individuals, but this will be widdled down to two by the movie’s end. In typical horror movie fashion, the group decides to split up leaving two individuals with the car while the others search for help. Predictably, the first two meet their fate shortly after the others leave the scene of the crash, and instead of finding help, the others find the residence of the “Mountain Men” which is simply some beaten down shack/cabin in the middle of the woods. Of course, they decide to go in and look around, and while they’re inside, the products of redneck inbreeding show up with their dead friends.

It’s at this point that we finally get to see the scary, disfigured, almost unhuman “monsters” of the movie, and I’m telling you… I almost peed my pants. All I can tell you is this, if I saw those things while in the woods somewhere, I would be absolutely mortified, terrified, panic-stricken and covered in a pool of my own… well, you know. I’m sure some people would find them stupid looking, but I’m not going to lie and say I’m good with horror movies. I’m a little scaredy cat when it comes to this genre of movies, and I don’t reallly know why. They just bother me, and I don’t deal too well with them. So naturally, I spent the rest of the movie cringing and hiding under covers as more of the antagonists fell victim to these mountain men. Then I was finally able to come out from my hiding place when the remaining two protagonists made it to safety by killing the “Mountain Men”. Some of you are thinking, horror movies never end that way, and you’re right. The movie ends with the sick, twisted “Mountain Men” killing yet another victim as they miraculously managed to surivive what should have been certain death.

So sadly, I must admit that I’m scared of horror movies, and this horror movie did certainly give me a bit of spook. On a more positive note, at least you don’t know that I sometimes enjoy chick flicks… oh crap, I guess you do now!