Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead
Genre: Horror/Sequel
Directed by: Declan O’Brien
Run time: 92 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Format: Blu-Ray

The Lowdown: Usually, by the second direct-to-DVD sequel, most horror franchises are beginning to show the strain of taking an idea well past its breaking point.

But the “Wrong Turn” franchise is an anomaly.

The first film was a surprisingly good “people trapped and hunted by inbred hillbillies in the woods” creature feature. The second film, “Dead End,” was actually better than the first in terms of gore. And now, “Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead,” surpasses all expectations by being both gory good and enjoyable, despite its lesser budget and weaker script.

This time around, there are two groups being hunted in the West Virginia mountain country: A group of young adults on a white-water rafting trip and a busload of dangerous inmates from the local maximum-security penitentiary.

The rafters get dispatched quickly and easily, including both a gratuitous bare boob getting drilled with an arrow shot and an eyeball being blown out by arrow tip. It’s an impressive start.

The prison scenes drag through too much dialogue with an unnecessary subplot of one guard’s final prisoner transfer before he retires.

But once the guards and inmates are on the road, things pick up quickly and people start getting cut in half, ripped apart, encased in razor wire nets and generally eviscerated with gory glee.

This is not an intelligent thriller, by any means. But it’s fun and fast-moving and even though the third batch of hillbilly mutants aren’t as memorable as the ones from the first two films, they’re still creepy and resourceful.

This is a definite winner on a slow night at the video store, and for fans of the series, it won’t disappoint.

The Stuff You Care About:
Hot chicks – Yes: Louise Cliffe, who can’t act for anything, but gets naked with ease.
Nudity – No.
Gore – Considerable.
Drug use – Yes.
Bad Guys/Killers – It’s round three for the West Virginia hillbilly mutants whose ranks show no sign of thinning.
Buy/Rent – Rent it.
Blu-Ray Bonus Features – Three featurettes, “Action, Gore and Chaos!” “Brothers in Blood” and “Three Fingers Fright Night”; deleted scenes.
Release Date – Oct. 20, 2009