Wrong Turn

Competent, well shot, and exactly what it says, which in this category is worth something.

Six people become stranded on a West Virginia back road and are hunted by three inbred cannibals.

Rob Schmidt shoots it as a chase rather than a slasher, so the middle hour is people moving through real forest, up a watchtower and along a road, being pursued by opponents who are better at this than they are. The tree sequence is tense.

Stan Winston did the mutants, which is why they look considerably better than the budget implies.

It has no ideas about class, unlike its 1970s ancestors, and it does not pretend to. What it has is pace, a decent cast and a willingness to be nasty.

Five sequels and a reboot followed, and none of them are this tight.