Wrong Turn/From Hell 2-Pack (DVD) (2 discs)

Synopsis

WRONG TURN: Revisiting the teenage slasher movies of the 1970s and 1980s, WRONG TURN is a tense, suspense-packed horror film starring Eliza Dushku (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER). When Chris (Desmond Harrington) is late for a job interview, he drives speedily through a backwoods dirt road, and winds up in a head-on collision with a group of teenage campers. As the cars are totalled, the group has no option but to trek through the woods and seek help. Stumbling upon a mysterious cabin, the unhappy campers soon realize they are in grave danger when they happen upon a mixture of grotesque oddities and body parts, soon followed by the return of the freakish inhabitants of the disgusting abode. The intensity builds as the inbred, kill-crazy cabin dwellers go after Chris and the campers, leading to some grisly scenes in the dense woodland, and a series of brutal, bloody set-pieces from director Rob Schmidt.

WRONG TURN takes similar backwoods horror flicks like TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and THE HILLS HAVE EYES as its inspiration, providing visceral thrills aplenty, and the requisite amount of dumb teenage characters. Never lapsing into self-parody, the film should appeal to older horror movie fans keen to revisit the movies of their youth, and younger fans eager to witness some modern-day stalk-and-slash mayhem!

FROM HELL: FROM HELL is a gory detective film cloaked in Victorian-era mystique. The movie shows how the serial killer Jack the Ripper stalked the dark streets of 1888 London, slaying prostitutes and crudely dissecting their bodies. Based on the graphic novel written by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, this moody chiller is directed by twin brothers Albert and Allen Hughes (MENACE II SOCIETY, AMERICAN PIMP). Johnny Depp stars as Inspector Frederick Abberline, who smokes heavy doses of opium and drowns himself in absinthe to evoke hallucinatory visions that are his clues to catching the Ripper. Heather Graham costars as the prettiest of the floozies, who wins the muted affections of the Inspector.

With plenty of atmosphere and spooky effects, FROM HELL borrows scenery, filming tricks, and sequence construction from a host of popular movies, resulting in a visually interesting--if inconsistent--style. Haunting nighttime shots of the London skyline (actually Prague) bleed into shadowy Tim Burton-like prowls through the damp cobblestone streets; aerial camerawork contrasts with crowded ground-level focuses; and the camera peeks around corners and into foggy windows with stealthy curiosity. What may stand out most in viewers minds after the carnage is through, is the exaggerated use of surround sound, which brings a dreadful sense of reality to the film's gore, making FROM HELL all the juicier.

Cast & Crew

Starring: Eliza Dushku, Johnny Depp

Details

• UPC: 024543149958
• Aspect Ratio: Widescreen
• Spoken Language: French
• Original Language: English
• Sound: Dolby 5.1 Surround - English