Wrong Turn 9: Last Turns in the Woods

Wrong Turn 9: Last Turns in the Woods – The Final Descent Into the Cannibals’ Domain

The Wrong Turn franchise returns for its ninth installment, Last Turns in the Woods, set to premiere in fall 2025. As the latest chapter in one of horror’s most enduring cult sagas, the new installment brings the series back toward its roots—blending gruesome forest terror, inventive traps, and mutated cannibal mythology.

Directed by horror veteran Mike P. Nelson, who revitalized the franchise with the 2021 reboot Wrong Turn: The Foundation, this film appears to bridge the reboot’s fresh subtext with the brutal legacy of the original inbred clan. Early promotional material, including an officially released trailer, establishes a tense, eerie tone: a group of modern hikers, craving adventure, unwittingly trespasses into the hunting ground of a new generation of cannibal descendants, triggering a harrowing fight for survival.

Notably, Desmond Harrington returns as Chris Flynn, the sole survivor from the 2003 original, now haunted by past trauma and determined to confront the terrifying legacy of the Odet family. New cast members include hikers and search teams whose curiosity turns into dread as the forest reveals traps, rituals, and a simmering conspiracy tying The Foundation and the mutated clan together. The film promises visceral suspense, escalating from psychological tension to grisly action as the survivors come to grips with their fate.

This installment is being billed as a possible conclusion to the saga. The title "Last Turns" and the tagline—“This wasn’t just a wrong turn. It was the last one”—suggest a climactic route through horror territory fans have long imagined. The narrative reportedly builds toward a final showdown deep in the cannibals’ lair, possibly an underground maze brimming with symbolic relics of past victims, and ends with a battle that could determine the clan’s fate—either annihilation or eternal wilderness domination.

Behind the scenes, both franchise creator Alan B. McElroy and director Nelson have expressed support for expanding the reboot arc into a trilogy, with this film envisioned as either part two or the concluding chapter. Though official studio confirmation remains absent, the director and writer’s enthusiasm indicates that momentum is still strong, contingent on audience reception post-release.

Fan discussions on horror forums are split. Many viewers praised the 2021 film’s meta approach and world-building, noting that it carved a unique identity apart from the original gore-soaked slasher lineage. Some longtime fans, however, criticized the reboot for straying too far from the mutant hillbilly formula. Nevertheless, early teaser reactions for Last Turns highlight excitement at seeing the return of the Odet clan and more traditional traps and kills, while still offering fresh twists on the franchise mythology.

If Wrong Turn 9: Last Turns in the Woods lives up to its potential, it may deliver one of the most satisfying—and bloody—endings in the series. Combining psychological dread, nostalgic callbacks, and brutal horror mechanics, it aims to satisfy both the nostalgia crowd and new viewers. Whether this truly becomes the definitive finale or a new launching point, one thing is clear: the Appalachian nightmare continues, and all wrong turns may finally end here.