2003's cannibal horror movie, Wrong Turn, seems to be quite disconnected from the works of horror master Stephen King, but there's a surprising connection between the two.
Wrong Turn, directed by Rob Schmidt and written by Alan B. McElroy, was a surprise hit that featured the make-up and practical effects work of genre legend, Stan Winston. While the rest of the installments in the six movie franchise went direct to video, they have managed to maintain their popularity. So much so, that in 2019, a seventh movie titled Wrong Turn: The Foundation was announced after a six year hiatus where many thought the franchise was done forever. The first Wrong Turn movie boasted a cast of fresh-faced actors, many of whom were up-and-comers at the time such as Eliza Dushku (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Desmond Harrington, Emmanuelle Chriqui, and Jeremy Sisto.
The focus of the Wrong Turn movies might have to do with cannibals, which is not exactly Stephen King's traditional forte, nor has he dabbled much with traditional slasher movie tropes. King's works—which equate to at least 87 books—are more character-driven, often supernaturally-inspired pieces that play on humanity's darker impulses. King has seamlessly been able to transform even the more benign notions, such as clowns, classic fairy tales, and even a remote getaway with family into something insidious. However, King's connection to Wrong Turn is an unexpected delight that speaks to his greater influence on the genre itself.
Eliza Dushku's character, the final girl of Wrong Turn, is named Jessie Burlingame. That name sounds familiar because it's the name of the lead heroine from Stephen King's 1992 novel, Gerald's Game. While King's works have seen many different movie and TV adaptations, Gerald's Game is a slow-burn of epic proportions and was often discussed as being the one thought that couldn't be translated to a feature film. The book—which was eventually adapted for Netflix by Mike Flanagan—focuses on Jessie Burlingame and her husband, Gerald, who escape for a weekend getaway to work on their marriage. In order to spice up their stagnant love life, Gerald suggests handcuffing Jessie to the bed. Before they can get any romance underway, however, Gerald drops dead of a heart attack, leaving Jessie helpless and trapped. From there, the book and movie both deal with Jessie's inner demons as she becomes tormented by her own mind in the silence of her four-walled prison.
Wrong Turn is certainly more high-octane than that, with plenty of creative cannibal kills from the franchise's three primary antagonists, Three Finger, One Eye, and Saw Tooth. Jessie, however, is clearly derivative of her namesake; she's resourceful and crafty, willing to go the extra mile to stay ahead and alive. Dushku, who performed many of her own stunts for the movie, spoke about the many things that went wrong on set, including a stunt where she accidentally set a man on fire—this made it into the movie. Dushku's dedication to her craft aside, the character of Wrong Turn's Jessie shares many of the same traits as the character in Gerald's Game and makes it out alive for these reasons. In the movie, Carla Gugino brought King's Jessie Burlingame to life and delivered an antagonizing performance in one of the goriest scenes in modern horror movie history where she gives herself a self-inflicted degloving injury in order to escape the handcuffs and get to freedom.
While Jessie in Wrong Turn doesn't have to go to such intense lengths to escape, she is certainly traumatized by her experience, having seen all her friends being murdered by the mutated cannibals who are hunting them. Both women, by the end of their respective stories, seem to emerge with a greater appreciation for life and freedom, which is another hallmark of the genre, and much of what the final girl trope is based upon; inner strength being hard-won through tenacity and perseverance against unfathomable odds.