Wrong Turn marked the beginning of the long-standing mutated cannibal in the woods slasher franchise in 2003. As the only installment in the franchise to get a theatrical release, it is already different from the others, but despite being more well-known and well-liked than its predecessors, it underwent numerous difficulties and catastrophic events behind the scenes.
Horror movies, generally speaking, seem to have a lot of bad luck surrounding their production. Tobe Hooper's cannibal killer masterpiece, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, was laced with behind-the-scenes issues, and became a cult classic all the same. Wrong Turn wasn't so fortunate to reach the heights of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but its direct-to-video successors have earned themselves a quiet niche and cult following, despite not being overly beloved by the larger community. In many ways, the first Wrong Turn is the series' standout entry, which could be due to numerous things including more well-known actors, a higher budget, and Stan Winston's involvement as a producer.
Even so, the actors and crew associated with the production suffered for their art, so much so that it's a wonder this production ever made it to release in the first place and still ended up being a nice little tribute to '70s and '80s slasher films.
Wrong Turn: What Went TERRIBLY Wrong On Set
Wrong Turn wasn't littered so much with technical failures as it was marked by a series of catastrophic physical injuries to cast and crew that could have left those involved maimed or even worse. Throughout the movie, many of the cast and crew were covered with rashes due to poison ivy because of two things: their chairs were placed in what was thought to be weeds, which was later discovered to be a patch of poison ivy and during the filming of a scene, director Rob Schmidt urged them to run around in a patch of brush and weeds, which also contained the plant. Eliza Dushku said on a 2002 appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman, "I had poison ivy all up the backs of my legs and on my tush. Dave, I've got poison ivy all over my a*s."
In one scene, Jessie (Eliza Dushku), Carly (Emmanuelle Chriqui), Scott (Jeremy Sisto), and Chris (Desmond Harrington) are running from the cabin after disturbing the mountain cannibals. Harrington broke his right ankle after landing badly on the opposite side of a log. This made it difficult to shoot as his left leg was "shot" by Sawtooth (Garry Robbins). After he was shot in the left leg, he was forced to limp on his right leg. Basically, he spent the majority of filming compensating for a fake injury on a real one. Similarly, Chriqui dislocated her shoulder during a fall through the trees. In the production track, Chriqui's shoulder popping out of place is audible. This occurs when Chris, Carly, and Jessie are trying to escape the cannibals and decide to jump out the window into a nearby tree. Three Finger (Julian Richings) slices Carly's head in half before she jumps, and after that, her body falls through the trees.
Finally, during one of the film's final sequences, Jessie - the final girl - is fighting off the cannibals and sets Three Finger on fire. This was never supposed to happen. Eliza Dushku, who performed most of her own stunts for the film, was so immersed in the scene that she accidentally set Richings on fire. This ended up being used in the final cut of Wrong Turn.