Dylan McTee stars as Adam in Saban Film’s new horror film Wrong Turn.
Synopsis: Backwoods terror and never-jangling suspense meet when Jen (Charlotte Vega) and a group of friends set out to hike the Appalachian Trail. Despite warnings to stick to the trail, the hikers stray off course—and cross into land inhabited by The Foundation, a hidden community of mountain dwellers who use deadly means to protect their way of life. Suddenly under siege, Jen and her friends seem headed to the point of no return— unless Jen’s father (Matthew Modine) can reach them in time.
This film, directed by Mike P. Nelson and written by Alan B. McElroy, is the seventh in the Wrong Turn series but according to the cast, this film holds its own
“I think what really drew me to this project and what really sets it apart from perhaps the original iteration is that McElroy, who’s actually the writer of the original, has infused the truly classic slasher thriller elements with one of the most troubling social issues today which is division. I think that we’re all a bit quick to judge and in the universe of the film, judgement gets you killed.”
Judgement getting you killed is very fitting for Dylan’s character, Adam.
“Adam sort of the difficult one in the group. He likes to stir the pot, he likes to fight, he likes to mess with people. I thought that was really fun. He’s also the first to just sort of take care of himself, at the end of the day he wants to survive. And that sort of basic survival element was really fun to play and obviously from an objective standpoint, it’s sort of despicable too.”
“He was really fun to play because he’s so erratic. I think it’s really important to look at a character that should be played, maybe as just an asshole, and realize ‘oh wait, look at these small moments where he consoles his friend or, he really fights off this guy to save this person.’ And it’s like, ‘woah, this guy isn’t just one thing.’ I was even confused. I was like it’s not super clear, it’s not super set in stone. I thought that element, that sort of ‘what is going to happen next with this guy’ was just like really fun to read, and then eventually play.”
Keeping with the theme of judgement, Dylan says that not judging the script was also a challenge he faced.
“I wanted to be really righteous about my assumptions. I wanted to be righteous about the character and what I knew to be. That these people are bad and that we need to run away from them or get rid of them. But all I know is that these are bad people. I think, to a degree, a lot of us are deeply judgmental and violently righteous about our assumptions of others and in a way, I think films, in general but specifically horror films, are sort of like more realistic and I think my job was to say if you take this path or make these choices, this is what’s going to happen to you.”
Dylan considers himself to be a bit of a thrill seeker, but even he got scared at times while filming.
“And that was part of the fun. It was like an immersive roller coaster. One thing that comes to mind is when we were all tied up in the cave and come face to face with the Foundation. In the real world is 4 a.m. and I’m half naked staring at people wearing animal skulls, lit by torches. So, you know, it’s a little hard not to be afraid. There’s also the fact that that’s my idea of fun, but that’s another conversation. But having a huge mask coming out of the darkness and just sit down and stare at you, yeah, that was scary.”
Despite telling this story, Dylan says he would definitely take a hike like this in real life.
“As Dylan, I would. I love camping and hiking and backpacking. I’d bring my dog. I’m like a total camp nerd, I have everything. So that element was actually pretty fun and easy to sort of explore with this group. There were a few, Vardaan [Arora] comes to mind and he was just like, ‘I have gone camping.’ and I was just like ‘Come on, this is fun, follow me!’
In one word, Dylan uses ‘run to describe this film.
“I would use run. If you hear something in the woods and it’s coming at you, you know it is, just run. that was sort of my motto.”
