Here’s a look at 2 recently-released films that echo the tired concepts of post-apocalyptic outbreaks and backwoods horror.
Awake The result of this global catastrophe is that all electronics are wiped out and people can’t sleep. Being sleep-deprived for a few days results in all manner of unfortunate actions. One young girl may possess the key to a cure, so her mom treks thru dangerous threats to seek solace. While the premise is a variation on any number of post-apoc disasters, the action and acting is considerably inferior. Many of the situations defy credibility and everyone is over the top at all times. There’s not anything original or especially compelling to set this apart. 
(2 / 5)
Wrong Turn This horror series, six films of which ran from 2003 to 2014, revolves around a group of innocents who end up terrorized by evil residents who live deep in the woods. This reboot assembles a group of 20-somethings who venture off the Appalachian Trail in Virginia to discover their cruel fate. With this genre, it’s mostly about seeing how each person is captured, tortured or murdered. This one does the dispatching without much originality, but still manages a brutal effect. There’s a lot of useless yelling among the hikers and inevitable uninteresting personal drama. Plus, the backwoods culture is just a mediocre variation of the concept we’ve seen before. This is a forgettable entry into this hackneyed concept. 
(3 / 5)