Survival Gets Buried Beneath the Twists

MOVIE REVIEW
Capps Crossing: Wrong Side of Dead
-     

Genre: Horror, Thriller
Year Released: 2026
Runtime: 1h 36m
Director: Mike Stahl
Writer: Mike Stahl
Cast: Beverly D’Angelo, Sabina Gadecki, Garrett C. Phillips, Sarah Elizabeth Withers, Gary Cooney, Mattie Maderos, Shawna Della-Ricca, John Ryan McLaughlin, Kasey Keys
Where to Watch: arrives on demand and digital July 28, 2026

RAVING REVIEW: CAPPS CROSSING: WRONG SIDE OF DEAD keeps changing its mind about the type of danger living in the woods. It begins as a straightforward backwoods slasher, shifts toward a mystery involving old murders, introduces a leading lady trained to study criminal behavior, and eventually twists nearly everything we’ve been told. That restlessness occasionally yields a pleasant surprise, but it also leaves the movie at odds with its own most effective qualities.

Writer and director Mike Stahl returns to the setting of his 2017 film CAPPS CROSSING without requiring much knowledge of the earlier movie (which I think works against the film more than it does help it; I wanted a deeper lore). The same stretch of wilderness remains stained by violence, while familiar names and relationships give returning viewers a little more to recognize. WRONG SIDE OF DEAD is larger and more ambitious than its predecessor, although ambition doesn’t always translate into a stronger or more coherent story.

Amber, played by Sabina Gadecki, heads into the woods with several friends for a birthday getaway. The movie wastes little time telling us about her. She’s an athlete, a behavioral science student, and someone capable of analyzing the signs that others overlook. Those skills become increasingly useful once the group encounters the people connected to Capps Crossing and realizes the area’s bloody history hasn’t ended.

Gadecki gives the movie a capable lead who doesn’t spend the entire ordeal waiting for someone else to rescue her. Amber watches, questions, and adapts as the situation becomes more dangerous, allowing her intelligence to matter alongside her physical survival instincts. She also brings enough vulnerability to stop the character from becoming an all-purpose collection of abilities created solely to defeat the killer.

The screenplay is far less graceful about establishing those qualities. Conversations repeatedly explain Amber’s education, understanding of serial killers, athletic background, and ability to read people, sometimes as though the movie is preparing evidence for a later test. Her intelligence is more convincing when Gadecki shows Amber studying someone’s reactions than when another character reminds us how unusually gifted she is.

That habit of overexplaining spreads beyond Amber. Nearly everyone comes with hidden pain, suspicious behavior, or a personal history that needs to be disclosed before the next revelation can function. The movie wants its characters to appear complex. However, too much of that complexity is conveyed through dialogue rather than through behavior that lets us reach our own conclusions.

Garrett C. Phillips plays David with a mixture of friendliness, discomfort, and menace that suits the movie’s uncertain loyalties. His quieter exchanges are his strongest because Phillips can suggest something wrong without immediately explaining it all. Longer speeches place too much pressure on the writing, especially when David is asked to shift between wounded, seductive, threatening, and emotionally unstable within the same stretch of conversation.

Beverly D’Angelo adds some familiarity as Sandra, even though she isn’t the film’s primary focus. Her presence suggests a deeper history surrounding the murders and lends the supporting material more gravity than it otherwise would have. D’Angelo doesn’t need much screen time to make Sandra feel as though she knows more than she’s willing to reveal, and the movie benefits whenever it stops explaining her and lets suspicion do the work.

Gary Cooney helps connect this story to the earlier CAPPS CROSSING as Gary Mills. The material allows the film to explore inherited violence, misplaced loyalty, and the way a community can protect its own version of events for years. Stahl occasionally reaches something unsettling through that history, particularly when the danger feels embedded in the location rather than limited to one person carrying a weapon.

Shawna Della-Ricca, Sarah Elizabeth Withers, Mattie Maderos, John Ryan McLaughlin, and Kasey Keys create enough tension and personality within the group to make the weekend feel like an actual birthday gathering before it becomes deadly. Several characters are written as recognizable slasher types; however, their personal conflicts don’t have enough room to become more than short-term distractions.

The birthday gathering creates expectations that the movie doesn’t always use. An isolated celebration can expose rivalries, romantic complications, and resentments before anyone realizes an outside threat has arrived. WRONG SIDE OF DEAD touches on those ideas, but it moves quickly toward secrets and suspicion, making it difficult to invest in the friendships before the group begins breaking apart.

Stahl handles the physical danger better than the psychological games surrounding it. The attacks have a dark edge, and the movie isn’t afraid to turn its location into a place where escape routes disappear quickly. Darkness, distance, and uncertainty give several confrontations enough tension to carry them without elaborate staging.

The violence also provides some needed momentum once the film commits to survival horror. Earlier sections spend too long laying the groundwork for later explanations, leaving the characters to discuss danger before the movie lets them experience much of it. Once Amber is forced to run rather than analyze, Gadecki’s performance becomes more focused, and the movie finds a rougher yet effective experience.

Mark David’s wide-screen cinematography gives the forest room to feel exposed and confining at the same time. The outdoor setting is most effective when figures can be seen moving at a distance, creating uncertainty over whether someone is approaching to help or to attack. Some darker sequences lose definition, though the overall production looks more controlled than the premise’s low-budget origins might suggest.

The larger problem arrives when WRONG SIDE OF DEAD begins cashing in its secrets. One revelation leads to another, characters contradict earlier accounts, and the story keeps searching for a more shocking explanation than the one it just provided. A few reversals are effective, but the accumulation gradually makes the plot feel less intelligent rather than more complex. Psychological thrillers can survive implausibility when their twists deepen the characters or force earlier scenes to take on a new meaning. Here, several disclosures exist mainly to keep viewers from really understanding what's going on. The resulting confusion isn’t the same as mystery, especially when the movie pauses to explain how pieces connect and leaves other questions behind anyway.

The ending does give the film something to discuss beyond its kills. It challenges some of the assumptions established during Amber’s arrival and avoids closing every door in the expected order. The final moments also underline how much stronger the movie would have been with fewer deceptions and more confidence in its best one.

CAPPS CROSSING: WRONG SIDE OF DEAD is watchable enough when it behaves like a violent survival thriller. Gadecki provides a solid anchor, Phillips creates flashes of genuine unease, and D’Angelo adds value to a supporting role that could easily have felt disposable. Those strengths keep it from collapsing when the screenplay begins stacking explanations on top of explanations.

Please visit https://linktr.ee/overlyhonestr for more reviews.

You can follow me on Letterboxd, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. You can also find my social media accounts on most platforms by searching for 'Overly Honest Reviews'.

I’m always happy to hear from my readers; please don't hesitate to say hello or send me any questions about movies.

[photo courtesy of AARONDE ENTERTAINMENT, LIONSGATE]

DISCLAIMER:
At Overly Honest Movie Reviews, we value honesty and transparency. Occasionally, we receive complimentary items for review, including DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, Vinyl Records, Books, and more. We assure you that these arrangements do not influence our reviews, as we are committed to providing unbiased and sincere evaluations. We aim to help you make informed entertainment choices regardless of our relationship with distributors or producers.

Amazon Affiliate Links:
Additionally, this site contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may receive a commission. This affiliate arrangement does not affect our commitment to honest reviews and helps support our site. We appreciate your trust and support as you navigate these links.