Wrong Turn: How Three-Finger Got His Name

Three-Finger is most iconic, constant part of the long-running Wrong Turn franchise, and while sometimes it looks like he does have all his fingers, there’s a specific reason why he got his name.

The 2003 movie, Wrong Turn, came from writer Alan B. McElroy, who has lent his talents to the Halloween franchise, Spawn, and even pitched an idea for a Resident Evil movie at one point. Wrong Turn only got one theatrical release, the original movie, which starred Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum Eliza Dushku, Chris Harrington, Emmanuelle Chriqui, and Jeremy Sisto as the unfortunate victims of a vicious clan of inbred cannibal killers. These cannibals: Three Finger, Saw Tooth, and One Eye are the primary focus of the franchise, although not all three appear in every movie due to differences in the timeline – the Wrong Turn movies are not in chronological order.

Even though the antagonists of Wrong Turn are undoubtedly villainous, Three Finger has developed something of a cult following of his own, and serves as a fan favorite character, similarly to how horror lovers flock to Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees. Though some might assume his name stems from the mutations that he and his kin share, this isn’t actually the case.

Wrong Turn: How Three Finger Got His Name

Since the Wrong Turn franchise took some turns with the timeline, it is revealed in Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings how Three Finger got his name. Wrong Turn 4 is technically a prequel, which shows the three brothers, two of whom died at the end of the first Wrong Turn movie, in a sanitarium. Though the prequel does jump in time and ends up leading directly into the events of the first movie, the brothers are shown during their younger days. It’s here where audiences get to see not only a much younger version of Three Finger, but discover that he chewed off two of the fingers on his hand. Therefore, if he was given a name by his parents, it likely wasn’t Three Finger, but rather was a name that was given to him by the franchise creators; that, or it became some kind of a nickname that was bestowed upon him once he made his way home to his family.

Even though Wrong Turn 6 is unrelated to the general canon established by the other five movies in the franchise, Three Finger still makes an appearance and leads the charge against the human victims, racking up quite the body count in the process. Currently, Wrong Turn 7 is in the works, and was slated for a 2020 release date. Wrong Turn 7 is said to be a complete reboot of the franchise, and comes from the original writer, McElroy, who is working with Mike P. Nelson instead of the other directors of the franchise, which include Rob Schmidt (Wrong Turn), Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 2), Declan O’Brien (Wrong Turn 3-5), and Valeri Milev (Wrong Turn 6). This lends to reports that Wrong Turn will take the cannibals – and maybe even Three Finger himself – in a completely different direction.

About The Author

Jack Wilhelmi
(581 Articles Published)

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Jack Wilhelmi is the horror features editor at Screen Rant, and has been with the site since 2019. He is a lifelong fan of the horror genre, and loves any excuse to discuss genre-related topics, since none of his friends dare challenge him in horror trivia. He has been published on the independent horror blog Morbidly Beautiful, and has covered major genre film festivals such as Cinepocalypse in Chicago. He has also served as a judge for the Ax Wound Film Festival.

In his free time, he is a devoted dog dad to a high-spirited rescue pup named Peter Quill and enjoys volunteering with various animal rescue organizations. Jack likes to travel and explore dark tourism-related and other various haunted locations. He enjoys studying psychology, the paranormal, and will watch literally any schlocky B-movie on the planet for a laugh.

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