Top 11 Horrors of the Woods
Scott Hallam
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There’s quite a buzz around the new film Dark Was the Night, starring Kevin Durand of FX’s hit series “The Strain.” As the film revolves around a malicious entity in the forest, in honor of its release, we’ve come up with our Top 11 Horrors of the Woods.
Durand plays a great part in Dark Was the Night (review here), available now, and the setting of the woods always makes for a creepy backdrop. We’ve got some honorable mentions here that prove that point.
Lucky McKee’s The Woods is a perfect example to start off with, as are Wrong Turn and Misery. Classics like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes are kinda woodsy, but not enough to officially make the list. Also Pumpkinhead and Frontier(s) were very close, but the scenes in the forest for those films weren’t really as prominent as some of the Top 11. We nearly included The Burning, but we had the summer camp sub-genre covered, and The Woman was suggested, but after her initial discovery, the film becomes more based in the home. But regardless, all of these movies have some great, nightmarish scenes in the woods.
And now, on to the Top 11 Horrors of the Woods!
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The combination of a genius marketing campaign with a damn impressive micro-budget indie film made The Blair Witch Project a runaway hit. Single-handedly jumpstarting the found footage sub-genre of horror (which had been tried successfully previously, most notably by Ruggero Deodato in Cannibal Holocaust, but never took hold mainstream), The Blair Witch Project would go on to be memorable for more than just being a really goddamn creepy walk through the woods. The advertising campaign was like nothing anyone had seen before and utilized the internet to the fullest. And The Blair Witch Project inspired filmmakers to go out and shoot found-footage movies, which were much more affordable to produce, thus allowing more movie-makers to get their ideas out there. When Blair Witch hit, the entire game changed.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzrOjposiMY]
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Sometimes referred to as the second coming of Scream by those who truly understand the ebbs and flows of the genre, The Cabin in the Woods was much more than a romp in the forest, but, on the surface, that’s exactly what it appeared to be. The Cabin in the Woods was not only a gory horror-comedy that managed to deliver the laughs and the blood-letting in equal helpings, but it was an intelligent message to horror filmmakers and fans. It was set in a cabin in the woods because that was becoming the go-to location for horror. And, as we realized this wasn’t just simply a horror movie, but so much more than that, the point became obvious. The Cabin in the Woods shouted to horror movie-makers and said, ‘Hey! We’re doing the same goddamn thing over and over again in every movie! Let’s try to mix things up a bit.’ It gave the genre a kick in the ass, and, in that way, it was the second coming of Scream.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsIilFNNmkY]
Cabin Fever (2002)
Along came Eli Roth. Aside from a few very small acting roles, which included parts for Troma and, believe it or not, in The Horse Whisperer, Cabin Fever was Roth’s first venture into filmmaking. He co-wrote the script (with Randy Pearlstein) mostly in 1995 when he was working as a production assistant on Howard Stern’s movie, Private Parts. Every once in a while, Stern still discusses remembering a young filmmaker sitting outside his dressing room door for hours, hoping Stern would read his script. The movie-maker was Eli Roth and the script was Cabin Fever, mostly passed over because producers felt the horror genre was no longer profitable (yeah right, show us another movie that can be made for $2 million and gross $40 million at the box office… horror does it all the time). However, the film eventually got made for the modest sum of $1.5 million and would go on to gross over $33 million and become Lionsgate’s biggest in 2003. Not bad for the new guy.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bKy8ohYeSg]
Evil Dead 2 (1987)
I’m sure you Evil Dead purists would appreciate us using the whole title, so let’s move on with Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn. It’s one of the stranger follow-up movies you’ll ever see as it’s not a sequel or a prequel at all. It’s more of a retelling of the original movie, with a much catchier script and vastly slicker special F/X. But the true strength of Evil Dead 2, one of the greatest “trapped in the woods” movies ever, was the performance of Bruce Campbell. If the original film hadn’t vaulted him to the stratosphere of horror actors, this one certainly did. Campbell’s physical humor was insanely entertaining. He managed to maintain the horror of the story while performing some Three Stooges-esque physical comedy on-screen… and much of it was with himself. Campbell didn’t have many partners to rely on to help him sell the comedy. He brought his possessed hand to life and battled the evil in the woods so entertainingly and so deftly that Evil Dead 2 remains one of horror’s most beloved films to this day. Take a look at one of the best scenes below. If you do get trapped out in the woods, we hope you’ve got Ash with you. Groovy!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awxz-8XR938]
Hatchet (2006)
In 2006 the state of horror was okay. Not great, but okay. What we were missing was the old school slasher. The Final Destination series was cruising along, as was Saw. But by this point, all the major slasher series were pretty much over and done with, signing off with Freddy vs. Jason three years earlier. Sure, there were some stragglers in there, but we needed a new anti-hero to get behind, and filmmaker Adam Green introduced us to Victor Crowley at just the perfect time. With Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, and Jason Voorhees past their prime, we needed a new slasher; and Victor Crowley was fantastic. Does the bayou technically qualify as the woods? Ah, six of one, half dozen of the other. Whether you’re in the jungle, the forest, or the swamp, Victor Crowley is not someone you want to run into; and the creepy settings we always seem to find him in make him that much more frightening! Remember this classic Crowley scene below?
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2IcNXxl5zs]
The Cottage (2008)
Perhaps one of the more unfortunately overlooked films of recent memory, The Cottage is certainly one to go back and check out if you are yet to experience it. Featuring a rare appearance by a non-CGI’d Andy Serkis and a fantastically humorous performance by Reece Shearsmith, The Cottage is the definition of black comedy. Although we always expect him to be shrouded in some type of computer animation, Serkis proves that he can handle a non-CGI badass role in this one as he leads his brother (played by Shearsmith) on a raucous kidnapping that literally could not go further off the rails. The Cottage seems like a simple bumbling mishandled kidnapping film at first, but at about the halfway mark, this thing takes a wicked turn and goes from light-hearted action-adventure-comedy to brutal slasher (with the comedy still hanging in there). The cottage in this woods is certainly the setting for all types of bad, bad things.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV6R7tXbVlE]
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010)
Speaking of spot-on horror comedies shot in the woods, The Cottage provides the perfect lead in to another brilliant film, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. Tucker and Dale is the ultimate role reversal showcase as those creepy, unsettling hillbillies who usually have a boatload of bad intentions appear in this film, but there are no bad intentions. In fact, Tucker and Dale could not be nicer guys if they tried. This is a great movie that turns the expectations of the characters on its ear and gives you nothing you expect. As the story rolls on, one hilarious scene after another unfolds; and amongst the laughs, we also see a real antagonist develop. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is so goddamn entertaining we can’t say enough about it, and it also uses the woods to the fullest advantage whenever it can, even working in a tree impalement and a wicked woodchipper accident!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdNpFoWrBDQ]
The Last House on the Left (1972)
Wes Craven’s first film. Banned in England. The Last House on the Left has several different backdrops, but all the most heinous activity in the movie takes place in the woods right outside young, unfortunate Mari Collingwood’s house. The unspeakable atrocities that occur are sometimes hard to watch, but it was this intensity that helped to set the foundation to make Wes Craven the horror icon and household name that he is today. And just think, if there hadn’t have been a woodsy setting for Krug and his gang to play in, to torture the girls in, how much of a movie would we really have gotten here? It would have been a quick bang, bang murder and then on to the next victim for Krug and Co. The Last House on the Left is indeed, at least partially, beholden to its great setting for helping to create the unsettling feeling of isolation for the two unfortunate victims… and audiences!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W9KPhmYYtg]
I Spit on Your Grave (1978)
We always like to include those original/alternate titles because we know some of you demand to hear them (and some of you love to bang on those who demand to hear them). Anyway, I Spit on Your Grave (a.k.a. Day of the Woman) is the perfect film to follow The Last House on the Left on this list as the two are so often grouped together as some of the most extreme examples of ’70s horror… and both of them just happen to be set in the woods. I Spit on Your Grave revolves around the story of a female writer who has retreated to a rural setting to pen her first novel. As the infamous story goes, a bunch of off-kilter locals invade her home and brutally abuse her… and then get her again as she tries to escape into the woods. As disturbing as Last House is, I Spit on Your Grave is equally as off-putting, if not more so… and it all happens in the woods. Nasty place to be!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkCTSn8gcL4]
Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Writer/director Robert Hiltzik brought this “campy” horror film to life in 1983, and it’s still celebrated as a cult favorite to this day. Felissa Rose is a beloved horror star and the Sleepaway Camp series exists as a fan favorite. Also once marketed as Nightmare Vacation on VHS (for all you purists), Sleepaway Camp fires on all cylinders as a true ’80s classic and certainly had a hand in making the woods a seriously uncomfortable place to be. Of course everyone remembers the awesome Sleepaway Camp twist ending, one of the best since Psycho. With all the madness going on at Sleepaway Camp, all we can say for sure is that it’s pretty easy to get murdered at camp! Not a great slogan for the wilderness, but oh, so true.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9K2ARikYzE]
Friday the 13th (1980)
While we’re on the subject of sleepaway camps, Friday the 13th is one of the ultimate horror experiences ever to take place in the woods. Does anything say forest background more than summer camp? Crystal Lake is indeed one of the most iconic locations for a horror film, ever! And honestly, you can plug Friday the 13th Part Anything (except Takes Manhattan or Jason X) into this equation and have a true contender for best woodsy horror. We’ll go as far as to say that no character has ever dominated the woods and made it a more frightening place than Jason Voorhees (or, of course, Mrs. Voorhees as we’re highlighting the original Friday the 13th in this example). The woods have created some seriously scary entities, but we’ve got to say, so far, none has been more intimidating than those monsters found in the Friday the 13th series. The woods are Jason’s playground.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjiqwTv9yeI]
Bonus Entry! Antichrist (2009)
Oh, Lars von Trier’s film Antichrist was destined for the honorable mention section of this list when it was originally outlined, but after rethinking things, it became nearly impossible to relegate this nightmare to the “also ran” section. The two main characters in Antichrist try to escape to the woods to help ease the pain of the death of their child, but things become a true nightmare out there. Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg are outstanding as basically the only two characters in the movie, and the violence and intensity depicted in Antichrist are toe-curlingly legendary. It’s not every day you get to see a rusty axle driven through someone’s calf AND a clitoris cut off by rusty scissors in the same move. This is one enchanted forest you want no part of.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBdDcQONmkM]
Okay, so it turned out we needed 12 entries to finish out the list. There are some seriously scary films sent in forbidden forests out there, and we wanted to be sure to mention all of them.
This list has been brought to you by Dark Was the Night, available NOW on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD. Check it out!
Dark was the Night Synopsis:
Maiden Woods is a remote and quiet town of decent hard-working people, but something stirs in the dark woods surrounding this isolated community. After a logging company decimates an area of the forest, a rash of increasingly violent and unexplainable events transpires. Sheriff Paul Shields (Kevin Durand) and his deputy (Lukas Haas) struggle to confront their own personal demons while facing down a new breed of raw terror that is possibly older than humanity itself… and much, much hungrier.
