In 2022, Idris Elba starred in a brand-new action movie called Beast, where he was trapped in the jungle with his children, while a lion hunted them down. While not technically lost in the woods, he was trapped in a similar position, and played out the familiar story of man vs. nature, a story where humans rarely come out in one piece.
Horror movies need to set up a reason to both put people in danger and scare the viewers at home. While most people have never been lost in the woods, it remains a mythical danger that has played out in movies enough times to make anyone leery about taking that camping trip with their friends, because it often results in death and devastation.
Contents
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
* Stream now on Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock+, & Paramount+
One of the most famous movies ever made about getting lost in the woods was the 1999 hit The Blair Witch Project. Shot on a tiny budget, this ended up as the movie that launched the popular found footage horror movie genre, although the imitators hardly ever reached the level of terror in this groundbreaking film.
The movie featured a group of young indie filmmakers heading out into the woods to explore local legends of the Blair Witch. However, what resulted was the group getting lost in the woods and then realizing something was out there tracking them.
Eden Lake (2008)
* Stream now on Tubi & Kanopy
Eden Lake was a British horror movie from 2008 that saw a nursery school teacher go to a remote lake in the English countryside with her boyfriend. When they get there, they see a new development being built and signs about not entering, but they do anyway, and it is their biggest mistake.
When they run afoul of some unruly teens, they find themselves in mortal danger. Their car goes missing and soon someone starts to hunt the young couple down. The movie is scary, and while it does relay a little too much on the fear of young people, it does its job well, although it is one of the most frustratingly brutal endings in recent horror movies.
Deliverance (1972)
* Stream now on Netflix
In 1972, a classic survival movie hit with Burt Reynolds starring in Deliverance. This movie saw some friends from the city head out for a canoe trip in the Georgia wilderness. However, they made a mistake when they treated the locals in a condescending manner, and that was almost the last mistake they ever made.
The four friends then end up encountering locals on their canoeing trip and end up in a life-or-death battle once their canoes crash. The movie also delivered one of cinema’s most iconic moments with the Dueling Banjos.
Willow Creek (2013)
* Stream now on Peacock+
Willow Creek was a found-footage horror movie released in 2013 written and directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait. For anyone expecting something funny, that is not what Goldthwait has been doing with his career in filmmaking. This is as disturbing as anything else he has done in this arena.
In the movie, a guy travels to a national forest in California with his girlfriend, hoping to get video footage of Bigfoot. They start off at Willow Creek, which was considered the Bigfoot capital of the world, but when they set up camp, someone or something destroys the camp and hangs their belongings from a tree. What they encounter next is pure terror, and not likely anything the viewer might expect. Unlike many found-footage films, this one actually shows what happened and the creatures involved.
Rituals (1977)
* Stream now on Prime Video & Shudder
Rituals is a lesser-known horror-thriller from 1977 that starred Hal Holbrook. This movie saw a group of surgeons who decided to go on a weekend retreat into the wilderness in Canada. They are dropped off by plane, which leaves them there with no way out until their scheduled pickup.
However, after their first night of camping, they realize their boots have been stolen, so they seek out someone who might be able to help them. The group then starts to see more ominous things and soon are in a fight for their lives with no escape. The movie works so well because it keeps the identity of the attacker hidden until the end.
The Ritual (2017)
* Stream now on Netflix.
The Ritual was a Netflix release from 2017 that featured a group of men heading out for a trip to a Swedish forest after one of their friends dies in a robbery. However, while they are out, they realize something might be tracking them, and they realize they are all in danger.
What makes The Ritual so interesting is that it seems the forest is changing while they are there. While they seem to be heading in the right direction, they always seem to get turned around. It adds a twist to the lost in the woods genre because it almost seemed the woods themselves were out to get them as well.
It Comes At Night (2017)
* Stream now on Fubo & Showtime
It Comes at Night is a post-apocalyptic horror movie about a disease that has wiped out most of the world. The movie was an interesting one, with critics loving and praising it, while the audience mostly rejected it upon first release. This was a slow-burn horror movie with a family living deep in the woods, hiding from the diseased.
Things go bad when other survivors find them, and end up possibly bringing the disease with them. This was a movie that had a short life before a real disease made it a hard watch. However, as a story of people deep in the woods tormented by outsiders, it works well and is a terrifying tale of survival.
The Edge (1997)
* Rent now on Apple TV & Prime Video
In 1997, a survival movie about getting lost in the woods hit theaters with Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin leading the cast. The movie saw a billionaire, a photographer, and the photographer’s assistant in a plane crash in the remote Alaskan woods.
The movie does a lot with this lost-in-the-woods’ setup. First up, the men have problems from the outset, as the billionaire and photographer had an antagonistic relationship. Things get worse when a bear starts to track them and kills the assistant before targeting the two survivors next. This movie had a lot going on, and it was a perfect example of how humans can be deadlier than even the harshest conditions.
Dog Soldiers (2002)
* Stream now on Starz
What makes Dog Soldiers so impressive is that it takes the idea of being lost in the woods and then adds it to the werewolf monster movie genre. It also gets credit for being one of the best werewolf movies ever made. Directed by Neil Marshall, a group of soldiers ends up dropped into the woods for a training exercise.
However, while in the woods with no way out, they come across a home where a family of werewolves lives. The movie does a great job at taking the idea that these trained soldiers are stuck in the woods while adding in the fact that they are unable to match up with the powerful lycans.
Backcountry
* Stream now on AMC+ & Shudder
Released in 2014, Backcountry is a Canadian survival horror movie based on a true story. In the real-life story, a man-eating black bear terrorized people in the backcountry of an Ontario national park. As for the movie, a couple heads out to hike and the man refuses a map, believing he knows his way around.
That is always a mistake that leads to these lost in the woods movies. Because he has no map, and he gets turned around, they end up lost and then find the man-eating bear tracking them. Critics highly praised the movie, with a 92 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, called intense and impactful.