The wilderness, whether a vast icy tundra or a dense, spooky forest, is a terrifying place to be trapped in. Braving the elements is tough enough, but what happens when you toss in a band of murderous hunters or horrifying monsters lurking in the dark? From The Evil Dead (1981) to The Forest (2016), these wilderness survival horror films will have you looking over your shoulder on your next hiking trip.
1. The Grey (2011)
Image Credit: Kimberley French / Open Road Films.
Starring Liam Neeson, The Grey is a survival thriller about a group of workers from an Alaskan oil refinery heading home on a plane when it crashes in the icy wilderness. The men might fight for their lives as they try to escape the grueling icy conditions and a wolf-pack stalking their every move.
2. The Descent (2005)
Image Credit: Pathé Distribution.
One of my all-time favorite horror movies is The Descent. Something about those underground monsters is exceptionally well done, as well as the character development of our protagonists. After Sarah undergoes a traumatic loss, she and her friends decide to take a trip a year later. But as they hike and explore caves, what they discover there threatens to end their trip early.
3. Wolf Creek (2005)
Image Credit: Roadshow Entertainment.
This gruesome Australian survival horror film follows three backpackers traveling in the Australian outback whom a sadistic serial killer targets. They must run for their lives to hope for a chance of survival.
4. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Image Credit: Artisan Entertainment.
This famous found-footage horror film takes place in the forests of the Black Hills. Three student filmmakers trek into the woods to film a documentary about the Blair Witch — a local myth. However, they soon realize the myth may be more accurate than they ever knew.
5. Eden Lake (2008)
Image Credit: Optimum Releasing.
When a couple visits a remote lake house for a quick getaway, they're confronted by a group of troublemakers who make their lives horrible. Can they escape the solitude of the wilderness and the threats that lurk within them?
6. Alive (1993)
Image Credit: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.
This infamous survival thriller based on a true story asks us to ponder what extreme measures we'd take to survive. When a plane crashes in the Andes mountains, survivors are thrown into a brutal environment with little hope of survival. They must make unthinkable sacrifices to their humanity to stay alive.
7. The Ritual (2017)
Image Credit: Netflix and eOne.
When four long-time friends take a hiking trip in the deep forests of Scandinavia, they face tension between each other when they take a wrong turn and soon discover that an unknown spirit stalks their every move. But the secrets that come out about the men themselves is the scariest part of the film.
8. A Perfect Getaway (2009)
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.
What happens when a romantic trip to Hawaii turns into your worst nightmare? That's what A Perfect Getaway is about. When a couple chooses to celebrate their honeymoon in the Hawaiian wilderness, they soon meet a group of hikers who claim another couple was murdered. After that, the two must discover the truth to stay alive.
9. The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
Image Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures.
A family traveling through the desert in their camper vans finds themselves stranded after an accident in the desert. Soon, strange events begin to occur, putting the family in mortal danger. They're terrorized by horrific mutant humans who feed on human flesh.
10. The Witch (2015)
Image Credit: A24.
Set in 17th century New England, a family lives isolated in the wilderness as they try to get by in the harsh environment. When the family's youngest son goes missing, they all blame the eldest daughter for his absence and claim she's a witch.
11. The Evil Dead (1981)
Image Credit: New Line Cinema.
When four friends trek into the woods for a weekend getaway at a remote cabin, they stumble upon a strange, old book with powerful and terrible magic. After they accidentally use the book to raise the dead, the friends fight for survival as they attempt to stop the outbreak of a zombie apocalypse.
12. Willow Creek (2013)
Image Credit: Dark Sky Films.
This found-footage horror film follows a bigfoot believer and his skeptical girlfriend as they journey into the remote forests of California to be the first travelers to capture bigfoot on film. However, once they reach their campsite, they realize their quest for the truth may cost them their lives.
13. Wrong Turn (2003)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox.
When a group of college friends' car tire pops when it's caught in barbed wire in the backcountry of West Virginia, they leave the vehicle to seek help. Soon, they find themselves trapped in a nightmare where vicious cannibals hunt them down one by one.
14. What Keeps You Alive (2018)
Image Credit: Digital Interference Production and IFC Films.
What Keeps You Alive is a horror film about a lesbian couple who visit a remote lake house to celebrate their wedding anniversary. But when a tragedy causes a sudden turn of events on a hiking trip, one of the wives finds herself trapped in a harrowing situation she never saw coming.
15. The Forest (2016)
Image Credit: Gramercy Pictures and Focus Features.
This chilling supernatural wilderness horror film takes place in Japan's infamous Aokigahara Forest. After a young American woman's twin sister disappears in Japan, she investigates her sister's disappearance and ends up in the legendary forest. She attempts to uncover what happened to her twin there as haunting spirits follow her through the dark woods.
16. Backcountry (2014)
Image Credit: IFC Midnight.
When two city-dwellers head into the backcountry to go on a camping expedition, things go wrong when they realize they forgot their phones in the car. As night begins to fall, the two must search for a way out of the woods as a bloodthirsty bear follows close on their trail.
17. Alone (2020)
Image Credit: Magnet Releasing.
Alone is a horrifying film about a recent widow who gets abducted by a sadistic man and brought to his remote cabin. When he leaves, she manages to free herself and now must survive in the harsh wilderness with a killer tracking her every move.
18. No One Lives (2012)
Image Credit: Anchor Bay Films.
After a gang attacks and abducts a wealthy couple driving through an isolated woodland area, they plan to hold them hostage for money. But when they discover their captives are terrifying criminals themselves, the perpetrators soon become the victims.
19. The Hunt (2020)
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.
The Hunt is a twisted thriller about a group of sadistic rich people who decide to host a game where they hunt people in the wilderness. When eleven strangers wake up in a forest, they must run for their lives as their human abductors track them down and kill them for sport.
20. Red Dot (2021)
Image Credit: Netflix.
This Swedish survival thriller follows an engaged couple in a tense relationship who go on a trip to see the northern lights to rediscover the spark in their relationship. After uncomfortable interactions with the racist locals in a remote village, the couple camp in the icy tundra, where the locals follow them and hunt them down.
21. Devil's Pass (2013)
Image Credit: Anchor Bay Entertainment.
Devil's Pass is a found-footage horror film about a group of college students who decide to investigate the mysterious deaths of some hikers in Russia. But when they visit the site of their disappearance, a strange series of events makes some of the students uneasy. They decide to press on, but when they realize why the hikers died all those years ago, they wish they never found out.
22. Prey (2021)
Image Credit: Netflix.
When two brothers and some friends embark on a hiking trip to celebrate one of the brother's upcoming marriages, they soon discover their poor choice of hiking paths when a ruthless killer pursues them. But the worst part is that they discover that none of the friends or brothers can trust one another.
23. Black Rock (2012)
Image Credit: LD Entertainment.
Black Rock is about three childhood friends who fell out of touch but reunited when they decided to take a trip to a remote island where they spent time together as kids. There, they meet three hunters, and a terrifying situation leaves one dead and the other enraged. Soon, the three women find themselves tied together and forced to overcome their differences to escape with their lives.
24. Curve (2015)
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.
As a woman drives to her wedding rehearsal dinner, her car breaks down, and a strange man helps her repair it. Feeling sorry for the man, she offers him a ride but regrets her decision when he pulls a knife on her. She attempts to kill him by crashing her car but only ends up trapping herself in the wreck in an isolated area.
25. Fall (2022)
Image Credit: Lionsgate.
This survival thriller is about two adventure-seeking friends who decide to climb a 2,000-foot-tall abandoned radio tower in the middle of the desert. But when an accident leaves them stranded at the top of the pole, they try everything in their power to reach the safety of the ground below without plummeting to their deaths.
