You know it: the horror movie. The one that makes you cringe and not want to sleep alone that night. What does it for you? Is it a situation where someone sneaks into the house and starts killing people from inside? Or do you prefer a scene where people are left behind out in the ocean and sharks end up getting to them? This article will focus on scary movies where vacationers and those on an adventure get stranded or find themselves out in the middle of nowhere. Read on to find ten great stranded vacationer in the wilderness movies that will, at least a little, scare you.
1. Wrong Turn (2003). If you’re into the whole cannibalism in a horror movie thing, then this scary flick is for you. It’s at the top of my list for stranded vacationer in the wilderness movies because it really gets to me. It actually is pretty realistic that there are some people out there that just don’t live by the rest of society’s rules. In Wrong Turn, two cars crash into each other, leaving some people stranded in the West Virginia mountains. Yes, this movie focuses on a stereotype of West Virginians being backwoods people and takes it to a whole new level. Not only are the antagonists (or killers, as we informally call them) rednecks, they’re so backwoods that they kill people like they would deer and then eat them. Imagine being out in the middle of nowhere in West Virginia and having some cannibals sniffing you out for their next meal! Without a car, where are you really going to go?
2. Wrecked (2011). Leave it to Adrian Brody to star in another odd movie that’s all about his mind going haywire. Remember the movie a few years back The Jacket? Adrian’s character Starks is put in a metal jacket and placed in a morgue drawer as the subject of an experiment. While in the jacket, he can go into the future. But is this reality, or just in his mind? Well, Wrecked has some striking similarities. Adrian Brody’s character must discover how he got to the bottom of a ravine in a wrecked car, with three dead people around him. He has to get his mind straight to discover the truth. Has the accident left him brain damaged, or will he be able to remember and uncover the truth?
3. The Canyon (2009). A newlywed couple decides to take a trip to the Grand Canyon for their honeymoon. Okay, I can see this being a choice for a honeymoon if you’ve got two adventurers who want some action instead of a peaceful beach scene for their first week together as husband and wife. However, I would think the husband would at least want his wife to live for awhile and keep her safe, so he can enjoy being married! In The Canyon, the couple decide to venture into the Grand Canyon with a sketchy tour guide, who happens to be the only one who can get mules and a backcountry permit on short notice. Then, what happens if something goes wrong and your guide can no longer guide you? Perhaps they should have thought about this possibility before getting lost in the middle of nowhere down in a canyon!
4. Thirst (2010). Imagine going out in the desert with some friends for a photo shoot. Well, you went too far out in the middle of nowhere, and then the vehicle gets wrecked. Instead of walking back the way you came, you decide it might be better to go another way, and then you’re all of a sudden lost and stranded. This is what happens in Thirst. As you can guess, it’s quite dehydrating to be out in the desert with no water. How long can you survive?
5. Hey, I’m Alive (1975). Go back to the seventies with our dear Sally Struthers and watch this movie that stars Edward Asner and Sally as the survivors of a plane crash. They survive for 49 days out in the wilderness just by eating snow.
6. The Donner Party (2009). Crispin Glover has this way of making almost any movie eerie. The Donner Party is based on the true story of the Donner Party’s adventure trying to get to California in the 1840’s when everyone wanted to head out west. Will they make it?
7. Wilderness (2006). One way to try and straighten out a group of juvenile delinquents is to send them out into the wilderness to survive. The plan was to help them learn teamwork, but when things go awry, the story changes. The criminals find themselves being the victims of murder out in the wilderness!
8. Damned River (1989). It’s all innocent when your group of friends hires a guide to take them whitewater rafting in Africa. However, maybe you should have asked for a resume. What happens when you find out that your guide is actually a psychopath? Can you even survive the rapids on your own without him?
9. Stranded: I’ve Come from a Plane… (2008). This is the story of a rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes mountains. They had to resort to cannibalism of those who died to survive. Recall the earlier movie, Alive, which was based on this same true story.
10. K2 (1991). K2 is about two friends who try to conquer climbing to the top of the second highest mountain on earth (with Mt. Everest being the highest). The friends are accepted into a group who plans to make the trip. Who will make it to the top? More importantly, who will make it back down to the bottom and survive once things start to go wrong?
What are your favorite slightly scary stranded vacationer in the wilderness movies?