Buzz
In the wild, our ability to control our environment is minimal. Whether it's a national park, a dense rainforest, a crocodile-filled swamp along a flooded river, or any other remote and intimidating location, nature can be unforgiving, perilous, and even life-threatening.
Dense foliage blocks visibility, darkness shrouds the landscape, and every sound in the night feels menacing. In secluded areas, the wilderness isolates us, severing ties to civilization and the support systems we rely on. There are no ambulances, fire trucks, or police cars nearby; no emergency operators to answer calls; and no access to highways, hospitals, or other essential resources.
In horror films set in wilderness settings, characters are equally exposed and defenseless. They are alone, surrounded by darkness, facing wild animals or other dangers. They might even encounter killers, some of whom could be their own family or friends. These 10 wilderness horror movies, based on chilling true stories, might make you reconsider camping trips, traveling, or even staying home alone during a power outage.
10. Razorback
Inspired by Peter Brennan’s novel of the same name, Russell Mulcahy’s 1984 film Razorback opens with scenes referencing the infamous Azaria Chamberlain case, where a dingo was accused of snatching and killing the infant.
On August 16, 1980, while the Chamberlain family dined with fellow campers near Uluru’s Ayer’s Rock, a sudden scream pierced the air. Their baby daughter Azaria’s bassinet, placed near the tent entrance, was empty. Despite finding paw prints and drag marks, the search for Azaria proved futile.
The Chamberlains, Seventh-Day Adventists often confused with Jehovah’s Witnesses, faced vicious rumors upon returning home. Whispers suggested they had sacrificed Azaria to cleanse the world’s sins or because she was deemed evil. Coroner Denis Barritt tried to debunk these claims, but his successor, Jerry Galvin, overturned his conclusions.
Lindy, the baby’s mother, was convicted and imprisoned for two years before new evidence emerged. A Royal Commission revealed that lab results had been manipulated or falsified. For instance, what was thought to be Azaria’s blood in their car was actually a spilled milkshake, and the substance on nail scissors was an industrial chemical. The Northern Territory Supreme Court ultimately cleared Lindy and her husband Michael of all charges.
The film draws clear parallels to the Chamberlains’ ordeal through its protagonist, Jake Cullen (Bill Kerr). While babysitting his grandson in the Australian Outback, a razorback boar invades his home, abducting and killing the child. Jake is accused of the murder but is acquitted due to insufficient evidence. The story then shifts as Jake seeks revenge on the razorback, mirroring themes of obsession akin to Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.
9. Alive
Frank Marshall’s 1993 film Alive tells the harrowing true story of a rugby team and their loved ones who faced a nightmare while flying to a match in Chile. Based on Piers Paul Read’s 1974 book Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, the movie is chilling, but the real-life events it depicts are even more gruesome and terrifying.
When their plane crashed into the Andes on October 13, 1972, little remained intact. The wreckage lay on its side, buried in snow, with the nose crushed, wings torn away, and tail destroyed. The fuselage was battered and broken, a grim reminder of the disaster.
Roberto Canessa, one of the surviving rugby players, documented the tragedy in his book I Had to Survive. He described the agonizing decision he and three others made, a choice that stripped them of their “innocence.” Stranded without access to vegetation or wildlife, they faced starvation. Canessa revealed that they knew the solution lay in the preserved bodies of their deceased friends and teammates, which offered life-sustaining protein. Yet, the idea was too horrifying to accept at first.
After nine days of desperation, hunger forced them to act. Canessa recounted the moment they made their first incision, cutting thin slices of frozen flesh from the bodies and placing them on a sheet of metal. Each man took his turn to consume the strips when he could muster the courage, a grim testament to their will to survive.
Out of the 45 passengers on the doomed flight, 27 survived the initial crash, but an avalanche claimed eight more lives. The avalanche also swept away the bodies the survivors had been relying on for sustenance. Canessa described steeling his nerves to do what was necessary, even resorting to using the flesh of those who had recently perished.
The group wasn’t rescued until December 23, 72 days after the crash. Upon returning home, Canessa confessed to his mother, “We had to eat our dead friends.” She comforted him, saying, “That’s okay, sweetie.” He also told his father he planned to inform the families of the deceased about his actions. To his astonishment, they were understanding and supportive.
Today, as a pediatric cardiologist, Canessa credits his survival to his family and his determination to see them again.
8. Cabin Fever
Eli Roth, the director of Cabin Fever (2002), drew inspiration from his own medical struggles. A severe psoriasis outbreak left his legs cracked and bleeding, making walking impossible, and a facial infection forced him to shave off parts of his skin. These bizarre experiences made him realize how unpredictable the human body can be and inspired the concept of a flesh-eating virus for his horror film.
As a horror film, audiences expect gruesome events, and the infection of a hermit who encounters a dead dog and transforms into a bloody, disfigured figure is a clear sign of the horrors to come. The hermit’s bloody vomiting during a visit to a cabin where college students are staying in the woods heightens the tension. When Karen, one of the students, develops an infection in a sensitive area, it becomes evident that the situation will likely deteriorate further before any hope of improvement.
7. Wolf Creek
Greg McLean’s 2005 film Wolf Creek is set in Wolfe Creek National Park in the Western Australian Outback. British tourists Liz Hunter (Cassandra Magrath) and Kristy Earl (Kestie Morassi), along with their Australian friend Ben Mitchell (Nathan Phillips), fall prey to Mick Taylor (John Jarratt), who pretends to help them after their car breaks down on the Great Northern Highway, leaving them stranded.
The film draws from the real-life story of Joanne Lees and Peter Falconio, as detailed in Lees’ memoir No Turning Back: My Journey. While traveling on the Stuart Highway, 2,000 kilometers from Wolfe Creek National Park, they were stopped by Bradley John Murdoch, who claimed their exhaust was sparking. Murdoch shot Falconio, hid his body, and abducted Lees. She managed to escape and hid in the bush until Murdoch gave up searching. Later, she was rescued by truck drivers. Murdoch was eventually arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 28 years to life in prison.
The character Mick Taylor also incorporates traits of serial killer Ivan Milat, who, in the 1990s, lured hitchhikers into the Belango State Forest, where he tortured and murdered them. McLean integrated elements of the Murdoch, Lees, Falconio, and Milat cases after learning about them, enhancing his original script. The film blurs the line between art and reality, showing how life can inspire horror.
6. Turistas
Director John Stockwell warned potential cast members of Turistas (2006) about the challenges they would face filming in the Brazilian rainforest. Their accommodations would be basic tents, their seats would be rocks, and they would navigate waters contaminated with bat droppings. While injuries were likely, Stockwell assured them that death was highly improbable.
Stockwell’s interest in directing Turistas stemmed from a strange experience during a surfing trip in Peru. He was robbed by a group of glue-sniffing teenagers and even shot at. When he reported the incident to local police, they offered him the chance to have his attackers killed for $300. Back in the U.S., he read the Turistas script, and it deeply resonated with him.
In the film, American tourists Alex (Josh Duhamel), his sister Bea (Olivia Wilde), and her friend Amy (Beau Garrett) are backpacking in Brazil. They meet British travelers Finn (Desmond Askew) and Liam (Max Brown). After being drugged at a party, they wake up on a remote beach, becoming victims of a sinister black-market operation.
5. Backcountry
A black bear in a northern Ontario provincial park may have developed a craving for human flesh. The bear attacked Jacqueline Perry while she was camping with her husband, Mark Jordan, 80 kilometers north of Chapleau. Jordan fought back, using his Swiss Army knife to stab the bear and prevent it from dragging his wife deeper into the forest.
Jordan carried his severely injured wife to their kayak and paddled to the nearest campsite, where a father and son from Pennsylvania helped them. Despite receiving medical attention from a North Carolina doctor on the Pennsylvanians’ boat, Perry did not survive the attack.
Their harrowing experience inspired Adam MacDonald’s 2014 film Backcountry. In the movie, Alex (Jeff Roop) and his girlfriend Jen (Missy Peregrym), a lawyer, get lost during a camping trip in a provincial park. Alex battles a bear, allowing Jen to escape, but the bear kills and eats him. Jen survives, despite a broken leg and emotional trauma, and paddles across a lake to find help.
MacDonald drew inspiration from Open Water (2003), where a couple is stranded at sea and attacked by sharks. He aimed to create an “Open Water in the woods” but chose to make Alex the bear’s victim to highlight Jen’s transformation into a strong, resilient woman. He wanted to depict the moment she confronts life’s harsh realities and proves her strength through survival.
Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean honored Jordan with the Star of Courage for his bravery in trying to save Perry’s life, risking his own. Jordan sustained injuries requiring 300 stitches. The award recognizes acts of extraordinary courage in life-threatening situations.
4. Bodom
Directed by Taneli Mustonen, the Finnish film Bodom (2016) follows four young adults camping near Lake Bodominjärvi in Espoo, Finland. Mustonen, who grew up in Outokumpu, was inspired by a real-life murder mystery. He aimed to make the universal theme of young people camping feel fresh and unique. Visiting the site during the 2004 murder trial reopening, he noticed other young people exploring the area, which sparked the idea for the film.
In the movie, friends Nora, Elias, Atte, and Ida camp near Lake Bodom to recreate the infamous 1960 murders. However, their trip takes a dark turn when they encounter a killer. The film features intriguing twists, though the ending may challenge viewers’ suspension of disbelief.
3. The Widow
Set for release in spring 2021, The Widow, directed by Svyatoslav Podgaevsky, takes place in a dense forest north of St. Petersburg, Russia. For 30 years, people have vanished in the area, often without a trace, with the few recovered bodies found naked. When a teenage girl disappears, volunteers search the forest but lose contact with each other, fueling rumors of the Limping Widow’s ghostly presence.
The film, featuring Viktotiya Potemina, Anastasiya Gribova, and Margarita Bychkova, draws from the unsettling reality that 300 people vanish annually in this region. Like in the movie, some recovered bodies are found naked, with no signs of violence. Interestingly, filming began on October 14, 2018, Holy Virgin’s Day, a time when folklore warns the forest becomes perilous. The reason for the corpses’ nudity remains unexplained. The movie is set for North American release on digital, on-demand, DVD, and Blu-Ray in March 2021.
2. Cocaine Bear
Cocaine Bear is yet to be filmed, with production slated for summer 2021. The script is inspired by a 1980 incident where a drug smuggler parachuting over Georgia dropped bags of cocaine to lighten his load. A 175-pound black bear consumed the drugs and died from an overdose.
Months later, a hunter discovered the bear’s body in Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Forest. An autopsy revealed its stomach was filled with cocaine, and it suffered from cerebral hemorrhaging, respiratory failure, hypothermia, renal failure, heart failure, and stroke. The bear was later stuffed, owned by several individuals, including country singer Waylon Jennings, and displayed as Pablo Escobear at the Kentucky Fun Mall in 2015. The upcoming film Cocaine Bear will bring this bizarre story to the screen.
Producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, intrigued by the strange incident, plan to develop the film under their deal with Universal Pictures. Elizabeth Banks will direct the project.
1. Black Water
Black Water (2018), directed by Andrew Traucki and David Nerlich, unfolds in an Australian mangrove swamp teeming with hungry crocodiles. While on vacation, Grace (Dianna Glenn), her husband Adam (Andy Rodoreda), and her sister Lee (Maeve Dermody) attend a crocodile show. The next day, their fishing trip takes a deadly turn when a crocodile overturns their rented boat, killing their armed guide (Ben Oxenboul) and leaving them stranded with the swamp’s apex predator.
As reported by The Guardian, Australia’s Northern Territory, known as “The Wet,” is infamous for its tropical cyclones, monsoon rains, and oppressive humidity. Heavy rains often flood the Finniss River, transforming dry land into mud and submerging trees. Over the past two decades, crocodiles in the area have killed over a dozen people, including tourists. While Black Water claims to be “based on true events,” it is essentially a monster movie, with its horror falling short of the real-life terror experienced by victims.
