Woodlands and forests are one particular of the most efficient backdrops for horror stories, and the very best horror motion pictures in the woods use the one of a kind close-to-nature scares only a forest or jungle can bring. They also have a tendency to be extra provocative, shocking, and experimental with their suggestions. Some of the most nicely-recognized horror motion pictures set in forests span several distinct sub-genres of horror and can boast some of the most notorious horror motion pictures ever, thanks to motion pictures like The Blair Witch Project, Deliverance, and a lot of extra.

From cult slasher favorites to critically acclaimed modern day classics, the very best horror motion pictures set in the woods demonstrate how a single place can be made use of in a limitless quantity of approaches, all inside the identical genre. Whether browsing for gore, ghosts, monsters, psychological horror, or even post-apocalyptic survival horror, there is a horror film set in a forest featuring nearly each type of threat imaginable. In day or evening, the forests and woodlands prove to be great settings for some of the very best horror motion pictures to date.

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15 Best Horror Movies Of All Time, Ranked

What are the very best horror motion pictures of all time? Every fan has their opinion, but these motion pictures have stood the test of time to develop into certifiable icons.

30 Cabin Fever (2002)

A Group Of Teens Contract A Flesh-Eating Virus In A Woodland Cabin

2002’s Cabin Fever (and, to a lesser extent, the sequels and the 2016 remake) are great horror motion pictures set in the woods for viewers who appreciate a healthier dose of physique shocks. The forest in Cabin Fever serves as a juxtaposition nearly to the harrowing and grotesque events taking spot inside it. However, the isolation of the woodlands also serves to assure the sense of isolation felt by the characters is unrelenting.

Cabin Fever requires the prevalent premise of a group of teens taking a trip in a cabin in the woods. However, as soon as there, they succumb to a flesh-consuming illness that causes their skin to rot away in extremely gross and wince-inducing approaches. Written and directed by Eli Roth, Cabin Feature is inarguably amongst the most visceral forest-set horror motion pictures, and relies extra on gore than it does on jump-scares. However, it remains extremely tense all through, and seeing the group of teens succumb to paranoia and the flesh-consuming virus is just as impactful in the 2020s as it was when the film 1st released in 2002.

29 Cocaine Bear (2023)

A Bear On Cocaine Turns A Peaceful Forest Into A Bloodbath

The 2023 horror-comedy Cocaine Bear may possibly not be the most terrifying horror film set in the woods, but it really is inarguably one particular of the most memorable. Directed by Elizabeth Banks (who also stars), the title and premise of Cocaine Bear alone assure the film had a healthier dose of notoriety just before it even released — specially considering that it was primarily based on a correct story. The film does specifically what the title would recommend, as Cocaine Bear is actually about a bear ingesting a vast quantity of cocaine and going on a rampage via its forest property.

The entirety of Cocaine Bear is set in the Chatthoochee-Oconee National Forest, which plays into each the horror elements of the film and the comedic ones. While there are sequences of several characters climbing trees to attempt and prevent the bear, there is also a lot of funny moments involving park rangers, hikers, and all manner of common characters one particular would anticipate to come across in a film set in the woods.

28 The Forest (2016)

An American Travels To Japan’s Most Haunted Forest

2016’s The Forest stars Game of Thrones cast member Natalie Dormer as Sara, and is — as the title would recommend — an extremely forest-centric horror film. There are a lot of horror motion pictures set in the woods that just use the trees and foliage as a set-piece to produce tension, but in The Forest they are the supply of the worry. What’s extra, the titular woodlands in The Forest are infamous, as the story requires spot in Aokigahara in Japan, a wooded area at the base of Mount Fuji that is renowned as a well-liked place for suicides.

The story of The Forest sees Dormer’s Sara travel to Aokigahara to come across her twin sister, Jess, who the Japanese police think has taken her personal life. Sara travels into the Aokighara forest to attempt and come across Jess, but swiftly becomes lost. While attempting to come across her way out she encounters all manner of supernatural entities and strange goings-on, and The Forest surely pulls no punches when it comes to disturbing and memorable visuals — and the twist ending is surely one particular viewers will mull more than lengthy immediately after the credits have rolled.

27 Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey (2023)

The Hundred Acre Woods Becomes Pooh’s Hunting Ground

When it comes to fictional forests, handful of names are as broadly recognized as the Hundred Acre Wood from A.A. Milne’s beloved Winnie-the-Pooh stories. While Winnie and his pals like Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore had been then popularized by Disney, the original books have considering that entered the public domain, a headline-grabbing reality that director Rhy Frake-Waterfield took as the impetus to produce the horror-film Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey.

While Blood and Honey is not the most strong horror film set in the woods, it is one particular that surely makes use of its forest setting extremely nicely, as the entirety of the film requires spot in the Hundred Acre Wood. Pooh’s property in the wholesome novels becomes his hunting ground in Blood and Honey, and the film functions a lot of extremely gory deaths at the hands of Pooh and Piglet — each of whom have been grotesquely reinterpreted as murderous animal-hybrids.

26 A Quiet Place (2018)

The Woodlands Provide Audio Camoflague From Monsters That Hunt With Sound

2018’s A Quiet Place, along with 2020 sequel A Quiet Place Part II, come from The Officer star John Krasinski, who wrote and directed. While the forest functions heavily in A Quiet Place there are other locales made use of (such as a cornfield), but the movie’s most harrowing and shocking scenes take spot in dense woodlands. Of all the scary films set in forests, A Quiet Place is possibly the tensest, and stands out for producing use of the all-natural soundscape just as significantly as its visual components. What’s extra, handful of horror films handle to make the woods just as scary even for the duration of the day.

A Quiet Place is a post-apocalyptic horror that focuses on the Abbott household as they head into the dense forests of upstate New York to escape alien invaders who hunt making use of sound. There are a lot of sequences that involve the Abbott’s attempting to stay as silent as attainable though the horrific monsters are hunting them, top to a lot of extremely heart-pounding moments. There’s also one particular specifically tragic death in the earliest moments of the film, and it really is a film that is confident to play on viewers’ minds lengthy immediately after watching.

25 Trollhunter (2010)

Trollhunter is a Norwegian identified-footage film about a man hired to hunt trolls in the countryside by the government. In this planet, the government knows trolls exist, and the primary job is to hold them out of the public eye and in a aspect of the nation exactly where they can not hurt any individual. However, this is foiled when a group of student filmmakers set out to make a documentary about Hans, a suspected bear poacher. What they do not know is that Han is a troll hunter.

This is a identified-footage film, but considering that the little ones are producing a documentary, the film shows some good footage of the troll hunter in action, despite the fact that the film nonetheless utilizes a lot of the trappings of the genre, such as shaky cam and swiftly moving the camera away from the actual trolls.

24 The Ruins (2008)

A Movie About Killer Vines At A Mayan Temple

The Ruins, primarily based on the novel by Scott B. Smith, is a film that requires spot at a Mayan Temple in Mexico. While technically in a jungle – and not the woods – the genre remains familiar. A group of travelers go into a strange, exotic land and not absolutely everyone tends to make it out alive. Nothing begins proper for these travelers, as villagers show up with guns, knives, and other weapons and kill one particular of them when they attempt to leave. Forced back up the temple, the survivors recognize the vines are the actual threat.

The Ruins is a single-place horror film, one particular that is each gruesome and bleak. It also resides in the physique horror genre, as the vines attack and get into the skin of the travelers, forcing them to reduce themselves open to get them out and, in some instances, undergo amputations to attempt to save their lives. This is a horror film that fans will not watch for the characters, as none deserve significantly sympathy, but the gross-out moments and the horror in the temple are adequate to make most viewers squirm.

23 Hatchet (2006)

Adam Green’s Slasher Horror Calling Card

Adam Green created his name with the franchise Hatchet, the original film coming out in 2006. This film made use of the horror in the woods idea by adding the dangers of the swamps and bayous in Louisiana.Hatchet introduces a new horror villain named Victor Crowley. The legend says that Victor’s father accidentally killed him when he hit him with an axe though attempting to save him from a burning residence. Since his father’s death, Victor is stated to roam the swamps killing any individual who enters.

What outcomes is a new Jason Voorhees-styled slasher killer, with Victor a terrifying man wearing a mask and killing with a hatchet, chainsaw, and something else he can get his hands on. What truly tends to make this a film for horror lovers is the supporting cast. Candyman actor Tony Todd plays a tour guide named Rev. Zombie, Freddy Krueger actor Robert Englund as a victim named Samson, and Jason Voorhees actor Kane Hodder as Victor Crowley.

22 Wolf Creek (2005)

Based On The Real-Life Outback Backpack Murders

In the identical vein as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Wolf Creek is a horror film that claims to be primarily based on a correct story. Also, like TCM, it is not totally correct. Both motion pictures are primarily based on the stories of actual-life serial killers, but they are mainly fictional retellings of these killers. While TCM was primarily based partially on John Wayne Gacy, Wolf Creek was primarily based on the murderers, Ivan Milat in the 1990s and Bradley Murdoch in 2001. What outcomes is related, despite the fact that Wolf Creek is bloodier and extra violent than TCM.

This Australian horror film received mixed critiques, despite the fact that that is anticipated from one thing as violent and harrowing as this slasher film. The film does play items fair, as it does not rely on gimmicks or twists and just presents a terror-filled film that shows a remorseless and seemingly unstoppable man murdering persons for sport. It is excessive in its violence and extremely brutal when it comes to the kills, but it tends to make no apologies and is a film that must please hardcore horror fans.

21 Knock at The Cabin (2023)

M. Night Shyamalan’s Apocalyptic Thriller

M. Night Shyamalan had attempted a horror film in the woods just before with The Village, and it ended up as one particular of his worst critically-reviewed motion pictures at that time in his profession. The most significant challenge was the twists that had develop into commonplace in his films, and a lot of fans and critics did not acquire that certain twist. Shyamalan has enjoyed a profession resurgence lately and Knock at the Cabin shows that he could have discovered from his lessons. This film is an apocalyptic thriller set in a secluded cabin in the woods.

Based on The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul G. Tremblay, Knock at the Cabin tells the story of a tiny girl named Wen who is staying on trip at a cabin with her dads, Eric and Andrew. However, when a group of 4 persons arrive and say an individual will have to sacrifice themselves or the planet will finish in an apocalypse, they have to come across a way out and decide whether or not they would sacrifice the planet for their household. The film earned optimistic critiques and was a minor box workplace accomplishment.

20 Annihilation (2018)

A Scientific Anomaly Turns A Forest Into A Nightmare

Annihilation was an fascinating mix of science fiction and horror. Directed by sci-fi auteur Alex Garland, Annihilation sets up its story by introducing The Shimmer, a quarantined zone exactly where nature has began to transform and morph. In Annihilation the woods do not just conceal a threat, they are the threat. When one particular group of scientists goes in investigating and under no circumstances returns, a second group of all ladies is sent in to figure out what occurred to the 1st group and what is going on.

Natalie Portman leads a cast complete of strong female characters, such as Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and Gina Rodriguez. What these ladies come across in the woods when they venture into The Shimmer is deeply disturbing. This is nearly extra sci-fi than horror when the final twist comes, but what leads to that moment is extremely scary.

19 The Ritual (2017)

Four Friends Are Stalked Through A Scandinavian Forest

Released in 2017 as a British horror film that received a Netflix international release, The Ritual is one particular of the very best horror motion pictures in the woods released in the final decade. In The Ritual, 4 pals are on a hiking trip in Sweden in honor of a close buddy who was murdered. However, the 4 pals finish up lost and recognize that one thing in the woods could be tracking them.

This is a tense horror survival story with some extremely scary moments that make complete use of the remoteness of the forest, which also feels somewhat one of a kind to The Ritual thanks to the remarkable Scandinavian setting. At the finish of the day, this is a film about friendship, loss, and trauma, and the monsters that are hunting these hikers are all just a way to describe and show the sense of loss they are all experiencing as they head into this story.

18 Tucker &amp Dale Vs. Evil (2009)

Two Hillbillies Living In The Woods Watch Prejudiced Young Adults Destroy Themselves

One of the extra comedic horror motion pictures in the woods is Tucker &amp Dale vs. Evil, which makes use of the forest setting each for scares and laughs. Tucker &amp Dale vs. Evil requires the standard setup from motion pictures like The Hills Have Eyes and then subverts the genre tropes. A group of stereotypical young adults identified in nearly any horror film encounter Tucker and Dale, two locals who reside in a cabin in the woods.

The group believes Tucker and Dale are killers, but the pair are harmless. The bewildered Tucker and Dale are unable to quit the scared “victims” dying due to their personal stupidity as they set up traps for their personal “protection.” While this is nearly a satire of the horror genre, it requires its kills seriously adequate to make it a exciting horror film in its personal proper. It is just told from the point of view of two hapless pals attempting to figure out why all these little ones hold dying.

17 Deliverance (1972)

John Boorman’s Genre-Defining Classic Taught Audiences To Fear The Forest

One of the earliest horror motion pictures in the woods that turned the forest setting into the supply of worry is the 1972 film Deliverance. Directed by John Boorman, the film stars Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ronny Cox, and New Beatty as 4 pals who set out to canoe down a remote Georgia river. However, immediately after producing exciting of the locals (with an iconic Dueling Banjos moment), an individual begins hunting them down with nefarious plans for the 4 of them.

Disturbance is under no circumstances truly classified with other horror motion pictures in the woods, as it is extra of an adventure thriller, but it fits the trappings of the genre completely, with the pals prepared to go to any level to survive this scary encounter. The film won 3 Oscars and remains iconic, added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2008. This remains one particular of Burt Reynolds’s most iconic roles, as nicely as one particular that goes fully against kind for his profession.

16 Wrong Turn (2003)

The Cult Early 00’s Gem Starring Eliza Dushku And Jeremy Sisto

Released in 2003, Wrong Turn featured a familiar story as a group of college students finish up trapped in the woods immediately after some cannibalistic mountain males flatten their tires and then commence to hunt them. The film featured Eliza Dushku at the height of her Buffy the Vampire fame, and Jeremy Sisto for the duration of his time on Six Feet Under. Between the West Virginia setting and the worry of having lost in the woods, this was a film that triggered anxiety for a lot of road-weary travelers.

While it wasn’t groundbreaking, Wrong Turn identified a property in the hearts of horror fans and ended up spawning a franchise with 5 sequels among 2007 and 2014 and then a Wrong Turn reboot in 2021. The following motion pictures had their moments of horror, but none of them truly matched up with the original, which remains a nasty horror film with some gruesome kills and a young, fresh cast. If something, the original was a throwback film to classic horror motion pictures in the woods.

15 Dog Soldiers (2002)

The Low-Budget British Werewolf Movie That Helped Revive A Subgenre

Neil Marshall’s Dog Soldiers was a film that came out two years immediately after Ginger Snaps, and the two motion pictures truly helped revitalize the werewolf subgenre with extremely diverse experiences. While Ginger Snaps was extra about an allegory of a young lady reaching puberty, Dog Soldiers was a film about werewolves hunting persons in the woods at evening. 2002’s Dog Soldiers followed a group of six British soldiers dropped into the Scottish Highlands for a education exercising.

However, quickly the werewolves attack, and when the heroes flee and come across shelter, they swiftly recognize they’ve wandered proper into the werewolves’ lair. What truly tends to make this film standout as one particular of the very best werewolf motion pictures of all time was the sensible effects for the wolves. Their awkward transformations and movements created them some of the most memorable lycans in film history.

14 Eden Lake (2008)

Local Kids Turn A Couple’s Woodland Vacation Into A Truly Disturbing Movie

A talented cast drives this deeply disturbing horror-thriller about a couple (Kelly Reilly and Michael Fassbender) who are harassed by a group of young little ones though on a secluded woodland getaway. One of the most intense horror motion pictures set in the woods or anyplace else, and one particular devoid of supernatural components, the circumstance swiftly descends into a nightmarish ordeal of torture and murder. Eden Lake functions intense violence and is an unforgettable and unflinching film.

However, it is also really hard to watch at instances considering that it functions violence from and towards youngsters. The film received overwhelming vital praise, but it is also one particular that remains controversial when it comes to the worry of youth in Britain in what became recognized as the worry of “hoodies.” This film joined other individuals like Harry Brown and Cherry Tree Lane in a series of motion pictures that showed how the older generation must worry the youth movement.

13 Sleepaway Camp (1983)

The Cult 1980s Hit About Two Cousins Who Turn Summer Camp Into A Slaughter-Fest

Sleepaway Camp is a cult hit that, regardless of getting a derivative summer season camp slasher in a lot of approaches, left an impression on audiences in 1983 and has been performing so ever considering that. The story sees a young girl (Felissa Rose) and her cousin (Jonathan Tiersten) go to a summer season camp, and any who disrespect them finish up meeting a bloody finish. What truly tends to make this film stand apart is the reveal of the killer in the final moments of the run time.

Sleepaway Camp has a wry sense of humor and some inventive kill scenes, but a lot of don’t forget most about Sleepaway Camp is the movie’s final twist. The film spawned a effective straight-to-video series of sequels and its well-liked legacy lives on even right now. While this is a film that has a twist ending that remains problematic in today’s society, it remains a cult classic for horror film fans.

12 The Burning (1981)

1980s Slasher About A Killer Wielding Gardening Shears

Another 1980s slasher horror set in the woods is The Burning, a killer-in-the-woods story now deemed to be a cult classic due to its cast, pacing, and Tom Savini’s marvelous makeup effects. The cast contains pre-fame Holly Hunter and Jason Alexander as two members of the ordinarily ill-fated summer season camp adolescents. They and their pals run afoul of the regional legendary murderer, Cropsy, who kills his victims with super-sharp gardening shears.

The Burning tends to make great use of its outside setting and offers genre fans with an entertaining take on the early 80s slasher formula with a lot of gore. When it was released, it did garner complaints that it was also significantly like Friday the 13th thanks to its setting in the woods with summer season campers as nicely as the addition of Savini for its effects. However, it has considering that develop into a cult classic and critics hunting back on it appear to appreciate the horror film as one particular that stands on its personal merits.

11 The Last House On The Left (1972)

Wes Craven’s Grindhouse Classic That The UK Banned

Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left is a disturbing and efficient horror film, and one particular that tends to make fantastic use of the remoteness of woodland settings. The story sees two teenage girls kidnapped by a group of sadistic killers, with the parents of one particular of the girls in search of bloody revenge. A remake of the Ingmar Bergman film The Virgin Spring​​​​​​, The Last House On The Left gained notoriety in drive-in and Grindhouse theaters thanks to the overt brutality and intense violence.

The Last House on the Left was controversial upon release and even banned in the UK for decades due to its content material, specifically the murder scenes in the woods. To this day, it nonetheless remains a polarizing horror film for viewers. While it is quick to see why Wes Craven became a famed horror director, he took the extra nuanced Bergman film and made one thing that stands alongside other video nasties of the 70s and 80s thanks to its gratuitous violence and disturbing storyline.