Top 10 Horror Films About Camping

If  you are a horror film buff, then you know what bad, horrible things that can happen while camping.  So, before you head out into the great beyond, read my list of the ten best horror films about camping. Then after you finish, you can decide whether or not you really want to go camping.

Some of the films below are equally bad and some are equally good so they are in no particular order.  

Blair Witch Project (1999)
How can you not admire a movie that made over $140 million and only had a budget of $60,000? This movie is not the best one out there, but it sure is a great movie about camping. 

The film is about three film students who venture into the woods in order to film a documentary about the “Blair Witch.” The film is all handheld so some of the movement is jolty and might want to make you throw up. But regardless, this film is a classic and started a brand new subgenre for horror films and camping films alike. If you like The Blair Witch Project then you can see its sequel Paranormal Activity (ok it’s not the official sequel but both films are low budget “documentaries” about some kind of supernatural beings). 

 

The Evil Dead (1981)
Not all camping is done in a tent, some people go deep into the woods and stay in a desolate cabin. If you’re one of these people, then you might want to watch Evil Dead first. The film is about five college grads who go deep into the woods and stay in a cabin. In the cabin the grads find an audiotape that release demons. One by one the grads are possessed and all hell breaks loose. Evil Dead is very graphic and very terrifying at some parts. It’s a must if you are planning a cabin camping trip any time soon. 

Cabin Fever (2002)
Keeping with the cabin theme, Cabin Fever is very similar to Evil Dead. Cabin Fever is also about college grads going on a camping trip. But instead of demons, the grads are infected with a flesh eating disease. Eli Roth directed this outstanding movie and brought back the styles and themes of classic 80’s horror films and put a modern twist on them. 

Friday the 13th (1980)
You can’t have a horror film list about camping without putting in the infamous horror/slasher camping movie of all time! If you are a devote follower and reader to HorrorNews then you probably have seen this movie countless times, but for any new readers I’ll give you a quick plot summary. Counselors at Camp Crystal Lake are about to begin leading campers when a killer begins picking off the counselors one by one. This film is a classic and a must for anyone either going camping or thinking about going camping.

The Burning (1981)
Speaking of crazy things happening at camp, I bring you, The Burning. This film rode the coattails of Friday the 13th, sticking with the “murder at summer camp” theme. But this film is about a prank gone wrong when two boys try to prank the camp caretaker but end up causing a fire, which severely burns the caretaker. Five years later the caretaker is released from the hospital and comes back to the camp to get his revenge on the innocent campers. Like most horror movies at this time, The Burning is filled with sex, blood and gore. This is a must for fans of the camp murder films. 

Grizzly (1977)
Speaking of riding on coattails, this film has so many similarities to Jaws its not even funny. The tagline for the film even has the word “Jaws” in it, “The most dangerous jaws on land!!” But despite this, I assume this film did keep many people from going into the woods in fear of an 18 foot tall bear attacking them just like Jaws kept thousands out of the water in fear of a two ton shark attacking them. But if you are going camping anywhere that there are bears, you might want to watch this film first to find out what kind of guns would protect you the most (ten bucks says a rocket launcher might come in handy). 

Campfire Tales (1991) (1997) 
The 1997 version of this film is a low-budget remake of the even lower budget 1991 original horror film. Both versions of the film are about four teens that crash their car and are stuck in the woods for the night. To pass the time they each tell horror stories about ghosts, murderers and monsters. Now this isn’t the best horror film I have ever seen, but it’s a fun and interesting horror film about what we all do around campfires, tell ghost stories. If this movie doesn’t scare you, then it may give you ideas for your next ghost story you tell on your next camping expedition.

Timber Falls (2007)
Even though this horror film was not that good, I feel like it had a pretty original storyline for the most part. Think Misery meets The Village meetsany religious documentary you have ever seen. The film is about a couple that goes on a hike and meets people along the way telling them to turn back. After the couple sets up camp the woman is kidnapped. The man then goes on a hunt for his wife running into the same people whom the couple met going up the trail only to find that these people are all working together to kidnap the wife. The rest of the film shows the husbands quest to find his wife, killing people along the way. 

Wrong Turn (2003)
Wrong Turn is a mindless horror film filled with blood, guts and hot women. The film follows a group of 6 teens whose car breaks down in the woods and is attacked by deformed cannibals. Think The Hills Have Eyes meets The Donner Party. Really the only redeeming quality of this film is you get to stare at Emmanuelle Chriqui and Eliza Dushku the entire time. 

The Village (2004)
Even though The Village isn’t necessarily about camping, it’s about the terrors that live in the woods. And isn’t that what scares us all about camping anyway, what could be lurking in the woods? But this film is about a small village that lives a simple life that is surrounded by wilderness. But they are in fear of a deadly creature that lives in the woods, preventing the villagers from entering the woods. But when one of the villagers is injured and needs medicine from a local town, one member must enter the woods to get help. This is one of M. Night Shyamalan’s better films and the twist at the end is pretty awesome as well.

Special Mention:

‘The SleepAway Camp Films

Top 10 Horror Films About Camping