Casey Chong takes a trek deep into the woods for a selection of cabin horror movies that may have flown under your radar..
The cabin-in-the-woods setting has been a recurring trope often seen in horror movies. And it’s easy to see why it prevails even today. This includes the use of limited settings to evoke fear, tension and dread in an isolated area. Popular cabin-in-the-woods movies such as The Evil Dead and its sequel, along with others like Cabin Fever, Misery and The Cabin in the Woods, have dominated the horror landscape for decades. But some cabin horror movies unfortunately fall under the radar, and here are six lesser known movies you may not have seen…
247°F (2011)
Made at $650,000, Beqa Jguburia and Levan Bakhia’s directorial debut boasts a gripping what-if premise: imagine finding yourself trapped in the cabin’s sauna with no way out, and the temperature is gradually rising to an unbearable level. That’s exactly what happens to three friends – Jenna (Scout Taylor-Compton), Renee (Christina Ulloa) and Ian (Travis Van Winkle) – after their supposedly leisure weekend trip to a lakeside cabin turns into an unexpected nightmare.
247°F focuses mainly on the slow-burning dread and psychological tension rather than the usual gore and violence, while making good use of the confined setting of a sauna room to evoke a deliberate sense of claustrophobia. The movie also throws in some red herrings, including a mention of the pagan festival, suggesting there may or may not be some folk-horror elements involved.
Black Mountain Side (2014)
Here’s a little-seen Canadian indie horror which evokes the dread-inducing horror of isolation and paranoia that echoes John Carpenter’s The Thing. The story follows a team of scientists stationed at a remote outpost somewhere in the Arctic North, where they discover mysterious ancient structures buried in the snow. Like The Thing, writer-director Nick Szostakiwskyj utilizes the deliberate slow-burn approach to build up the tension. Paranoia gradually sets in, before something unexplainable happens to the scientists one by one.
And despite being granted a minuscule budget, Szostakiwskyj manages to make good use of its limited funds to stage some genuinely creepy and even gory scenes. Not to mention the atmospheric cinematography, coupled with the cabin fever and morbid claustrophobia trapped in the isolated, freezing-cold environment far away from civilization, with no outside communication. The fact that the characters in Black Mountain Side are dealing with the fear of the unknown and how the incomprehensible madness beyond their understanding drives them crazy makes it a scary cinematic experience.
What Keeps You Alive (2018)
What Keeps You Alive is a taut psychological thriller that follows Jackie (Hannah Emily Anderson) and her new wife, Jules (Brittany Allen), to her family cabin, located deep in the woods. What should have been a romantic getaway for them to spend their quality time together soon turns into a relentless game of cat and mouse.
Kudos to writer-director Colin Minihan for establishing the dynamics of Jackie and Jules’ relationship that allows us to get comfortable with this lovely married couple. Then, Minihan pulls the rug out from under you with a shocking reveal and from there, the tension just keeps boiling to a breaking point. The movie benefits from Anderson and Allen’s engaging performances, while Minihan does a good job sustaining the thrill and suspense by blending psychological and survival horrors to mostly engrossing results for the bulk of its lean 98-minute runtime.
The Wind (2018)
Before Emma Tammi gained bigger recognition from directing Five Nights at Freddy’s, which went on to become a huge box-office hit, she got her impressive early start with The Wind. Blending western and supernatural horror that takes place in the late 19th century, the movie follows Lizzy Macklin (Caitlin Gerard) and her husband, Isaac (Ashley Zukerman), who live in solitude somewhere in the New Mexico prairie. Then come their neighbors, Emma (Julia Goldani Telles) and Gideon (Dylan McTee), with whom they soon become friends.
The Wind can be confusing since Tammi favors a non-linear storytelling, forcing the viewers to play catch-up and stay focused to on what happens throughout the movie. It may come across as a gimmick, but it was understandable why Tammi resulted in such a narrative approach to create a sense of disorienting effect that mirrors Lizzy’s increasing paranoia and loneliness. Does the prolonged isolation mess up her mind to the point that she suffers from a psychological breakdown? Or is it an unspeakable act of supernatural forces? Tammi doesn’t provide easy answers here, relying on the power of ambiguity to heighten the mood and tension with evocative sound design and the strategic use of silence.
Always Shine (2016)
Sophia Takal, who would go on to direct the ill-fated remake of Black Christmas, did a better job in the low-budget indie Always Shine three years prior. The story centers on two friends, Beth (Caitlin FitzGerald) and Anna (Mackenzie Davis), who retreat to Big Sur for a weekend cabin getaway. Both of them are actresses, where Beth’s career has been gaining traction, but Anna remains struggling to land a part.
Their trip is supposed to be for them to reconnect with each other, only to be gradually fueled with hatred and jealousy. The remote cabin setting makes it an ideal canvas for bringing out the slow-burning dread and tension surrounding the conflict between Beth and Anna. It also helps that the acting, notably Mackenzie Davis’ engaging performance as Anna, whose mounting envy towards Beth’s success leads her to become toxic and insecure.
The Ritual (2017)
The Ritual follows a group of friends (Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier and Sam Troughton) hiking through the Scandinavian wilderness in honor of their late friend. Then, one of them injured his legs, leading them to take a shortcut through the woods. It turns out to be a big mistake after they discover pagan-like symbols, and at one point, a gutted animal carcass hanging in the trees. Their jungle trekking eventually brings them to a remote cabin, and instead of finding temporary shelter, the nightmare begins to torment each of them.
Adapted from Adam Nevill’s book of the same name, The Ritual incorporates ominous dread stemming from paranoia, hallucinations and folk-horror elements that cause the characters to slowly lose their sanity. Director David Bruckner, who previously helmed The Signal and V/H/S under the segment Amateur Night, relies on atmosphere to establish the horror that is more psychological than in-your-face grisly visuals.
What are your favourite cabin horror movies? Are there any other recommendations for this list? Let us know on our socials @FlickeringMyth…
Casey Chong
