Hillbilly Horrors, Redneck Nightmares and Backwoods Terror
Here is my far from complete list of backwoods horror and suspense films. From classy productions like Deliverance and Straw Dogs to Z-Grade exploitation trash like I Spit On Your Grave and Blood Games, these action-packed films deal with evil hillbillies, demented mountain men, and bloodthirsty good old boys, and they seem to be increasingly popular.
The first five films on the list are “must see” classics of the genre. More may be added as time goes by.
The first five films on the list are “must see” classics of the genre. More may be added as time goes by.
List activity
95K views
• 32 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
40 titles
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsJon VoightBurt ReynoldsNed BeattyIntent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's dammed and turned into a lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a canoeing trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsKeith CarradinePowers BootheFred WardDuring a routine exercise, a team of National Guardsmen are threatened by angry and violent locals.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsMarilyn BurnsEdwin NealAllen DanzigerFive friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsSusan LanierRobert HoustonJohn SteadmanOn the way to California, a family has the misfortune to have their car break down in an area closed to the public, and inhabited by violent savages ready to attack.
- DirectorHerschell Gordon LewisStarsConnie MasonWilliam KerwinJeffrey AllenSix people are lured into a small Deep South town for a Centennial celebration where the residents proceed to kill them one by one as revenge for the town's destruction during the Civil War.
- DirectorJeff LiebermanStarsGeorge KennedyMike KellinChris LemmonFive young people venture into the backwoods of Oregon to claim a property, and find themselves being stalked by a hulking, machete-wielding psychopath.
- DirectorPeter CarterStarsHal HolbrookLawrence DaneRobin GammellFive doctors on a wilderness outing are stalked by disfigured, crazed killers.
- DirectorRobert HughesStarsSam BottomsKim DelaneyClu GulagerFive "city boys" travel to the country to relax by doing some hunting, drinking Bud, and generally having good time. However, the local inbred backwoods psychos turn the hunters into the hunted, and they need all the ammo and wits they have to get out of the woods alive.
- DirectorJeff GillenAlan OrmsbyStarsRoberts BlossomCosette LeeLeslie CarlsonA deranged rural farmer becomes a grave robber and murderer after the death of his possessive mother, whose corpse he keeps, among others, as his companion in a decaying farmhouse.
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsDustin HoffmanSusan GeorgePeter VaughanA young American and his English wife come to rural England and face increasingly vicious local harassment.
- DirectorKoldo SerraStarsGary OldmanVirginie LedoyenPaddy ConsidineAn English couple's holiday in Spain is interrupted when they discover a girl imprisoned in a cabin.
- DirectorRob SchmidtStarsEliza DushkuJeremy SistoEmmanuelle ChriquiChris and a group of five friends are left stranded deep in the middle of the woods after their cars collide. As they venture deeper into the woods, they face an uncertain and bloodcurdling fate.
- DirectorCharles KaufmanStarsTiana PierceNancy HendricksonDeborah LuceTwo brothers kidnap and brutalize three women for the pleasure of their demented mother.
- DirectorMeir ZarchiStarsCamille KeatonEron TaborRichard PaceAn aspiring writer is repeatedly assaulted, humiliated, and left for dead by four men she systematically hunts down to seek revenge.
- DirectorTanya RosenbergStarsGregory Scott CumminsLaura AlbertLee BentonWhen an all girl baseball team beats a group of rowdy rednecks from a small town, they soon find themselves the prey in a deadly bounty hunt. Now they are playing for their lives. In HD.
- DirectorDavid PaulsenJohn Mason KirbyStarsChristopher AllportJim DoerrDavid GaleSeveral couples head upstate to the country to watch a boat being built. Unfortunately they are stalked by a murderer behind a ghoulish mask.
- DirectorPaul Andrew WilliamsStarsAndy SerkisReece ShearsmithJennifer EllisonA tough, cute woman is kidnapped for ransom and brought to a rural English cottage. David and two morons have way more to worry about than her crime boss stepdad, his two Asian killers and her.
- DirectorGreg McLeanStarsNathan PhillipsCassandra MagrathKestie MorassiThree backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are plunged inside a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture by a sadistic psychopathic local.
- DirectorKevin ConnorStarsRory CalhounPaul LinkeNancy ParsonsA seemingly friendly farmer and his sister kidnap unsuspecting travelers and bury them alive, using them to create the "special meat" they are famous for.
- DirectorDavid BuchertStarsNatalie HartRoger HornJamie ReynoldsA group of friends on a weekend camping trip decide to investigate a local urban legend. The trip will change their lives as they are forced into a fight for survival against a horrific monster.
- DirectorJohn A. RussoStarsMelanie VerlinLawrence TierneyJohn HallA young woman fleeing her sexually abusive stepfather hitches a ride with two young men, but the three soon find themselves at the mercy of a backwoods Satanic cult.
- DirectorAndrew van den HoutenStarsJessica ButlerKelly CareyHolter GrahamAgainst the backdrop of grisly murders and child abductions, a clan of cannibalistic savages which plague the North-east Coast since 1858, is after an unsuspecting family and their innocent baby girl. Do they have what it takes to survive?
- DirectorGuy CrawfordStarsJoe EstevezKathleen BennerDavina JoyWhile stopping for gas in the backwater burg of Flesh, Texas, Donna Parker finds herself propelled into a nightmare when her daughter Tabitha disappears. After seeking help from the so-called town sheriff, Donna goes looking for Tabitha -- a pursuit that leads to the insane, inbred Barley family.
- DirectorPericles LewnesStarsSteve SooyAnthony M. CarrKen DavisA barrel of radioactive waste is lost out in the woods. Some demented rednecks find it and use it as part of their still. Everybody who drinks the liquor they produced turns into zombies.
- DirectorPeter Stanley-WardStarsChris Ryle WrightWarwick DavisDan PalmerThere is a place... a place called Grockleton, wherein, high on a hill-top stands the lonely Beesley's Manor, governed by the villainous 'Landlord' and his lowly male counterparts (Pooch, Pike and the diesel-swilling Dobbin). Always on the look-out for new female company to help carry on the Beesley name, the Landlord keeps a watchful eye over Grockleton and anyone who dares to enter his land. When three improbable heroes stumble unsuspectingly into the Beesley's realm they are cruelly snared into a menacing hunt and an unstoppable frenzy of heart racing mayhem! Will the Landlord triumph and collect his 'trophies' (and maybe even a future bride?), or can the unlikely trio be victorious against him in his own game?
- DirectorAlex ChandonStarsJo HartleyJames DohertySeamus O'NeillFour young offenders and their care workers visit the remote Yorkshire village of Mortlake, which prides on keeping itself to itself. A minor incident with locals rapidly escalates into a blood-soaked, deliriously warped nightmare.
- DirectorWilliam FruetStarsHenry SilvaNicholas CampbellBarbara GordonWhen a group of college students come across a redneck in the wilderness murdering his wife's lover, they become the objects of his crazed vengeance.
- DirectorJames WatkinsStarsKelly ReillyMichael FassbenderTara EllisRefusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences.
- DirectorJoe AndersonStarsTammin SursokChris JerichoRichard ChristyCollege students exploring the Ozark Mountains for a school assignment, stumble upon a group of scary, redneck cave-dwellers.
- DirectorIan MuneStarsMatthew HunterMargaret UmbersShelly LuxfordKids on an outing in the forest come up against a mysterious hermit who lives on the other side of a bridge, and he is definitely not happy to see them.
- DirectorHarry KerwinStarsWayne CrawfordJennifer StockSam MoreeThree mountain-men brothers living in an uninhabited forest area love their simple lifestyle. When a construction crew shows up to clear the way for a park, the brothers are prepared to stop at nothing to defend their lifestyle - even murder...
- DirectorAndrew DavisStarsJohn FriedrichAdrian ZmedErnest Harden Jr.A group of rangers go camping on unfamiliar forest grounds. All's well until the group members start getting killed by a cunning killer in the woods.
- DirectorWilliam GreféStarsChristopher GeorgePreston PierceRoberta CollinsBill, Dan, Diana, and Jamie, four motorcyclists who arrived at Whiskey Mountain for a treasure hunt, are terrorized in the woods by a gang of murderous hillbilly drug dealers.
- DirectorSteven GoldmannStarsNichole HiltzLew TempleJeanette BroxSix troubled high schoolers and their leader become lost after their bus crashes during a raging storm. They seeks refuge for the night in an abandoned trailer park, managed by a sexy woman, Norma.
- DirectorGlen StephensStarsJason ConneryC. Thomas HowellMark HoltonLoosely based on the famous "Texas Slave Ranch" of West Kerr County Texas, in the Mt. Home, Texas area on the Ellebracht Ranch during the late 1970s into the early 1980s.
- DirectorJody DwyerStarsNathan PhillipsLeigh WhannellBille BrownDying Breed interweaves the two most fascinating icons of Tasmanian history: the extinct Tasmanian tiger and "The Pieman" (aka Alexander Pearce) who was hanged for cannibalism in 1824. Against all odds, Pearce escaped from the most feared penal settlement of the British Empire - Sarah Island - and disappeared into the impenetrable forests of Western Tasmania. Seven convicts escaped with him, yet Pearce was the only one that emerged... along with chunks of human flesh in his pockets. The legend of Pearce was born. An extinct species... a long forgotten legend... both had a desperate need to survive; both could now have living descendants within the Tasmanian bush. Many sightings of the tiger have been reported. Many hikers have gone missing. Hundreds in fact. Zoologist Nina is convinced there are still tigers remaining in the Tasmanian wilderness, and she has proof - a photograph of a paw print snapped by her sister just before she met with a fatal accident in the bush eight years before. Unable to attain funding for an expedition, Nina fears her wish to finish her sister's work (and perhaps lay to rest recurrent nightmares she has about her sister's death) will never happen. Her partner, Matt, manages to persuade an old mate Jack to help finance the trip - at a price. Jack brings along a girlfriend, Rebecca, who uses the trip as an escape from her stifling real estate job. On their quest to find the extinct tiger, the group venture deep into isolated territory and into the domain of "Pieman" descendants. "Sarah" is a small township that passionately upholds its cannibalistic heritage in honour of the convict patriarch that gave birth to it. It needs to stay hidden to survive... but it also needs fresh "stock" to breed. The four hunters become the hunted.
- DirectorFabrice du WelzStarsLaurent LucasBrigitte LahaieGigi CoursignyMarc, a traveling entertainer, is on his way home for Christmas when his van breaks down in the middle of a jerkwater town with some strange inhabitants.
- DirectorLucky McKeeStarsPollyanna McIntoshBrandon Gerald FullerLauren Ashley CarterWhen a successful country lawyer captures and attempts to "civilize" the last remaining member of a violent clan that has roamed the Northeast coast for decades, he puts the lives of his family in jeopardy.
- DirectorFranklin Guerrero Jr.StarsNatasha Charles ParkerErik FonesMatt CarmodyBased on a true story, Carver depicts the real life events of five 20-something's that went camping in the mountain town of Halcyon Ridge and never returned.
- DirectorWilliam FruetStarsBrenda VaccaroDon StroudChuck ShamataA rich playboy has a large house in the Ontario countryside. One weekend he invites his girlfriend, a fashion model, but on his way to the house he drives past a gang of crazed young men. The men find out where the house is and terrorize the couple.