Hillbilly Horrors, Redneck Nightmares and Backwoods Terror
by crypt_of_lovecraft | created - 27 Mar 2012 | updated - 17 Feb 2015 | PublicHere 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.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Deliverance (1972)
R | 109 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Intent 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.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox
Votes: 118,769 | Gross: $7.06M
2. Southern Comfort (1981)
R | 106 min | Action, Thriller
During a routine exercise, a team of National Guardsmen are threatened by angry and violent locals.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Fred Ward, Franklyn Seales
Votes: 21,651 | Gross: $5.00M
3. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
R | 83 min | Horror
Five 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.
Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain
Votes: 182,444 | Gross: $30.86M
4. The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
R | 90 min | Horror, Thriller
On 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.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Susan Lanier, Robert Houston, John Steadman, Janus Blythe
Votes: 38,983 | Gross: $25.00M
5. Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)
Not Rated | 83 min | Horror
Six 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.
Director: Herschell Gordon Lewis | Stars: Connie Mason, William Kerwin, Jeffrey Allen, Shelby Livingston
Votes: 5,250
6. Just Before Dawn (1981)
R | 90 min | Horror, Thriller
Five young people venture into the backwoods of Oregon to claim a property, and find themselves being stalked by a hulking, machete-wielding psychopath.
Director: Jeff Lieberman | Stars: George Kennedy, Mike Kellin, Chris Lemmon, Gregg Henry
Votes: 7,097
7. Rituals (1977)
R | 100 min | Adventure, Horror, Thriller
Five doctors on a wilderness outing are stalked by disfigured, crazed killers.
Director: Peter Carter | Stars: Hal Holbrook, Lawrence Dane, Robin Gammell, Ken James
Votes: 3,032
8. Hunter's Blood (1986)
R | 101 min | Adventure, Horror, Thriller
Five "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 ... See full summary »
Director: Robert Hughes | Stars: Sam Bottoms, Kim Delaney, Clu Gulager, Ken Swofford
Votes: 890
9. Deranged (1974)
R | 84 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A 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.
Directors: Jeff Gillen, Alan Ormsby | Stars: Roberts Blossom, Cosette Lee, Leslie Carlson, Robert Warner
Votes: 5,736 | Gross: $0.05M
10. Straw Dogs (1971)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A young American and his English wife come to rural England and face increasingly vicious local harassment.
Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, Peter Vaughan, T.P. McKenna
Votes: 64,295
11. The Backwoods (2006)
R | 97 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
An English couple's holiday in Spain is interrupted when they discover a girl imprisoned in a cabin.
Director: Koldo Serra | Stars: Gary Oldman, Virginie Ledoyen, Paddy Considine, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
Votes: 5,811
12. Wrong Turn (I) (2003)
R | 84 min | Horror, Thriller
Chris 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.
Director: Rob Schmidt | Stars: Eliza Dushku, Jeremy Sisto, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Desmond Harrington
Votes: 130,560 | Gross: $15.42M
13. Mother's Day (1980)
Unrated | 91 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
Two brothers kidnap and brutalize three women for the pleasure of their demented mother.
Director: Charles Kaufman | Stars: Tiana Pierce, Nancy Hendrickson, Deborah Luce, Frederick Coffin
Votes: 6,145
14. I Spit on Your Grave (1978)
R | 101 min | Horror, Thriller
An aspiring writer is repeatedly assaulted, humiliated, and left for dead by four men she systematically hunts down to seek revenge.
Director: Meir Zarchi | Stars: Camille Keaton, Eron Tabor, Richard Pace, Anthony Nichols
Votes: 31,048
15. Blood Games (1990)
R | 90 min | Action, Horror, Thriller
When 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.
Director: Tanya Rosenberg | Stars: Gregory Scott Cummins, Laura Albert, Lee Benton, Ken Carpenter
Votes: 1,467
16. Savage Weekend (1979)
R | 88 min | Horror
Several couples head upstate to the country to watch a boat being built. Unfortunately they are stalked by a murderer behind a ghoulish mask.
Directors: David Paulsen, John Mason Kirby | Stars: Christopher Allport, Jim Doerr, David Gale, Devin Goldenberg
Votes: 1,803
17. The Cottage (2008)
Unrated | 92 min | Comedy, Crime, Horror
A 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.
Director: Paul Andrew Williams | Stars: Andy Serkis, Reece Shearsmith, Jennifer Ellison, Steven O'Donnell
Votes: 13,044
18. Wolf Creek (2005)
R | 99 min | Horror, Thriller
Three backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are plunged inside a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture by a sadistic psychopathic local.
Director: Greg McLean | Stars: Nathan Phillips, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi, John Jarratt
Votes: 77,951 | Gross: $16.19M
19. Motel Hell (1980)
R | 101 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
A seemingly friendly farmer and his sister kidnap unsuspecting travelers and bury them alive, using them to create the "special meat" they are famous for.
Director: Kevin Connor | Stars: Rory Calhoun, Paul Linke, Nancy Parsons, Nina Axelrod
Votes: 13,534 | Gross: $6.34M
20. Blood Oath (2007 Video)
R | 82 min | Horror
A 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.
Director: David Buchert | Stars: Natalie Hart, Roger Horn, Jamie Reynolds, Katie Vaughan
Votes: 198
21. Midnight (1982)
R | 94 min | Horror, Thriller
A 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.
Director: John A. Russo | Stars: Melanie Verlin, Lawrence Tierney, John Hall, C. Anthony Jackson
Votes: 1,237
22. Offspring (2009)
R | 79 min | Horror
Against 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?
Director: Andrew van den Houten | Stars: Jessica Butler, Kelly Carey, Holter Graham, T.J. Graye
Votes: 3,073
23. Flesh, TX (2009 Video)
Not Rated | 92 min | Horror
While 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 ... See full summary »
Director: Guy Crawford | Stars: Joe Estevez, Kathleen Benner, Davina Joy, Jose Rosete
Votes: 387
24. Redneck Zombies (1989 Video)
R | 84 min | Comedy, Horror
A 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.
Director: Pericles Lewnes | Stars: Steve Sooy, Anthony M. Carr, Ken Davis, Stan Morrow
Votes: 3,216
25. Small Town Folk (2007)
Not Rated | 88 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
There 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, ... See full summary »
Director: Peter Stanley-Ward | Stars: Chris Ryle Wright, Warwick Davis, Dan Palmer, Simon Stanley-Ward
Votes: 1,119
26. Inbred (2011)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Horror
Four 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.
Director: Alex Chandon | Stars: Jo Hartley, James Doherty, Seamus O'Neill, James Burrows
Votes: 5,635
27. Baker County, U.S.A. (1982)
R | 95 min | Thriller
When 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.
Director: William Fruet | Stars: Henry Silva, Nicholas Campbell, Barbara Gordon, Gina Dick
Votes: 768
28. Eden Lake (2008)
R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
Refusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences.
Director: James Watkins | Stars: Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, Tara Ellis, Jack O'Connell
Votes: 94,244 | Gross: $0.01M
29. Albino Farm (2009)
R | 90 min | Horror
College students exploring the Ozark Mountains for a school assignment, stumble upon a group of scary, redneck cave-dwellers.
Director: Joe Anderson | Stars: Tammin Sursok, Chris Jericho, Richard Christy, Duane Whitaker
Votes: 1,565
30. Bridge to Nowhere (1986)
86 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
Kids 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.
Director: Ian Mune | Stars: Matthew Hunter, Margaret Umbers, Shelly Luxford, Stephen Judd
Votes: 285
31. God's Bloody Acre (1975)
R | 86 min | Drama, Horror
Three 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 ... See full summary »
Director: Harry Kerwin | Stars: Wayne Crawford, Jennifer Stock, Sam Moree, Daniel Schweitzer
Votes: 216
32. The Final Terror (1983)
R | 84 min | Horror
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.
Director: Andrew Davis | Stars: John Friedrich, Adrian Zmed, Ernest Harden Jr., Lewis Smith
Votes: 3,709
33. Whiskey Mountain (1977)
PG | 95 min | Action, Horror
Bill, 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.
Director: William Grefé | Stars: Christopher George, Preston Pierce, Roberta Collins, Linda Borgeson
Votes: 373
34. Trailer Park of Terror (2008)
R | 98 min | Horror
Six 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.
Director: Steven Goldmann | Stars: Nichole Hiltz, Lew Temple, Jeanette Brox, Myk Watford
Votes: 4,190
35. Hoboken Hollow (2006)
Not Rated | 98 min | Horror
Loosely 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.
Director: Glen Stephens | Stars: Jason Connery, C. Thomas Howell, Mark Holton, Lin Shaye
Votes: 1,291
36. Dying Breed (2008)
R | 92 min | Horror, Thriller
Dying 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. ... See full summary »
Director: Jody Dwyer | Stars: Nathan Phillips, Leigh Whannell, Bille Brown, Mirrah Foulkes
Votes: 6,294
37. Calvaire (2004)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
Marc, 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.
Director: Fabrice du Welz | Stars: Laurent Lucas, Brigitte Lahaie, Gigi Coursigny, Jean-Luc Couchard
Votes: 13,687 | Gross: $0.00M
38. The Woman (I) (2011)
R | 101 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
When 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.
Director: Lucky McKee | Stars: Pollyanna McIntosh, Brandon Gerald Fuller, Lauren Ashley Carter, Chris Krzykowski
Votes: 25,745
39. Carver (2008 Video)
R | 97 min | Horror
Based 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.
Director: Franklin Guerrero Jr. | Stars: Natasha Charles Parker, Erik Fones, Matt Carmody, Neil Kubath
Votes: 2,773
40. The House by the Lake (1976)
R | 87 min | Horror, Thriller
A 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. ... See full summary »
Director: William Fruet | Stars: Brenda Vaccaro, Don Stroud, Chuck Shamata, Richard Ayres
Votes: 1,381
Tell Your Friends