X
- 2015
- R
- IFC Films
- 1 h 32 m
- 2015
- R
- IFC Films
- 1 h 32 m
Summary A young couple's romantic camping trip becomes a tale of survival as they face the dark side of nature: a man-eating bear. [IFC Midnight]
Directed By: Adam MacDonald
Written By: Adam MacDonald
- 2015
- R
- IFC Films
- 1 h 32 m
- 2015
- R
- IFC Films
- 1 h 32 m
Backcountry
62
6.3
Where to Watch
Summary A young couple's romantic camping trip becomes a tale of survival as they face the dark side of nature: a man-eating bear. [IFC Midnight]
Directed By: Adam MacDonald
Written By: Adam MacDonald
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
62
77% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
23% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
62
77% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
23% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Fear is the anticipation of horror, and it’s this movie’s prime evil: not what happens inside the tent, but what might be making that noise outside.
MacDonald has seen enough horror movies of varying kinds to know what audiences expect, and one of the pleasures of Backcountry is how skillfully it toys with those expectations, setting us up for something like a Mumblecore “Straw Dogs” and ending up somewhere closer to a landlocked “Jaws.”
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 44 User Ratings
6.3
41% Positive
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
48% Mixed
21 Ratings
21 Ratings
11% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 44 User Ratings
6.3
41% Positive
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
48% Mixed
21 Ratings
21 Ratings
11% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
This movie is a very suspenseful at the beginning,but it gets very intense at the final 20 minutes.These characters are believable,but they make some VERY stupid decisions sometimes.I would recommend this movie.
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Another way of reading a movie like this is that it channels our ancient hatred of nature while recognizing that it’s essentially nostalgic, and that the occasional hungry ursine cannot compete with the animal we really have reason to fear.
Solid performances from the small cast and robust visuals will be clear selling points with audiences seeking the raw excitement of an elemental survival film.
It’s all pretty effective but in the end, somehow empty. Not to make an unfair comparison to a classic, but the movie “Deliverance” actually followed through on all of the themes that its storyline suggested, while in Backcountry, we end up with a storyline in which all but the most elemental stuff winds up as window dressing.
Just when you thought it was safe to stand up to a bear in the woods, this jarring indie horror drama will make you scurry back indoors.
Writer-director Adam MacDonald's direction creates an ominous sense of rural-nowhere isolation, and his script avoids contrived banter while shrewdly suggesting it's headed toward horror before unexpectedly veering into survival-story territory. Nonetheless, such misdirection can't compensate for hopelessly routine action.
Like many recent horror movies, which tend to keep the budget low to make quick break even,
Backcountry too engages only two characters most of the time on screen. Which is one of the qualities of the movie and also keeps audience engaged in.
A couple dominated by the female goes out in deep nature to hike on a famous trail. The plot is not very unique but it was the chemistry between the actors which keeps the plot focused. There are moments which are truly scary and then there is enough thrill to keep you with the movie.
Missy Peregrym is very natural in both halves of the movie. In first she is all that calculating and social kind of girl and in second half she is that daring victim who will do any thing to survive. Jeff Roop and Eric Balfoor are good too but not convincing.
Overall, a fine movie to watch alone
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[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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These people need Bear Grylls. Backcountry is a good example how one simple premise can still be thrilling with clever production and a few grisly scenes. Using scenery and only minimum amount of characters, it succeeds on creating the sense of isolation and overwhelming helplessness. The movie doesn't venture to cheap scare territory and while it can be slow at times, its modest nature delivers what it sets out to do.
Jenn (Missy Peregrym) and Alex (Jeff Roop) go into a camping trip. The weekend is meant for a romantic escapade to see a beautiful lake, unfortunately they lose their way in the thick forest. The concept is simple, it has been done before, but Backcountry does it with smart approach by keeping the focus on the confused couple and develop their personalities. Both the lead actors deliver convincing performance.
They look like an ordinary couple, complete with their own issues and occasional bickering. It makes it easier for audience to invest on their survival. When the danger comes and they find out the trip isn't going well, the reactions are believable without being overbearing or resorting to excessive screaming and blaming even though some poor decisions have been made.
The movie keeps the flow without distraction, in this case the less is better as build up for the encounter with the threat is silently ominous. Practical effect and makeup do wonder at creating the deterioration of battered man and woman. Relying on only two characters alone could be risky, the film doesn't veer off from its original path, although the pace does stumble on halfway point. Granted, the investment on the couple might take a while.
Backcountry provides a survival tale in its natural form. It may not be fancy, but it stays on it course to deliver a decent thriller.
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First-time director Adam McDonald places his survival horror in the unforgiving, picturesque backwoods, a setting that finds him, intentionally or not, channeling Deliverance, as well as low-budget nature-set-scream flicks like The Blair Witch Project and last year's passable Willow Creek. For the most part, Backcountry shares an almost identical setup (and execution) with the latter: both films feature a bickering couple who camp out in the woods with the man intent on proposing to the woman, both ration the actual horror itself until the final act nearly an hour in, and both have a furry, hulking antagonist lurking just outside their tent.
Where Willow Creek had an unrelenting tension drawn out to maximum effect that made up for it's aimless first hour, Backcountry's final act is punctuated by one of the grisliest (pardon the pun) animal attacks I've ever seen depicted in film, then descends into the same watered down, atmospheric execution that hindered the first two-thirds of the movie. In the final stretch, where the stakes should be accented accordingly, McDonald instead opts for numerous slow-motion takes and soothing ambient music, making for a sedated, drawn-out cat-and-mouse chase that resolves predictably.
The acting across the board is fine by horror-movie standards, though NOTHING to report home on. The performance of Eric Balfour is a standout in the first act, when the film attempts at a Stray Dogs man vs. man conflict, only to flip the switch to man vs. nature. It would have been a mildly surprising turn, had I not been given the heavy implication of the survival elements of the story by the film's poster, which features our villain bear roaring at our heroine, straddling the rocks on the edge of a waterfall. If that isn't hint enough that this is a film about a killer bear, I don't know what is. This eliminates the potential for a subversive edge and, once Balfour exits the film some 20ish minutes in, we are left with a dull second act full of unrealistic horror-movie behavior and constant, irritating bickering.
Then again, we do have that bear attack I mentioned earlier. I don't want to underrepresent the brutality of the scene - it's pretty rough. I could even compare it, though this seems a little TOO generous, to Shaw's death in Jaws. The attack goes on for about five minutes and doesn't hold back on the shock-factor that the picture was so desperately lacking beforehand. The immensity, the predatory ruthlessness of the bear is conveyed and then some. I'll say this much: the victim isn't fated well, to say the least. The film has this one noteworthy sequence. That's all I can offer worth recommending, and it's not worth enduring the boredom of the rest of the picture.
Backcountry has a calming, scenic backdrop worth mention, though it isn't filmed with much more artistry than any other woods-set tale. Once the frantic climax approaches, these laconic shots are interrupted by a shaky cinema verite approach that feels amateurish (I swear one scene was filmed with a go-pro), and fails to create it's desired panicked aesthetic.
Overall, Backcountry is a mediocre horror entry, making it one of the more restrained entires in the genre of recent memory, sadly (God, horror movies ****). The characters are unmemorable, the dialogue flows somewhat naturally, there is one takeaway moment filtered through stretches of mind-numbing boredom where there should be tension, and that's about it.
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Root for the bear. Best actor. Best "back-country" knowledge. Shameful production values. Some people should never leave the city. Come to think of it, maybe the bear should be dispatched to the city to "dispatch" people like this before they breed!
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Awards
Canadian Screen Awards, CA
• 1 Nomination
Canadian Cinema Editors Awards
• 1 Nomination
Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards
• 1 Nomination
