Backcountry

Name: Backcountry
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Horror
Released: March 20, 2015
Duration: 92 min
Rating: 62

2015

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 43 Ratings

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6.3

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6.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 43 Ratings

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Backcountry

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Movie Details & Credits

IFC Films | Release Date: March 20, 2015 | Not Rated

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]

Director: Adam MacDonald

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller, Horror

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 92 min

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Critic Reviews

Geoff Pevere

Sep 3, 2015

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. Read full review

Scott Foundas

Mar 24, 2015

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.” Read full review

Justin Lowe

Feb 23, 2015

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. Read full review

Robert Abele

Mar 26, 2015

Backcountry inevitably brings on the bloody, but it finds atmospheric ways to depict how the bucolic hush of a nature getaway can morph into a survival nightmare for the unprepared. Read full review

Katie Rife

Mar 19, 2015

Without effective characterization to drive the moments in between, the spectacle of humans painfully, extensively, gratuitously suffering for their arrogance is more sadistic than thrilling. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Glenn Kenny

Mar 20, 2015

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. Read full review

Nick Schager

Mar 17, 2015

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. Read full review

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User Reviews

sayguh

Mar 11, 2018

Nice little film. If you've been camping you will relate to some of fears of hearing twigs snapping outside your tent. Filmed in Ontario where I'm from. May damage your girlfriend/wife desire to go camping :)

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

playstation4gr8

Mar 5, 2017

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.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

quincytheodore

May 11, 2015

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. TheThese 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.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

LeZee

Apr 26, 2017

Under the limit, but acceptable for being honest!

I watched the entire film without knowing it was based on the real. Only on the later I came to know that and my stance has changed a bit. Because it's not always about the quality of the product, but something revealing truth is mostUnder the limit, but acceptable for being honest!

I watched the entire film without knowing it was based on the real. Only on the later I came to know that and my stance has changed a bit. Because it's not always about the quality of the product, but something revealing truth is most important to me in films. It was honest and not following the blueprint of a similar kind was the advantage. Obviously it was a small budget B movie with unfamiliar cast.

So while watching it, I thought why they (film characters) not doing like this, that. Because entertainment films should do that for its viewers to please, but its notion was not that. It was depicting the actual event. Well, most of the crucial scene with the beast was just acceptable due to the category of film it belongs. Can't afford graphics nor trained animal, but I appreciate the effort.

Story wise, it takes time to come to the point. And then everything happens so fast before the end approach. Initially, the narration teases with a different kind of thriller, but after some developments, it accomplishes its mission. Like I said don't expect something like 'The Revenant'. This film is not for the recommendation, but trying it out on your own is not a bad idea.

5/10… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

DRauchDoes2015

Apr 15, 2015

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.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 suck). 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.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

dlinkler

Mar 24, 2015

well acted, script was fairly well written, but the story line was terrible, obviously conceived by someone who had little to no experience in the 'backcountry'. Based on actual events? Perhaps, but no doubt doubt grossly dramatized, and distorted. Good lord, The film was painful to watch,well acted, script was fairly well written, but the story line was terrible, obviously conceived by someone who had little to no experience in the 'backcountry'. Based on actual events? Perhaps, but no doubt doubt grossly dramatized, and distorted. Good lord, The film was painful to watch, the stupidity, the total absence of common sense, who wrote this? Within the first 10 to 15 minutes of this film I knew without a doubt that these people, especially the macho, clueless boyfriend, deserved to die. The encounters with the Bear were particularly unbelievable. Using bear spray in a tent? And neither of them suffer any ill affects, except the bear, please, it doesn't get more unreal than that. And it only goes downhill from there. Another clueless story about survival in the wild written by people who have no idea what they are writing about. Mildly amusing, but nevertheless a sad film where from the beginning you are just rooting for the bear to end this ridiculous tale, yet it drags on and on till the bitter end...

DLinkler
Girdwood, Alaska… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

RichardGonci

Sep 1, 2015

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!

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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