Backcountry

IFC Films | Release Date: March 20, 2015

6.3	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 43 Ratings

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quincytheodoreMay 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 senseThese 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

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Xan_RyilJan 27, 2016

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 engagedLike 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… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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RichardGonciSep 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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mm007Mar 29, 2015

Totally waste of time...in first 1 hour there was nothing in the movie...at last the story wrapped up too quickly..though the scenic beauty of the movie was striking..but that's all it has :(

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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DRauchDoes2015Apr 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 BlairFirst-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

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dlinklerMar 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, andwell 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

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LeZeeApr 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 theUnder 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

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sayguhMar 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

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JeanDuchampNov 18, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Strange enough, I rather enjoyed it, except for the bear, I didn't like it. The bear is the feeblest point, it spoils everything - I mean not a romantic trip, but the movie itself - an utterly unconvincing, stupid, deliberately cruel, but irrational and compulsive bear. It wasn't realistic, in my view. Would it be some unnatural creature, some ghost, zombie, werewolf, lycanthrope, shapeshifter, bad magician and so on, well then - it would be quite a natural and convincing behavior for an unnatural magical shapeshifting zombie-ghost etc. But not for a live creature.

Well, bears may attack people, they may harm or even kill them, but the way the killer-bear is doing it in this movie raises many questions: Why to track just this couple for miles and miles on, if there are plenty of other people in the the forest and a lot of animals? Why not to kill them at once, why to loiter and what to wait for? Why to kill only one and not both of them? If it was so hungry - why didn't it finish eating a deer or whatever it was? Why,if being so obsessed with human flesh ( if it's the case), not to go near places where there are plenty of it, why to stay in some remote area where chances to meet the coveted food are so negligible? If it's protecting something, than what exactly, a hollow in the ground? Doesn't sound convincing... In short - I let for experienced zoologists these tricky matters to puzzle out, for me all this bear stuff looks like a bungle.

As for the rest - not so bad. The forest is picturesque but disagreeable, people are silly just to the point to be convincing. Sadly enough there wasn't any snakes and harmful ants, but here one may have an easy explanation - all these tricks were just held back for a sequel.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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playstation4gr8Mar 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

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