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Stay Out of the Woods: 3 Movies to Make You Rethink Camping

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The woods are lovely, dark, and deep… but they’re also creepy as hell so you should probably just avoid them. There have been many cautionary tales of why one should avoid the cabin in the woods scenario, but take away the relative safety of four walls and a roof (and plumbing), and things can go sideways very quickly.

Being alone in the woods can be scary, but the possibility that you’re not all alone is even more terrifying.

Man Vs.

Have you ever watched one of those Man Vs. Wild type survivor-man shows and wondered what the hell they would do if shit just hit the proverbial fan? Man Vs. does exactly that. Doug Woods (Chris Diamantopoulos), a “survival expert”, hosts a tv show using just the gear that he is left with. His support team is nearby, but he is – in every sense – on his own. Or so he thinks. He wakes up in the middle of his first night to a loud crash and things get progressively stranger and more dangerous. The woods create an isolation here that emphasizes Doug’s confusion and increasing fear. He’s completely helpless and he’s in way over his head.

The Interior

A listless young man, upon learning he is ill, leaves his job, girlfriend and city behind, and ventures alone into the British Columbia interior, bringing his fears and anxieties with him. The scenes in the woods are dialogue-free and mostly silent (except for the score of classical music) which adds a heavy weight to his journey. Beautifully shot, The Interior really highlights the terror of being completely and hopelessly isolated and knowing that someone unseen is out there with you. Each time our protagonist is cautious of another presence, he retreats deeper into the wilderness. The shots are so wide and open, yet it’s somehow claustrophobic. It’s a bit of a slow burn, but the atmosphere creates a tension that crawls over you.

The Blair Witch Project

Of course this is on the list. Stay with me here, though. I’ve included the original over the 2016 sequel because just about everything that happens to our unfortunate campers is more grounded in reality. The 2016 film had the effective horrors of forever darkness, time manipulation, a hands-on Blair Witch and that terrifying tunnel, but I wasn’t worried about that happening on my next camping trip.

The 1999 film used increasing levels of horror that seemed feasible. If you were camping and heard someone throwing rocks outside your tent, would you want to investigate, assuming that there’s someone there? Or would you assume there’s a natural – probably squirrel-based – explanation and ignore it? Things can be easily explained away, but The Blair Witch Project gave us a reason to be scared of the unknown. The woods take on a different character at night. Add in the possibility of being hopelessly lost and you’ve got something to be legitimately worried about.

The Blair Witch Project made its mark on the horror genre and built a real and pressing fear out of a few simple ideas. The stick bundles, nighttime noises, quietly disappearing crew and the image of someone silently facing a corner weren’t overly complex, but they were extremely effective. If you were nervous about camping before you first saw this movie, you were probably terrified afterwards.

 

Any movies you would add to this list? Tell us in the comments! If you want more outdoorsy horror, head on over to our list of 10 Camping Movies for more.

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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