Filled with mysterious and deadly creatures, the ‘Dark Forest’ is one of the most dangerous places in the kingdom. Dare to read further as we take a look at some of the most intimidating and scary forests in films, such as The Blair Witch Project, Wrong Turn and Cabin Fever.

Friday the 13^th

This classic horror film is one of the first to kick-start “camp” as the perfect setting for a slasher film. A group of teenagers want to re-open Camp Crystal Lake despite the locals’ claim that it is cursed. One by one, the camp counselors are attacked throughout the grounds with all traces leading back to the shores of the lake. And from this very lake is the birth of the Friday the 13^th franchise.

The Blair Witch Project was released in 1999 and created a stir of debate as to whether it was a film based on true events or fiction. The main characters get lost in The Black Hills, which is an actual location in Maryland. As they go deeper into the woods, they experience a lieu of horrific events they believe are caused by the legendary Blair Witch. These events are presented as “recovered footage”, leaving the audience with the feeling they are in on all of the action, fearfully wandering in the Black Hills.

The young, ambitious investigator Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) goes to Sleepy Hollow, New York to uncover the truth behind a mysterious murder case in Tim Burton’s 1999 film Sleepy Hollow. The clues lead him into the Western Woods where he discovers the murderer known as the Headless Horseman. The nighttime slayer is able to travel through two realms – reality and the supernatural – via the gnarled Tree of the Dead. Officer Crane devises a plan to send the Horseman back to Hell indefinitely, leaving the Western Woods free from more violent murders.

Not all forests in movies are home to human or supernatural murderers. In Eli Roth’s 2002 debut film Cabin Fever, a flesh-eating disease is the virulent killer. A group of college students stay in a remote cabin in the woods for spring break. Their vacation is ruined when their friend drinks water from a contaminated lake. The disease spreads amongst the group, resulting in a blood-filled struggle for their lives.

A remote forest in West Virginia is home to a group of terrifying cannibals in the 2003 slasher film Wrong Turn. A group of hikers and a passerby unfortunately take a road that leads them directly to this forest. Consequently they become the next item on the menu for the disfigured clan. They are held captive at a cabin deep in the woods and fight for their lives in hopes of escape.