We all know how chaotic vacations can get. Even with the best laid out plans and an attitude of laissez les bon temps roulez, shit will still go down regardless. So why tempt fate with your own bad energy?
Don’t believe me? Check out these 5 horror movies of trips gone wrong because people just had to go vacaycay with all that emotional mess.
The Descent
This 2005 British horror film takes us on a fun caving expedition along with a really tight group of friends. It’s laughs all around. Just kidding, of course. Instead, we have a group of “friends” that decide to trust one sole member, Juno, to plan the outing. Already we’re creating the loveliest recipe for disaster.
We also have the unfortunate tragedy that our protagonist, Sarah, has experienced with the loss of both her child and partner. Throw on top of this Juno acting shady as shit, and how the hell did anyone think this would turn out okay?
Wrong Turn
A 2003 American slasher flick, Wrong Turn, delivers nail-biting anxiety up on a plate when 5 friends head into the West Virginia woods for a fun little getaway after Jessie experiences a hard breakup. Throw in Chris, a medical student, traveling through, and we have a delicious smorgasbord of characters served up to our cannibalistic family.
Look, I’m not blaming Jessie for their little crew having to fight their way out of these beautiful West Virginia mountains, but I mean… One good thing about this friend group being stuck out there, though, is Chris now has a fighting chance since he was traveling solo when shit went down.
Prey
Not to be confused with the 2022 Hulu flick (check out Alma’s review of this kick-ass movie here), Prey is a 2021 Netflix German film that checked off all the marks of anxiety for me. I’ve always felt the best horror is the kind where humans are the real monster.
Prey takes us on a wilderness adventure through the German national parks. Of course, we got the best catalyst for a good time, inner turmoil, and tension amongst our traveling crew. Whether you’re pro survivors or cheering on our antagonist, we can all agree this friend group should have resolved their issues beforehand or stayed the hell at home.
The Ritual
This 2017 British film is another adventure into the woods. Are we seeing a theme perhaps? Look, I’m a fan of hiking and taking long treks into nature, so I totally get our characters wanting to escape reality into the beautiful scenery. However, trouble preceded this friend group when tragedy befell them, and one member blames himself for not acting quick enough.
The Ritual turns creepy when we realize the title is more than just a few haphazardly joined words. We got a ritual on our hands and why can’t it ever be something really cool and fun? Oh yeah, because this is a horror movie.
Us
That’s right, Jordan Peele’s 2019 psychological horror hit is a vacation gone wrong. We remember all the creepiness and the haunting imagery, but we might forget that Lupita Nyong’o, as Adelaide, didn’t want to go to the beach. She full stop said, “let’s not go,” but was basically overruled.
As the movie progresses, we see Adelaide had the right idea. The takeover begins, and we start the obligatory “told ya” train. But seriously, if Adelaide had gotten her way, would Red have had anything to do? I guess we’ll never know.
// Looking for more movie suggestions and lists? Check out this list of Spanish language horror!
