Theme: Backwoods Brutality

Backwoods Brutality is a term devised by this site to refer to a sub-genre of horror films that began in the 1970s where city dwellers innocently wander into remote rural areas (not always necessarily backwoods) where they are variously hunted, imprisoned, brutalised and slaughtered by the locals. The locals are usually portrayed as uncouth hillbillies or degenerate in their ways, sometimes in-bred and even cannibalistic.

The genre began with Straw Dogs (1971) but took off with the success of Deliverance (1972), which put many of the tropes in place. The next few years produced classics such as The Last House on the Left (1972), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and The Hills Have Eyes (1977), along with many imitators. The films came with a focus on the brutality and sadism and attracted much censorship controversy.

The genre underwent a revival in the 2000s with a cluster of remakes of and sequels to the 1970s classics and many other works paying homage and reusing the tropes. The period also saw a number of efforts translating the tropes of the genre to international locales.