Camping has a way of making people act unlike themselves. Once the Great Outdoors come into view, power dynamics can shift and that usual sense of self-preservation may or may no longer be intact. That’s certainly what happened when one couple went camping in Backcountry, a film inspired by a 2005 incident in Missinaibi Provincial Park. After arriving at their destination one fateful weekend, the protagonists of this 2014 Canadian horror story gradually succumb to both personal stressors and their merciless surroundings.
In Backcountry, Alex (Jeff Roop) was excited to show girlfriend Jenn (Missy Peregrym) Blackfoot Trail until they’re told the area is closed off for the season. Alex, who had already refused to take a map from the park ranger (Nicholas Campbell), doesn’t verbally state his intentions, but they’re not hard to figure out. So in under two minutes, director Adam MacDonald ensures the audience that this outing is about to go sideways.
In spite of his own glaring inexperience and awkwardness, Alex continues to be arrogant and, at times, condescending throughout the weekend. He first teases Jenn about bringing bear spray as well as the wrong kind of flare, then he ignores her request to go home at the first (and big) sign of trouble. Yet it’s Alex who summons danger at every turn of this off-trail hike. It’s neither Brad, the tour guide (Eric Balfour) Jenn innocently invites to dinner, nor is it the park ranger who wasn’t more insistent about the map. No, if anyone is at fault, it’s the headless and cocksure Alex.
Image: IFC Midnight
With Jenn being a lawyer and possibly earning more money than her boyfriend, a landscaper, Alex may very well be bothered by what he feels is a reversal of his ideal heteronormative relationship. And if there’s any one way to demonstrate displays of traditional masculinity, it’s camping. Jenn is a self-confessed novice, so Alex, even when he fumbles, looks somewhat competent. That, of course, changes once the charming and truly outdoorsy Brad shows up and challenges Alex. Jenn isn’t unaware of this pissing contest, so when Brad tries to offer his services as a tour guide, she politely declines because she already has one. Nevertheless, the damage to Alex’s ego is done, especially when Brad asserts himself one last time about a “misunderstanding” from earlier.
Backcountry eventually transforms into a brutal parable about the consequences of dishonesty not only with others but oneself. Alex has made himself out to be some kind of adventurist, when the truth is he hasn’t even visited Blackfoot since high school. He confuses nostalgic attachment to the trail with a working knowledge, and soon enough the couple becomes lost in the middle of the park. Jenn has relinquished control to her boyfriend up to this point, even being apologetic when feeling like she’s spoiling Alex’s fun. Yet as soon as they royally lose their way, Jenn panics. She finally unloads on Alex, decimating him with her words (“You always fuck it all up, you’re such a fucking loser”).
It’s pretty easy to hate Alex, seeing as MacDonald designed him to be the film’s sole punching bag. It wouldn’t be a surprise if people considered him to be the actual antagonist here. On top of acting like he knows better than others, he does everything in his power to make this trip happen, even if it means lying and withholding information. From secretly leaving Jenn’s cellphone behind — to avoid her making any more work calls — to not saying a word about the suspicious animal prints he sees in the dirt, Alex makes bad decisions like it’s his job. His goal was a surprise marriage proposal, yet that one good thing doesn’t exactly cancel out all the bad things. Even so, it’s hard not to feel sympathy for Alex in light of what happens in the film’s devastating centerpiece.
Image: IFC Midnight
Backcountry may include a killer bear, but it has little in common with other films about killer bears. For starters, the black bear seen here only takes one life. Despite the meager body count, MacDonald executes one of the most upsetting, simulated bear maulings on screen. The gore and blood are indeed startling after only taking in vistas and other visions of nature, however it’s the lingering quality of the attack, along with the accompanying soundtrack of flesh dripping and tearing, that haunts the audience. This isn’t a case of an obvious paw prop popping into frame and eliminating someone in one ephemeral swipe. On the contrary, this sequence lasts an agonizing five minutes before the lone survivor can escape.
The bear’s general image has dramatically changed over time, enough to where they’re seen more as cuddly and funny than potentially dangerous. Unlike sharks, snakes and big cats, a bear is deceptively cute. They don’t immediately register as scary like other animals. So it’s no wonder they’ve been reduced to cartoon characters, toys and mascots. Still, it’s not just common anthropomorphism that makes bears less intimidating; even in the horror genre the bear is never quite depicted as an actual animal. On average they are flashier, more cunning and generally nothing like their real-life counterparts. What Backcountry does so well is show a bear, albeit a rare maneater, without any sort of ostentation. And the end result is absolutely frightening.
Adam MacDonald’s colossal debut features a unique ursine nightmare impelled by human error. The character of Alex showed poor judgment time and time again, but even if he had obeyed the rules and took all the proper precautions, there is still no guarantee that the outcome would have turned out differently. After all, nature is unconcerned with people’s system of right and wrong. And Backcountry demonstrates that fact with unparalleled harshness.
Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.
Image: IFC Midnight
The post ‘Backcountry’ – This Killer Bear Movie Captures the Primal Fear of Nature appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.