Entertainment
The Scariest Cabin Horror Movies
Cabins are creepy enough as it is with their proximity to hungry bears and biting bugs, but add an axe-wielding murderer to the mix and they are downright terrifying. The top cabin horror movies feature teenagers looking for a vacation and instead finding a deadly destination. This is a list of the top horror movies in the middle of nowhere featuring everything from Friday the 13th to The Cabin in the Woods to I Spit on Your Grave.
What films will you find on this list of the top scary movies set in cabins? You might rank The Evil Dead near the top. Sam Raimi became a director synonymous with horror after he released this film – featuring college friends, a deserted cabin, and a few awoken demons – in 1981. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is another one of the all-time best movies set in a creepy cabin in the middle of nowhere. The Duplass Brothers gave the horror genre a mumblecore twist with their cabin-set film Baghead. Other good movies featured on this top scary cabin films list include Pumpkinhead, The Last House on the Left, and Secret Window.
Which creepy cabin movie do you think deserves the top spot on this list? Give your favorites a thumbs up to move them towards the top, and add any great scary flicks that are missing.
Ranked by
- 1Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker
- Released: 1981
- Directed by: Sam Raimi
Ashley "Ash" Williams (Bruce Campbell), his girlfriend and three pals hike into the woods to a cabin for a fun night away. There they find an old book, the Necronomicon, whose text reawakens the dead ...more - 2Marilyn Burns, Gunnar Hansen, Allen Danziger
- Released: 1974
- Directed by: Tobe Hooper
When Sally (Marilyn Burns) hears that her grandfather's grave may have been vandalized, she and her paraplegic brother, Franklin (Paul A. Partain), set out with their friends to investigate. After a ...more - 3Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby
- Released: 1980
- Directed by: Sean S. Cunningham
Crystal Lake's history of murder doesn't deter counselors from setting up a summer camp in the woodsy area. Superstitious locals warn against it, but the fresh-faced young people -- Jack (Kevin ...more - 4James Caan, Kathy Bates, Frances Sternhagen
- Released: 1990
- Directed by: Rob Reiner
After a serious car crash, novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is rescued by former nurse Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), who claims to be his biggest fan. Annie brings him to her remote cabin to recover, ...more - 5Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison
- Released: 2011
- Directed by: Drew Goddard
When five college friends (Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams) arrive at a remote forest cabin for a little vacation, little do they expect the horrors that ...more - 6Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks
- Released: 1987
- Directed by: Sam Raimi
The second of three films in the Evil Dead series is part horror, part comedy, with Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) once again battling horrifying demons at a secluded cabin in the woods. After ...more - 7Desmond Harrington, Eliza Dushku, Emmanuelle Chriqui
- Released: 2003
- Directed by: Rob Schmidt
Friends Jessie (Eliza Dushku) and Carly (Emmanuelle Chriqui) are traveling with pals Scott (Jeremy Sisto), Evan (Kevin Zegers) and Francine (Lindy Booth) when they have car trouble in West Virginia. ...more - 8Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci
- Released: 2013
- Directed by: Fede Alvarez
Mia (Jane Levy), a drug addict, is determined to kick the habit. To that end, she asks her brother, David (Shiloh Fernandez), his girlfriend, Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore) and their friends Olivia ...more - 9Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, Joshua Leonard
- Released: 1999
- Directed by: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez
Found video footage tells the tale of three film students (Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, Michael C. Williams) who've traveled to a small town to collect documentary footage about the Blair Witch, ...more - 10Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter, Garret Dillahunt
- Released: 2009
- Directed by: Dennis Iliadis
Mari and her friend look forward to a holiday at the remote Collingwood lakehouse, but instead an escaped convict (Garret Dillahunt) and his crew kidnap them and later leave them for dead. Mari makes ...more - 11Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden
- Released: 2010
- Directed by: Eli Craig
Two scruffy pals' (Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk) backwoods vacation takes a bloody turn when ignorant college students mistake them for a pair of murderous hillbillies. - 12Sandra Cassel, Lucy Grantham, David Hess
- Released: 1972
- Directed by: Wes Craven
Teenagers Mari (Sandra Cassel) and Phyllis (Lucy Grantham) head to the city for a concert, then afterward go looking for drugs. Instead, they find a gang of escaped convicts who subject them to a ...more - 13Mike Kellin, Katherine Kamhi, Robert Earl Jones
- Released: 1983
- Directed by: Robert Hiltzik
Sleepaway Camp is a 1983 exploitation slasher film written and directed by Robert Hiltzik who also served as executive producer. The film came at a time when slasher films were in their heyday, and ...more - 14Jordan Ladd, James DeBello, Rider Strong
- Released: 2002
- Directed by: Eli Roth
Bert (James DeBello), a college student vacationing with friends in the mountains, mistakenly shoots a local man (Arie Verveen) with a skin infection while hunting in the woods. Panicking, he ...more - 15Lance Henriksen, Jeff East, John D'Aquino
- Released: 1988
- Directed by: Stan Winston
After his son dies in a hit-and-run accident, Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) seeks revenge against the teenagers responsible. With the help of a local witch (Florence Schauffler), Ed summons the ...more - 16Kimberly Beck, Peter Barton, Corey Feldman
- Released: 1984
- Directed by: Joseph Zito
A carefree lakeside vacation is interrupted by the re-emergence of killer Jason Voorhees (Ted White). After he escapes from a morgue, leaving bodies in his wake, Jason travels to Camp Crystal Lake ...more - 17Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier
- Released: 2013
- Directed by: Andy Muschietti
On the day that their parents die, sisters Lilly and Victoria vanish in the woods, prompting a frantic search by their Uncle Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his girlfriend, Annabel (Jessica ...more - 18Teresa Palmer, John Jarratt, Kestie Morassi
- Released: 2005
- Directed by: Greg McLean
Wolf Creek is a 2005 Australian horror film written, co-produced, and directed by Greg McLean, and starring John Jarratt. The story revolves around three backpackers who find themselves held captive ...more - 19Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Maria Bello
- Released: 2004
- Directed by: David Koepp
While in the process of an ugly divorce from his wife (Maria Bello), writer Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) relocates to his remote cabin in upstate New York for solitude. Attempting to recover his mental ...more - 20Cécile De France, Maïwenn, Philippe Nahon
- Released: 2003
- Directed by: Alexandre Aja
A beautiful young Frenchwoman, Alex (Maïwenn Le Besco), travels out to the country to visit her family and brings along her friend Marie (Cécile de France). Soon after they get settled in the ...more - 21Sarah Butler, Jeff Branson, Andrew Howard
- Released: 2010
- Directed by: Steven R. Monroe
Jennifer (Sarah Butler), a writer, rents an isolated cabin in the country so she can work on her latest novel. The peace and quiet is soon shattered by a gang of local thugs who rape and torture her, ...more - 22Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh
- Released: 2019
- Directed by: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
During a family retreat to a remote winter cabin over the holidays, the father is forced to abruptly depart for work, leaving his two children in the care of his new girlfriend, Grace. Isolated and ...more - 23Joel David Moore, Tamara Feldman, Deon Richmond
- Released: 2006
- Directed by: Adam Green
Ben (Joel Moore) and Marcus (Deon Richmond) are college students in New Orleans, enjoying Mardi Gras, when they decide to go on a boat tour of an allegedly cursed bayou. Meeting up with several other ...more - 24Brian Matthews, Leah Ayres, Brian Backer
- Released: 1981
- Directed by: Tony Maylam
At summer camp, some teenagers pull a prank on the camp's caretaker, Cropsy (Lou David). But the joke goes terribly wrong, and the teens leave Cropsy for dead after setting him on fire. But no one ...more - 25Finn Atkins, Michael Fassbender, James Gandhi
- Released: 2008
- Directed by: James Watkins
During a romantic weekend getaway, a young couple confronts a gang of youths, and suffers brutal consequences.
