The horror genre is one of the most expansive genres in film. Humans are frightened or disturbed by such a wide variety of elements that gives horror filmmakers much to work with. Sure, many horror films set out simply to scare their viewers in the moment, but a horror film has the ability to affect the viewer long after the movie has finished. Horror can be fascinating because it explores what scares us, why something scares us, and the reasons why some people like to incite fear. There are numerous subgenres of horror that explore these themes differently, such as slasher movies or movies about cults.
The horror genre does indeed cover many forms of horror, but one of the lesser-appreciated horror movie types would be those that take place on the road. Road trips perhaps initially do not come across as something that would instill fear or terror in a person. Most of us get in a car almost every day whether it is to travel short or long distances. We may subconsciously think about the risks of getting in the car, but most of us are not actively thinking about getting into an accident.
When traveling long distances, many people will opt to drive to their destination rather than fly because it is typically cheaper or because they have a fear of flying. Most of us can admit, however, it is a bit eerie to be driving through a rural part of the country we're unfamiliar with. The fear of the unknown is something that horror movies feed into and when we're on the road, we don't truly know what we may encounter. Here are ten terrifying road trip horror movies that will make you think twice about getting into a car:
10 Road Games (1981)
Set in the open roads of the Australian outback, Road Games follows a laid-back American truck driver named Pat Quid (Stacy Keach) who is driving across southern Australia and suspects that the driver of a green van may be killing young women along his route. Convinced that he is witnessing a serial killer in action after his latest hitchhiker Pamela (Jamie Lee Curtis) disappears, Pat embarks on a quest to stop the driver, causing a cat-and-mouse game between the two to ensue. While the movie overall may not be considered scary by seasoned horror fans, the concept of being captured and murdered while traveling on the road is quite terrifying. There is a reason we are all warned about the dangers of hitchhiking, especially while alone, and this movie is sure to make anyone reconsider their hitchhiking plans.
9 Race with the Devil (1975)
Starring Peter Fonda and Warren Oates, this '70s action horror film follows two couples vacationing together in an RV on a road trip from Texas to Colorado. During a camping stop in Texas, both couples witness a horrific Satanic ritual that results in murder. After witnessing the brutal act, the Satanists make it their mission to chase down the four friends, and they find themselves terrorized by the cult members. Race with the Devil plays into the idea of not knowing what you may find while on the road. These couples were looking forward to an idyllic ski vacation in the Colorado mountains and wound up in a fight for their lives against a murderous cult bent on hiding any evidence of their crimes.
8 Final Destination 2 (2003)
There are not many films that have traumatized the millennial and Gen Z generations the way the Final Destination franchise has. Tanning beds, roller coasters, laser eye surgery, and elevators are just a few of the things that this franchise has made people terrified of over the years.
In Final Destination 2, Kimberly Corman (A.J. Cook) is driving herself and her friends to Daytona Beach for spring break. As she is about to get onto the highway, Kimberly has a premonition about a multi-car pile up that would have taken place if she didn't block traffic. Horrified when the accident happens anyway, she makes a connection with her premonition and the Flight 180 crash that happened exactly one year prior. She discovers that Death's pattern has been disrupted, and now she and the other supposed car crash victims will die in separate freak accidents. This sequel features some of the most horrifically gory deaths in the franchise, including the infamous log truck scene, and plenty of vehicle explosions and malfunctions. It is definitely not a movie anyone would want to watch right before a road trip.
7 Wrong Turn (2003)
Two groups of people on two separate road trips are left stranded deeps in the woods of West Virginia after they crash into each other on a quiet back road. As they venture deeper into the woods, the unlikely group find themselves facing a bloodcurdling fate.
Wrong Turn is a slasher film that is very loosely based on the supposedly "true" story of a Scottish cannibal named Sawney Bean. After the two groups join forces, they realize that each of their road trips have been sabotaged at the hands of sinister inbreds living deep within the mountains. The group tries to outsmart the skilled hunters in order to make it back to civilization after three of the mountain men show up to the cabin they thought was abandoned with the bodies of their friends. Wrong Turn is terrifying simply because the events are plausible. Anyone can become stranded in the woods or on rural back roads without another way of getting out. There really are people out there who live secluded from the rest of us that, to a lesser extent, may behave like this.
6 Children of the Corn (1984)
Based on the book by literary horror master Stephen King, Children of the Corn will leave you a nervous wreck the next time you are around children. Vicky (Linda Hamilton) and Burt Peter Horton) are a young couple on their way to Seattle when they drive through the small town of Gatlin, Nebraska and accidentally hit a child with their car. They seek out help, so they can report the accident, but discover that the town has been abandoned for over three years. Now, it is run by a cult of religious children who believe that anyone over the age of 18 must die. Lead by boy preacher Isaac (John Franklin), the disturbing children worship a corn god they refer to as He Who Walks Behind the Rows. The special effects may be outdated almost 40 years later, but it will make you weary of two things: young children and getting stuck in a small town you have never heard of before.
5 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Nearly 50 years after its release, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of the most notable horror franchises in existence and Leatherface has become an iconic slasher villain. The original film begins with a group of friends in the mid-70s traveling through rural Texas in a van to check on the grave of Sally's (Marilyn Burns) grandfather. The friends pick up a rather strange hitchhiker along the way who proves to be sinister. After stopping at a roadside gas station for some food, the teenagers find themselves in the secluded home of a family of ritualistic cannibals who force them into a never-ending nightmare of blood and violence.
TTCSM shows the dark consequences of picking up strangers on the road and what can happen if you stop to rest at a random, seemingly abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. The film's infamous final shot shows Sally, now a hitchhiker herself, in the back of a stranger's pickup truck laughing manically as she's covered in blood after escaping the freakish Leatherface.
4 Near Dark (1987)
Directed by Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow, Near Dark is a vampire thriller that features a young drifter who belongs to a coven of nomadic vampires. At the end of a date, Mae (Jenny Wright) turns mid-western farm boy Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) into a bloodsucking vampire who now must prove himself to her coven or be killed. Led by the merciless Severin (Bill Paxton), the group of vampires roam the highways at night in stolen cars and wreak havoc on roadside bars and taverns. The film infuses classic western themes with vampire storytelling to create wild horror film that takes the viewer on an endless nightmare of a road trip.
3 The Hitcher (1986)
Yet another horror movie that should discourage anyone from hitchhiking, The Hitcher stars C. Thomas Howell as Jim Halsey, a young man driving from Chicago to San Diego. Bored during his trip, he picks up a hitchhiker named John Ryder (Rutger Hauer) in West Texas. Almost immediately after introducing himself, John pulls a knife on Jim and threatens him before Jim is able to forcibly remove him from his car. Jim is then relentlessly pursued by John who frames Jim for a string of murders he committed.
The Hitcher leans more toward a thriller than a straight-up horror movie, but the concept is still horrifying. Being hunted down by an actual serial killer while on the run from law enforcement that believe you are actually the criminal is an awful situation that absolutely no one would want to find themselves in.
2 X (2022)
Ti West's incredibly popular slasher breakout X pays homage to the slashers and horror films that came before it while also creating something completely unique. The A24 film draws similarities to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre with its rural Texas setting and group of young friends on a long road-trip. They even stay at a farm house property that is similar to the property in TTCSM. The similarities start to dissipate as the group starts to interact with their hosts, and it becomes more apparent that this gruesome elderly couple is up to no good. The youngsters are in town to film a rather graphic adult film, and their aging hosts simply can't handle it. Fueled by pure jealousy and envy that they are no longer young and attractive, the couple wages war on the filmmakers. Things would have gone a lot smoother if they perhaps filmed at a hotel rather than a pair of stranger's farm house.
1 The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
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Possibly the ultimate road trip horror movie, horror icon Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes follows the Carter family on a road trip in an RV on the way to California. The family accidentally passes through an air testing zone that is closed off to the public, resulting in them being stranded out in the Nevada desert. When their dog runs off and doesn't come back, the Carters meet a deranged family of cannibals who live in the deserted desert hills. The Carters are subjected to pain and suffering at the hands of these psychopathic recluses who have not immersed themselves in modern society.
Similar to Wrong Turn, The Hills Have Eyes is frightening because the events that take place in the film, while unlikely, are still plausible. There are few things more nerve-wracking than being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no way of escaping. Mix in the addition of sinister cannibals and you have a concoction made for nightmares.
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