10 Most Terrifying Vacation Horror Movies

The best vacation horror movies - Hostel, The Ruins & more!

By Andrew Pollard /

Right now, so many people across the globe are ridiculously eager to hit up their favourite vacation spots. With the world having been largely at a standstill for over a year by this point, a relaxing, idyllic holiday is high on the priority list for most of us.

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However, the realm of horror movies has taught us that holidays, vacations, weekend breaks, etc. are not always quite as perfect and dreamy as we may imagine, of course.

Throughout the decades, the horror genre has managed to brilliantly manipulate the use of a vacation getaway to tell a chilling, terrifying tale. Whether that's classic tropes of 'outsider' syndrome, battles with the elements, mysterious local traditions, or merely loved ones turning on one another, a vacation can be the perfect setting for a great horror film.

Those vacations may be weeks away in the sun, they may be simply trips to local beauty spots, or they can be all-out cross-continent trips aimed to serve as a mission of discovery - yet all such vacations offer up the possibility to be drenched in genuine dread and disaster.

With that in mind, then, are ten of the most terrifying, impressive horror vacation pictures out there in this particularly murky corner of cinema.

10. A Perfect Getaway

If you've got a thrilling horror picture titled A Perfect Getaway, chances are that the getaway in question is one that's far from 'perfect'.

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Hitting the silver screen back in 2009, A Perfect Getaway has quite the impressive cast - with Milla Jovovich, Timothy Olyphant, Kiele Sanchez, Marley Shelton, Steve Zahn and a certain Chris Hemsworth amongst the ranks in David Twohy's film.

Set in Hawaii, this movie revolves around three vacationing couples, with the hunt on to find out which of these couples is responsible for having killed off two other tourists. Red herrings aplenty are on offer here, with each duo continuing to finger the other couples as being behind these murders.

What A Perfect Getaway does best, is how it leads you up the garden path of uncertainty, forever planting seeds of doubt as to who the real antagonists of the picture are. It's in these moments that the film really shines, and the teases and fake-outs seen throughout the movie add an extra layer of replayability to what many had thought would just be a generic 'holidaymakers get killed' effort.

As for the finale, A Perfect Getaway has a fun, it not mildly silly twist at play - yet that's very much in keeping with the spirit of the film.

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