10 Horror Movies To Watch If You Love The Outdoors
4. Open Water
Although horror hides in the woods, it hides underwater, too. Oceans are dark and deadly, and the dreaded fear of not knowing what resides underneath the surface is what makes sea-set horrors so damn terrifying. 2003's Open Water is no exception.
Like the other entries on this list, Open Water is loosely based on the actual events of a couple left behind on a scuba diving trip who fight to survive whilst fending off a shiver of sharks. The movie has a documentary style, unlike the bulk shark-centred horrors that have preceded or succeeded it. If you harness your expectations, the film perfectly emulates the real-life terror of the situation.
For example, this is not Jaws. There's no trademark Steven Spielberg direction or iconic John Williams score. More, Open Water is a condensed and compact concoction of terror and tragedy on a much smaller scale.
Horrors don't often make you feel for the characters due to the genre's general overreliance on dumbed-down individuals who commit calamity after calamity. Yet, Open Water's personal and intimate approach has you genuinely feel sorry for its protagonists.
It may not be perfect, but it's a solid shark flick in a world where more sink than swim.