Backcountry in 200 Words or Less

.

I was first going to call the new Mother Nature horror film Backcountry blessedly simple and straightforward, but that makes it sound like I'm describing an unobtrusive visit to the dentist where I just get a routine cleaning and everything's looking good, see ya in another six months. That is not a good way to describe Backcountry, even though one of its finest attributes (out of several) is the fact that it sets itself about telling a simple story straightforwardly - there's no genre-hopping kitchen-sink stuff; there's no tonal whiplash. Director Adam MacDonald knows what he wants to do and he does it and then the movie ends. But seeing as how what he wants to do is grab one of your worst nightmares and dig his fingers right down into the pulp of it and make you feel as if it's right there coming true... well to go back to the dentist analogy, Backcountry is like a nice routine trip to Dr. Giggles. Everything goes just the perfect amount of terrifying. It gets the job done. And it's going to be a goddamned while before I feel comfortable going into the woods again.

.