Descendants of Deliverance: Tracing the Lineage of the Rural Horror Film
 

Hello horror fans.

For some time now, I've been trying to gather a comprehensive collection of the rural horror films. Also referred to as "Urbanoia" films, these are descendents of the film "Deliverance" (Boorman, 1972) but, more specifically, they owe a big debt to Hooper's groundbreaking "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (Hooper, 1974).

I have listed all of the ones in my collection below. If ANYONE can think of others, please contribute them to this thread!

List:

Breakdown (Mostow, 1997)

Children of the Corn (Kiersch, 1984)

Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (Price, 1993)

Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (Hickox, 1995)

Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (Spence, 1996)

Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (Wiley, 1998)

Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return (Skogland, 1999)

Children of the Corn: Revelation (Magar, 2001)

Crazies, The (Romero, 1973)

Deliverance (Boorman, 1972)

Devil's Rejects, The (Zombie, 2005)

Eaten Alive (Hooper, 1977)

Gator Bait (Sebastian & Sebastian, 1974)

Gator Bait II: Cajun Justice (Sebastian & Sebastian, 1988)

Hills Have Eyes, The (Craven, 1977)

Hills Have Eyes, The (Aja, 2006)

Hills Have Eyes II, The (Craven, 1985)

Hills Have Eyes II, The (Weisz, 2007)

House of 1000 Corpses (Zombie, 2003)

I Spit on Your Grave (Zarchi, 1978)

Jeepers Creepers (Salva, 2001)

Jeepers Creepers II (Salva, 2003)

Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (Burr, 1990)

Pigs (Lawrence, 1972)

Redneck County (????, 1975)

Savage Weekend (Paulsen, 1976)

Southern Comfort (Hill, 1981)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (Hooper, 1974)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (Nispel, 2003)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre II, The (Hooper, 1983)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, The (Liebesman, 2006)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (Henkel, 1994)

Turistas (Stockwell, 2006)

Wolf Creek (McLean, 2005)

Wrong Turn (Schmidt, 2003)

Wrong Turn II: Dead End (Lynch, 2007)

Night of the Living Dead fits.

Of Course...
 

Damnit! Night of the Living Dead. Good call Crabapple. That is now added to the list!

1. Night of the Living Dead (Crabapple)

Not sure why you have THE CRAZIES in there...unless the only thing is that they are in an isolated area - if thats the case then u could mention 100s

Just before Dawn

American Gothic

Hunters Blood

Rituals

Incident On and Off A Mountain Road (masters of horror)

Hoboken Hollow

Don't go in the Woods alone (sorta slasher too)

Berserker (sorta slasher too)

I'll think of a few more later.

Midnight, that one also fits, big time.

Not sure about Invasion of the Blood Farmers, though, heh heh.

Hmmmmm. And, maybe Eaten Alive.

What- nobody mentions Hillbillies in a Haunted House?

Or 2000 Maniacs?

Or 2001 Maniacs.

Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Some of these sound AWESOME! I have some viewing to do.

Tomorrow I will formally update the list and put all of the titles in alphabetical order so we can keep track of things better.

I think this genre goes back a bit farther than anyone realized!

Meh... I never was of the opinion that rural horror started with Deliverance.

Someone forget something...?


http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA240_.jpg


And if you want to stick to the strictest definition of the words, 1932's White Zombie would be the pioneer of all that is rural horror.

Night of the Hunter. Lots of rural horror. Wandering twisted preacher, children endangered by nature.

Evil Dead???

Rawhead Rex.

Does Lake Placid count? :p

I think that Larva can go on your list...

I just discovered the movie Redneck Zombies. Haven't watched it, but how could it possibly suck?

http://troma.ru/uploads/posts/120586...1.lzzzzzzz.jpg

Frailty could conceivably count.

The Reaping, though its more ritualistic horror (and not a good movie).

Revised "Urbanoia" List
 

Hi. Thanks to everyone for their contributions to the list. I am humbled by the number that I missed!

Below is a revised list which includes most of the suggestions. The section labeled "questionable" at the end of the list is composed of films that may not be Urbanoia. I realize now that "Rural" horror may be distinct from "Urbanoia" horror. As Ferox13 points out, "The Crazies" doesn't really fit because its only criterion for inclusion is that the film takes place in an isolated area.

Lets look at the list again and use this definition for "Urbanoia" horror films: Films which depict urban or suburban characters traveling into rural areas and running afowl of the local inhabitants.

The revised list is submitted below for your expert advise and consideration....



Official List:



2001 Maniacs (Sullivan, 2006)

American Gothic (Hough, 1988)

Berserker (Richard, 1987)

Breakdown (Mostow, 1997)

Children of the Corn (Kiersch, 1984)

Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (Price, 1993)

Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (Hickox, 1995)

Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (Spence, 1996)

Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (Wiley, 1998)

Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return (Skogland, 1999)

Children of the Corn: Revelation (Magar, 2001)

Deliverance (Boorman, 1972)

Devil's Rejects, The (Zombie, 2005)

Don't Go In The Woods Alone (Bryan, 1982)

Eaten Alive (Hooper, 1977)

Gator Bait (Sebastian & Sebastian, 1974)

Gator Bait II: Cajun Justice (Sebastian & Sebastian, 1988)

Hills Have Eyes, The (Craven, 1977)

Hills Have Eyes, The (Aja, 2006)

Hills Have Eyes II, The (Craven, 1985)

Hills Have Eyes II, The (Weisz, 2007)

Hoboken Hollow (Stephens, 2005)

House of 1000 Corpses (Zombie, 2003)

Hunter's Blood (Hughes, 1987)

I Spit on Your Grave (Zarchi, 1978)

Jeepers Creepers (Salva, 2001)

Jeepers Creepers II (Salva, 2003)

Just Before Dawn (Lieberman, 1981)

Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (Burr, 1990)

Midnight (Russo, 1982)

Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968)

Pigs (Lawrence, 1972)

Pumpkinhead (Winston, 1988)

Redneck County (????, 1975)

Redneck Zombies (Lewnes, 1987)

Rituals (Carter, 1977)

Savage Weekend (Paulsen, 1976)

Southern Comfort (Hill, 1981)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (Hooper, 1974)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (Nispel, 2003)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre II, The (Hooper, 1983)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, The (Liebesman, 2006)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (Henkel, 1994)

Turistas (Stockwell, 2006)

Two Thousand Maniacs (Lewis, 1964)

Wolf Creek (McLean, 2005)

Wrong Turn (Schmidt, 2003)

Wrong Turn II: Dead End (Lynch, 2007)



Not Enough Information:

Incident On and Off A Mountain Road (Director?, Year?)



Questionable:

Evil Dead (Raimi, 1982)

Frailty (Paxton, 2002)

Hillbilies in a Haunted House (Yarbrough, 1967)

Lake Placid (Miner, 1999)

Larva (Cox, 2005)

Night of the Hunter (Laughton, 1955)

Pumpkinhead (sequels)

Rawhead Rex (Pavlou, 1986)

Reaping, The (Hopkins, 2007)

White Zombie (Martinelli, 1932)

More...
 

Another item that I'll include next time around:

Cabin Fever (Roth, 2002)

Also, with regard to the "origin" debate surrounding "Urbanoia" films, I can understand the apprehension surrounding Deliverance, but would also be inclined to point out that Deliverance seems like an influential precursor to Texas Chainsaw Massacre - the prototypical example of the Urbanoia genre. Also, Carol Clover in her book Men, Women, and Chainsaws points to Deliverance as the "grandfather" of the Urbanoia film. Finally, the film is often referenced in modern examples of Urbanoia (e.g. In Wrong Turn, Scott says to his girlfriend Carly, "Well, I need to remind you of a little movie called Deliverance?" just before they enter the mutant's home.

I do think there are earlier examples of Urbanoia (e.g. Lewis' Two Thousand Maniacs), but I still believe the relative importance of Deliverance (a popular and critical success) needs to be taken into account.

straw dogs

edit


nevermind....its on the list

List Updated
 

Below is the updated list. Are there any more Urbanoia Horror films anyone can think of?

Official List:



2001 Maniacs (Sullivan, 2006)

American Gothic (Hough, 1988)

Berserker (Richard, 1987)

Breakdown (Mostow, 1997)

Cabin Fever (Roth, 2002)

Children of the Corn (Kiersch, 1984)

Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (Price, 1993)

Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (Hickox, 1995)

Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (Spence, 1996)

Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (Wiley, 1998)

Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return (Skogland, 1999)

Children of the Corn: Revelation (Magar, 2001)

Deliverance (Boorman, 1972)

Devil's Rejects, The (Zombie, 2005)

Don't Go In The Woods Alone (Bryan, 1982)

Eaten Alive (Hooper, 1977)

Gator Bait (Sebastian & Sebastian, 1974)

Gator Bait II: Cajun Justice (Sebastian & Sebastian, 1988)

Hills Have Eyes, The (Craven, 1977)

Hills Have Eyes, The (Aja, 2006)

Hills Have Eyes II, The (Craven, 1985)

Hills Have Eyes II, The (Weisz, 2007)

Hoboken Hollow (Stephens, 2005)

House of 1000 Corpses (Zombie, 2003)

Hunter's Blood (Hughes, 1987)

I Spit on Your Grave (Zarchi, 1978)

Jeepers Creepers (Salva, 2001)

Jeepers Creepers II (Salva, 2003)

Just Before Dawn (Lieberman, 1981)

Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (Burr, 1990)

Midnight (Russo, 1982)

Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968)

Pigs (Lawrence, 1972)

Pumpkinhead (Winston, 1988)

Redneck County (????, 1975)

Redneck Zombies (Lewnes, 1987)

Rituals (Carter, 1977)

Savage Weekend (Paulsen, 1976)

Southern Comfort (Hill, 1981)

Straw Dogs (Peckinpah, 1971)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (Hooper, 1974)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (Nispel, 2003)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre II, The (Hooper, 1983)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, The (Liebesman, 2006)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (Henkel, 1994)

Turistas (Stockwell, 2006)

Two Thousand Maniacs (Lewis, 1964)

Wolf Creek (McLean, 2005)

Wrong Turn (Schmidt, 2003)

Wrong Turn II: Dead End (Lynch, 2007)



Not Enough Information:

Incident On and Off A Mountain Road (Director?, Year?)



Questionable:

Evil Dead (Raimi, 1982)

Frailty (Paxton, 2002)

Hillbilies in a Haunted House (Yarbrough, 1967)

Lake Placid (Miner, 1999)

Larva (Cox, 2005)

Night of the Hunter (Laughton, 1955)

Pumpkinhead (sequels)

Rawhead Rex (Pavlou, 1986)

Reaping, The (Hopkins, 2007)

White Zombie (Martinelli, 1932)

....................

Why have you included 2001 Maniacs but not 2000 Maniacs?

Two Thousand Maniacs
 

Hi Neverending.

Actually, Lewis's Two Thousand Maniacs is included but it's in alphabetical order under "Two" whereas 2001 is at the beginning because it is numerical. I'm just going by how the title appears on the press materials.

Thanks.

Incident on and off a mountain road
 

Hey VampiricClown,

Thanks for the info on Incident. I should've checked imdb myself, sorry about that. I have now officially moved the film into the body of the list.

I've got to see that film! Directed by Don Coscarelli of Beastmaster fame!

The new list is below. Suggestions are welcome.

Official List:



2001 Maniacs (Sullivan, 2006)

American Gothic (Hough, 1988)

Berserker (Richard, 1987)

Breakdown (Mostow, 1997)

Cabin Fever (Roth, 2002)

Children of the Corn (Kiersch, 1984)

Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (Price, 1993)

Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (Hickox, 1995)

Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (Spence, 1996)

Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (Wiley, 1998)

Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return (Skogland, 1999)

Children of the Corn: Revelation (Magar, 2001)

Deliverance (Boorman, 1972)

Devil's Rejects, The (Zombie, 2005)

Don't Go In The Woods Alone (Bryan, 1982)

Eaten Alive (Hooper, 1977)

Gator Bait (Sebastian & Sebastian, 1974)

Gator Bait II: Cajun Justice (Sebastian & Sebastian, 1988)

Hills Have Eyes, The (Craven, 1977)

Hills Have Eyes, The (Aja, 2006)

Hills Have Eyes II, The (Craven, 1985)

Hills Have Eyes II, The (Weisz, 2007)

Hoboken Hollow (Stephens, 2005)

House of 1000 Corpses (Zombie, 2003)

Hunter's Blood (Hughes, 1987)

I Spit on Your Grave (Zarchi, 1978)

Incident On and Off a Mountain Road (Coscarelli, 2005)

Jeepers Creepers (Salva, 2001)

Jeepers Creepers II (Salva, 2003)

Just Before Dawn (Lieberman, 1981)

Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (Burr, 1990)

Midnight (Russo, 1982)

Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968)

Pigs (Lawrence, 1972)

Pumpkinhead (Winston, 1988)

Redneck County (????, 1975)

Redneck Zombies (Lewnes, 1987)

Rituals (Carter, 1977)

Savage Weekend (Paulsen, 1976)

Southern Comfort (Hill, 1981)

Straw Dogs (Peckinpah, 1971)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (Hooper, 1974)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (Nispel, 2003)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre II, The (Hooper, 1983)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, The (Liebesman, 2006)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (Henkel, 1994)

Turistas (Stockwell, 2006)

Two Thousand Maniacs (Lewis, 1964)

Wolf Creek (McLean, 2005)

Wrong Turn (Schmidt, 2003)

Wrong Turn II: Dead End (Lynch, 2007)



Questionable:

Evil Dead (Raimi, 1982)

Frailty (Paxton, 2002)

Hillbilies in a Haunted House (Yarbrough, 1967)

Lake Placid (Miner, 1999)

Larva (Cox, 2005)

Night of the Hunter (Laughton, 1955)

Pumpkinhead (sequels)

Rawhead Rex (Pavlou, 1986)

Reaping, The (Hopkins, 2007)

White Zombie (Martinelli, 1932)

Dark Harvest
The Maize: The Movie (Dark Harvest 2)
Skarecrow (Dark Harvest 3)
Slash

I don't see Hatchet on the list...surely Victor Crowley living in the New Orleans swamps would qualify.


Barricade as well.....can't get any more fucked up and gorier than that crazy family.

the Timo Rose film? was that any good?

if you're into gore......you will like...story is weak...but much gore

Urbanoia List Update
 

Hey everyone.

Barricade and Hatchet seem like clear qualifiers and I gave the Dark Harvest series the benefit of the doubt. I'm really not sure about Slash though. What is Joseph's dark family secret? I would check it out for myself right this minute, but I'm backlogged.

Official List:



2001 Maniacs (Sullivan, 2006)

American Gothic (Hough, 1988)

Barricade (Rose, 2007)

Berserker (Richard, 1987)

Breakdown (Mostow, 1997)

Cabin Fever (Roth, 2002)

Children of the Corn (Kiersch, 1984)

Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (Price, 1993)

Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (Hickox, 1995)

Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (Spence, 1996)

Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (Wiley, 1998)

Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return (Skogland, 1999)

Children of the Corn: Revelation (Magar, 2001)

Dark Harvest (Nicholson, 1992)

Dark Harvest 2: The Maize (Cowell, 2004)

Dark Harvest 3: Scarecrow (Dixon, 2004)

Deliverance (Boorman, 1972)

Devil's Rejects, The (Zombie, 2005)

Don't Go In The Woods Alone (Bryan, 1982)

Eaten Alive (Hooper, 1977)

Gator Bait (Sebastian & Sebastian, 1974)

Gator Bait II: Cajun Justice (Sebastian & Sebastian, 1988)

Hatchet (Green, 2006)

Hills Have Eyes, The (Craven, 1977)

Hills Have Eyes, The (Aja, 2006)

Hills Have Eyes II, The (Craven, 1985)

Hills Have Eyes II, The (Weisz, 2007)

Hoboken Hollow (Stephens, 2005)

House of 1000 Corpses (Zombie, 2003)

Hunter's Blood (Hughes, 1987)

I Spit on Your Grave (Zarchi, 1978)

Incident On and Off a Mountain Road (Coscarelli, 2005)

Jeepers Creepers (Salva, 2001)

Jeepers Creepers II (Salva, 2003)

Just Before Dawn (Lieberman, 1981)

Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (Burr, 1990)

Midnight (Russo, 1982)

Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968)

Pigs (Lawrence, 1972)

Pumpkinhead (Winston, 1988)

Redneck County (????, 1975)

Redneck Zombies (Lewnes, 1987)

Rituals (Carter, 1977)

Savage Weekend (Paulsen, 1976)

Southern Comfort (Hill, 1981)

Straw Dogs (Peckinpah, 1971)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (Hooper, 1974)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (Nispel, 2003)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre II, The (Hooper, 1983)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, The (Liebesman, 2006)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (Henkel, 1994)

Turistas (Stockwell, 2006)

Two Thousand Maniacs (Lewis, 1964)

Wolf Creek (McLean, 2005)

Wrong Turn (Schmidt, 2003)

Wrong Turn II: Dead End (Lynch, 2007)



Questionable:

Evil Dead (Raimi, 1982)

Frailty (Paxton, 2002)

Hillbilies in a Haunted House (Yarbrough, 1967)

Lake Placid (Miner, 1999)

Larva (Cox, 2005)

Night of the Hunter (Laughton, 1955)

Pumpkinhead (sequels)

Rawhead Rex (Pavlou, 1986)

Reaping, The (Hopkins, 2007)

Slash (Sundstrom, 2002)

White Zombie (Martinelli, 1932)

A note on Night of the Living Dead (1968/1990)
 

At first I was skeptical about including the original Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968) on the Urbanoia list because it is such a clear example of a "zombie" film. Upon review of the film, however, I think a strong case can be made for its inclusion if the zombies are understood to be metaphorical rurals. The case is made even stronger considering that the majority of victims are outsiders (with the exception of Tom and Judy) and the majority of zombies are locals that rose from local cemetaries. Carrying this perspective a step further, the film tells a story about alienation from rural, small-town America.

The remake of the film (Savini, 1990) thrives to an even greater extent upon the urbanoia theme as it leaves Barbara to look on in horror as the rural townspeople torture the zombies at the end of the film. Her perspective is one that equates the living rural townsfolk with the zombies themselves through their behavior.

Nice job, Krug.

Side Note
 

Thanks Neverending!

I forgot about how much I love this subgenre of horror. Makes a person want to move out to the boonies, smoke corn-cob pipes, and collect chain-saws.

Of all the urbies I've seen so far, I have to confess that I have three favorites: The Devil's Rejects and Aja's remake of The Hills Have Eyes. I know they are both recent films and it is normally a bad thing to confess admiration for work that is derivative or remade, but there's a quality to both of these that can only be gained through a revision: clarification of conventions. Horror (like all genres) relies on convension and the reinterpretation of the same basic themes through contemporary circumstances. By capturing these and amplifying them, these two films allow for the simultaneous appreciation of this whole genre. Think of all the great grindhouse films that are called to mind in Rejects!

As we expand the list we're building in this thread, I am very psyched about watching new films from an Urbanoia point of view.

You're not good with the whole counting thing are you? ;)

The missing favorite
 

Ahhh...yes. I had originally intended to include Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Beginning as another of my favorites to further emphasize my point about remakes, but decided against it. I really like a couple of scenes in that film (walking out with the chain saw, Hewitt's speech), but the whole Vietnam subplot was nonsense.

Self-Correction
 

Obviously Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning is not a remake, but a prequel. However, it should also be pointed out that this film, along with two of the original sequels: TCM II and Leatherface, follow the same basic plotline with only slight variations. In fact, it seems that certain scenes in these film are as obligatory as a shower scene in a "Women in Prison" flick.

Any More?
 

Hi all!

Do you think we can tentatively call this list complete?

Can anyone thing of any "urbanoia films" we've missed?

Definition of Urbanoia: Films which depict urban or suburban characters traveling into rural areas and running afowl of the local inhabitants.

Timber Falls (2007)

Nothing But Trouble