Backcountry Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Backcountry Blu-ray Movie Review

The bear necessities.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 1, 2015

Just in case you missed it, there’s a rather oversized bear adorning the cover art of Backcountry's new Blu-ray release, and there’s a similarly large ursine beast on the film’s theatrical poster art. Those marketing choices would tend to support the idea that Backcountry is a “different” set of Jaws (so to speak), and so some horror fans may be a bit surprised when they discover that the film takes its own good time before finally providing The Night of the Grizzly (again, so to speak). That said, there's an alternative kind of "horror" at play in Backcountry, at least for the females in the audience. Any woman who has ever looked at her boyfriend or husband and in an exasperated tone asked, “Can’t you just ask for directions?” will feel the pain of Backcountry’s heroine Jenn (Missy Peregrym), a young woman who finds herself at the mercy of her boyfriend Alex (Jeff Roop, also an Executive Producer), when Alex takes her on a camping trip to a locale he supposedly knows like the back of his hand. Alex is so convinced of his mastery of the terrain that he refuses to take a map on their outing, despite being cautioned to by a knowledgeable park ranger. That bit of bravado turns out to be disastrous once the couple finds itself stranded in the wild with a number of festering tensions intruding on their supposed romantic getaway. In fact a good two-thirds of Backcountry plays out without any ostensible threat from without intruding on Jenn and Alex, leaving the roiling dysfunctions of the couple themselves as the main obstacle to a happily ever after.

There are a number of incipient threats that crop up in Backcountry before The Bear (sorry) arrives, not the least of which is the fact that Alex and Jenn don’t seem to be operating on the same wavelength with regard to their camping excursion. Alex is only too eager to detail his expertise to his girlfriend, while Jenn seems to be going along for the ride, as it were, not particularly interested or well suited to an outdoor adventure. Writer-director Adam MacDonald is in no big rush to reveal Alex’s real motivation for getting Jenn out in the middle of nowhere, a perhaps debilitating structure issue that could have been addressed earlier and thus provided a bit more of an emotional tether to the proceedings.

The fault lines in the relationship between the two start showing fairly early, but the real cracks appear when Alex returns from foraging for firewood one night to discover an interloper in the form of supposed trail guide Brad (Eric Balfour) has arrived, and is evidently charming the figurative (and to Alex’s jealous mind, literal) pants off of Jenn. Brad seems to delight in detailing Alex’s unpreparedness for Jenn, and the entire mealtime scene with the trio is an exercise in awkwardness.

That then sets up the increasingly paranoiac ambience which will haunt the rest of the film, until at least a certain furry animal lumbers into view. A number of odd sounds and the like keep throwing Jenn and Alex into tizzies, though the implication is clearly that it might be an unhinged Brad following them around, even as Alex (who might not be the camping idiot Brad has made him out to be) starts spotting signs of—yes, a bear.

If the film’s marketing campaign gives up the ghost (and/or bear) too willingly, it’s ultimately not the deal breaker that some might assume, at least for those who go into Backcountry without an expectation that the film will be bear attacks and nothing but bear attacks. The more compelling emotional heft here is attained not so much through the (ultimately quite horrifying) bear attack, but by the subtle shift of personalities depicted as Alex’s initial “can do” (and “don’t question me”) attitude gives way to the increasing fear that the duo are lost out in the wild without any means of contacting civilization (another writing sleight of hand that MacDonald probably could have more artfully handled).

There’s kind of an interesting schizoid quality to Backcountry that will either make it more palatable or less convincing to audiences, depending on how they tend to approach horror films. On one hand, there’s not much “there” there, when you get right down to it, with the film trafficking in well worn clichés of a couple, and then an individual, battling the elements and struggling to survive. On the other hand, the film is simultaneously full of character bits involving Jenn and Alex, an element which is typically not of much importance to horror meisters who are probably more intent on simply getting to the blood and guts.

What works exceedingly well throughout Backcountry is its increasing sense of desperation, something that threatens to tip the film over into more traditional horror film territory in the admittedly terrifying final act. Performances are unusually good throughout the film, especially considering the fact that this is by and large a “two hander” with a bit of additional help from Balfour, who once again (a la Haven: The Complete First Season) finds himself as something of a third wheel. MacDonald utilizes the gorgeous if increasingly threatening Canadian countryside to great advantage throughout the film, and few who watch Backcountry will probably opt to trek into the wild without lots of maps and a well charged cell phone.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf was a bit more positively disposed toward Backcountry than I am when it was released theatrically. You can read Brian's assessment here.

Backcountry Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Backcountry is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of IFC Midnight and Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Digitally shot with the Red Epic, Backcountry boasts an often sumptuously sharp and well detailed image, though the palette here is fairly tamped down, at least partially the result of the famously gray, cloudy ambience of the Canadian locations (the film was shot in British Columbia and Ontario). Daytime scenes offer the best representations of fine detail, like dust mites flitting through the wind or "clues" that Alex stumbles across that point to the involvement of a—well, you know. Some of the darker scenes suffer from inadequate shadow detail to the point that little can be seen, something that probably only increases a subliminal angst, especially when there are definitely things going bump in the night. The final third or so of the film also suffers somewhat from MacDonald's decision (assumedly in tandem with cinematographer Christian Bielz) to go all "jiggly cam", including intentional focus pulling "errors" that are obviously meant to offer an entree into Jenn's psychological ravages, but which tend to make the last half hour of the film look pretty soft and less detailed. This release is refreshingly free of overt compression issues.

Backcountry Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

If one were to assess only the final act of Backcountry, some might be able to winningly argue that the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix is a surround sound slam dunk. The last half hour or so of the film is indeed replete with some incredible effects work, including the (you must know by now) bear attack and Jenn's resultant panicked trek through the woods, which brings her into contact with a number of sonically active elements like a raging waterfall. Up until that point, though, the film is considerably more subdued from a sound design standpoint. While ambient environmental effects regularly dot the surround channels, creating a very lifelike outdoor environment, overall everything is rather subtle, and the film tends to focus more exclusively on intimate dialogue scenes where immersion is not quite so evident. Fidelity is excellent throughout the presentation, and when considering the film as a whole, dynamic range is wide.

Backcountry Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes (1080p; 17:25) is a pretty standard EPK that at least benefits from some above average interviews.


• Bear Shots (1080i; 2:01). Wait. . .there's a bear in this movie? This little supplement is actually kind of funny and recommended for those who like the film.


• Still Gallery (1080p; 5:17)


• Trailer (1080p; 2:03)


• Audio Commentary with Director Adam MacDonald, Jeff Roop and Missy Peregrym

Backcountry Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's best to travel to Backcountry without any expectations, especially any fostered by some overly hyperbolic cover art. This is a "horror" film in name only, and in fact is probably better appreciated as a survival story that has an unusual amount of character development at play. The film doesn't quite hold together in the long run, but it's an often visceral ride, helped by excellent performances and smart pacing by writer-director MacDonald, who is certainly a talent to watch. Technical merits are generally very good to excellent, and Backcountry comes Recommended.