Alaska: 6 horror films involving the The Last Frontier state

5. Alaska horror films: The Frozen Ground (2013)

Not everything is innocent when it comes to guns in Alaska, as demonstrated by Scott Walker’s The Frozen Ground. This film is based on real-life Alaskan serial killer Robert Hansen (John Cusack), who had a deeply disturbing practice of victimizing women and actually hunting them for sport in and around Anchorage. In other words, this is a more serious movie, rather than something straight out of a bad sci-fi film. Obviously, the menace here is not a pack of wolves or some giant bear. This rather straightforward thriller also stars Nicolas Cage as a state trooper, 50 Cent, and Vanessa Hudgens.

6: Alaska horror films: Into the Grizzly Maze (2015)

Want more large Alaskan bears? How about more bear than you can bear? Well, David Hackl’s Into the Grizzly Maze is here to bring you close to a scary, grisly grizzly bear overdose. Just as Steven Spielberg’s Jaws was criticized for making people overly afraid of sharks, this film might have stupider viewers craving the bloodied and severed head of the nearest grizzly bear, proclaiming that a human ancestor was probably killed by the bear’s ancestors. Yes, the grizzly bear surely looks like a nightmare beast from the forests of the North.

Now, some of you will think: “What’s with the snarkiness?!” Well, don’t worry, because I actually enjoy this movie. This film made me want to face off against a mighty, majestic, murderous bear, much like HBO’s Chernobyl made me want to wave around a Geiger counter or the Ghostbusters make me keen to brandish proton packs and ghost traps. When I first watched this, I was ready to join a quest to find the beast and his ancestors. Of course, the film’s characters quickly grow despondent as the creature and its victims only become more and more numerous and mysterious.

Into the Grizzly Maze has a light tinge of the camp-horror of Eli Roth, but is a superbly made and unsettling film, deserving of all its glowing reviews, as well as every single award it has won…oh, wait, it hasn’t received rave reviews or been a candidate for many awards? Well, don’t worry, as this film (self-referential title and all) still has the coveted honor of featuring Billy Bob Thornton, playing a man who’s spent more than a few years as bear hunter extraordinaire (or at least that’s what the character would say of himself). It also stars James Marsden, Thomas Jane, Piper Perabo, and Scott Glenn.

Did we overlook any great horror movies featuring Alaska? Feel free to let us know in the comments!