I’ve never been a fan of warm weather, but when it gets so cold that you need four layers of clothing just to be able to cross the street and buy yourself a sandwich, even I start to feel nostalgic about Summer. However, while not everyone can afford to physically get away for the holidays, there is a much cheaper way to travel during the winter months – and that’s by immersing yourself in a cinematic vacation.
When it comes to horror, there’s a surprising amount of scary stories that take place in warm environments where the weather is the least of your worries. With that in mind, we’ve decided to come up with a list highlighting six tropical horror movies to help you escape the cold! After all, there’s nothing like a bit of terrifying escapism to scare away seasonal ailments.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be defining “tropical horror movies” as any genre flick that mostly takes place within a tropical (or tropical-adjacent) setting, regardless of whether or not the warm weather factors into the story. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own tropical favorites if you think we missed a particularly memorable one.
Now onto the list!
6. Zombi 2 (1979)
Lucio Fulci’s unauthorized sequel to Dawn of the Dead remains a quintessential example of Italian splatter cinema despite (or perhaps because of) its lack of reverence to the George Romero movie it’s supposedly following up on. You see, Zombi 2 is less of a zombie apocalypse film and more of a supernatural mystery where the daughter of a missing scientist travels to a Caribbean island in order to search for her father, only to discover that the locals have been affected by a deadly voodoo curse.
However, if you remove the flesh-eating ghouls from the equation, the isle of “Matool” actually seems like a pretty cool vacation spot. In fact, the film is so committed to its tropical setting that it even features an infamous scene where an undead cannibal (heroically played by a local animal wrangler) faces off against a real tropical shark – so how could we not add it to the list?
5. Piranha 3D (2010)
Purists may raise their torches and pitchforks after reading this, but I actually prefer Alexandre Aja’s over-the-top remake of Piranha to Joe Dante’s 1978 original. While the main plot of both movies is largely the same (an ultraviolent breed of Piranha begins to prey on unsuspecting vacationers at a waterside resort), Aja’s take on the story benefits from some genuinely fun Spring Break atmosphere!
While Arizona technically isn’t a part of the tropics, the film’s postcard-like depiction of Lake Victoria (complete with crystal clear water and sunny vacation vibes) makes the whole thing feel like it takes place in a Caribbean wonderland.
4. The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
I’ve always thought that Wes Craven’s eerie reinvention of the zombie film was one of the most underrated projects in the director’s career. Not only is this slow-burning Bill Pullman vehicle scarier than any of Freddy Krueger’s over-the-top antics, but it also offers a surprisingly respectful glimpse at traditional Haitian culture, which makes sense, as the film is actually inspired by a non-fiction book written by ethnobotanist Wade Davis.
Of course, the island nation of Haiti itself is a major factor in this politically charged horror story, with the country’s ideological unrest during the Duvalier dictatorship feeling just as oppressive as the humid beaches and dense jungles surrounding Pullman’s troubled anthropologist.
3. Sweetheart (2019)
Not every horror movie has to reinvent the genre wheel in order to be worth watching, and JD Dillard’s criminally underseen seaside thriller, Sweetheart, is a great example of a film that extracts a lot of tension from a familiar premise. Telling the story of a resourceful castaway who finds herself being stalked by a Lovecraftian monster on a seemingly deserted island, this minimalist creature feature is unfettered by unnecessary backstories and exposition.
That’s why this Blumhouse-produced hidden gem has become something of a comfort movie of mine, as Dillard allows Kiersey Clemons’ mostly silent performance to speak for itself while we take in the breathtaking vistas of the South Pacific.
Monster or not, there are worse places to become stranded.
2. The Ruins (2008)
There are plenty of gruesome films on this tropical list, but there’s something about Carter Smith’s big screen adaptation of his own horror novel that gets under my skin (pun very much intended). Following a group of tourists who become trapped in the ruins of a Mayan pyramid in a secluded Mexican jungle, the film introduces us to a mysterious breed of carnivorous plant that’s just as fascinating as it is deadly.
While the copious amounts of grisly body-horror here will likely distract you from the beauty of the real rainforest where the movie was filmed (which was actually located in Australia rather than Mexico), this is one horror film that will likely make you glad that you’re snuggled up at home instead of being digested alive by tropical plant life.
1. Open Water (2003)
Audiences should always take claims that a scary movie is “based on a true story” with a grain of salt, but the real horror of Chris Kentis’ watery thriller lies in the fact that this situation could very well happen to anyone. After all, getting left behind by a scuba-diving expedition isn’t as far-fetched as being chased by an undead killer in a hockey mask.
Yet, despite all the violent storms, stinging jellyfish, and circling sharks (which were portrayed by real animals), Kentis’s decision to shoot on location in the Atlantic Ocean with consumer-grade cameras ends up making Open Water just as beautiful as it is nerve-wracking.