One of the more underrated subgenres of horror is survivalist horror, where a group of characters are pitted against the wildnerness in a battle for survival – and nobody does survivalist horror better than Adam MacDonald. The director of the wildly underrated (and fairly upsetting) Backcountry, MacDonald’s movies are must-see cinema for anyone who likes to see people get viciously attacked by the creatures that live in our woods. So in this episode of our Uncertified series, the Matts are tackling Out Come the Wolves, MacDonald’s latest grim thriller that pits man against man against beast.
Do you have what it takes to kill your own food? That’s the question posed by career journalist Nolan (Damon Runyan), who travels with girlfriend Sophie (Missy Peregrym) to her hometown for a weekend of hunting and self-exploration. To help Nolan with his article, Sophie enlists her childhood friend Kyle (Joris Jarsky), who has never quite gotten over Sophie’s departure. But when the hunting trip takes a tragic turn, all three will learn if they have what it takes to triumph over nature – and their baser instincts.
In this short excerpt from the episode, Matt Monagle explains how Out Come the Wolves and Backcountry tell stories for two audiences at very different ages:
“Missy Peregrym’s character at 40 in this film feels similar, but also further down the road, than her character did in Backcountry. And that tinges everything with just a little bit of fatigue or sadness, that little bit of of growing older and losing your roots. Departing from a former life of yours – that played really well for me. But I have a lot of personal reasons in my life why that would.“
The Out Come the Wolves episode of the Certified Forgotten podcast is now available to stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or the podcast platform of your choice.