This weekend I was watching The Hitcher for 31 Days of Halloween.  I was thinking about how various settings lend themselves to horror.  So I decided I'd do a series discussing different ones beginning with the obvious.  I was noticing how it seems that if you get caught in the desert with someone who wants to mess you up, then you really have no chance.  There is nothing around.  Think about films like The Hitcher, The Hills Have Eyes, Duel, and even Tremors.  You are out in the middle of nowhere.  Cell phones, when you have them, have no reception.  But it's more than the physical isolation that gives the desert such power over viewers. 

Imagine along with me if you will.  You are driving alone on the desert highway.  There isn't another soul in sight. No traffic, no pedestrians, no buildings save the occasional random snake farm or gas station.  Suddenly your car breaks down or runs out of gas.  Now you have to walk.  As you are walking you start to really pay attention to your surroundings.  The first thing you notice is the oppressive heat, the sun beating down, punctuated by the conspicuous lack of shade in which to seek refuge.  The air is not only hot but dry as well.  You realize you haven't had anything to drink for a while and you can feel the dust collecting in your mouth, lining your throat.  Your eyes are stinging from the sand being kicked up with every step.  Everywhere you look is barren.  Dunes and mountains as far as the eye can see but nothing soft and green to soothe your weary soul.  You're trudging along, feet getting harder and harder to lift off the hard-packed earth.  The rare wildlife you spy only adds to the the picture:  armadillos, lizards, vultures circling over a newly dead carcass in the distance.  You can feel your skin baking and there is nothing you can do to stop it.  Now imagine all of those things plus a madman or some unnatural beast on your tail.  There is nowhere to run; no place to hide; no shelter.  You are doomed. 

armadillos, lizards, vultures circling over a newly dead carcass in the distance.  You can feel your skin baking and there is nothing you can do to stop it.  Now imagine all of those things plus a madman or some unnatural beast on your tail.  There is nowhere to run; no place to hide; no shelter.  You are doomed. 

All of those reasons and more describe why the desert can be an ideal setting for a horror film, depending on the intent.  For movies like Duel, one of my personal favorites, it provides the perfect backdrop for a murderous truck driver on the prowl.  With long stretches of desolate highway at his disposal, the mysterious would-be killer has miles and miles to exact his calculated plan.  Who will see his nefarious deed?  David Mann (Dennis Weaver) makes several attempts to get out of his way or seek shelter only to discover that, in the end, there is no happy place in the wide open spaces. 

It seems odd to refer to an area as large as the desert as "claustrophobic" but in The Hitcher that is exactly as it seems.  I was riding along with Jim Halsey (C Thomas Howell)  and it struck me that the desert would likely be one of the worst places to get caught on someone's bad side.  I know I will never drive through the desert alone and I will never pick up a hitchhiker (not that I recommend that no matter your location).  But if you're caught in something like The Hills Have Eyes, a hitchhiker would be your last concern.  Who knows how many forgotten families are holed up in the wastelands just waiting to pounce?  Or maybe you're being hunted by something even more unnatural.  If you've seen Feast, Reeker (I didn't say they were all good ones) or Rest Stop then they will provide plenty of fodder for your sandy nightmares.  And with the "snakeoids" running amok in Tremors, you have to find high ground or you're sunk.  Those burrowing beasts have an endless appetite and plenty of room to move out in the open. 
 

No traffic, no pedestrians, no buildings save the occasional random snake farm or gas station.  Suddenly your car breaks down or runs out of gas.  Now you have to walk.  As you are walking you start to really pay attention to your surroundings.  The first thing you notice is the oppressive heat, the sun beating down, punctuated by the conspicuous lack of shade in which to seek refuge.  The air is not only hot, but dry as well.  You realize you haven't had anything to drink for a while and you can feel the dust collecting in your mouth, lining your throat.  Your eyes are stinging from the sand being kicked up with every step.  Everywhere you look is barren.  Dunes and mountains as far as the eye can see but nothing soft and green to soothe your weary soul.  You're trudging along, feet getting harder and harder to lift off the hard-packed earth.  The rare wildlife you spy only adds to the picture:  armadillos, lizards, vultures circling over a newly dead carcass in the distance.  You can feel your skin baking and there is nothing you can do to stop it.  Now imagine all of those things plus a madman or some unnatural beast on your tail.  There is nowhere to run; no place to hide; no shelter.  You are doomed. 

more unnatural.  If you've seen Feast, Reeker (I didn't say they were all good ones) or Rest Stop then they will provide plenty of fodder for your sandy nightmares.  And with the "snakeoids" running amok in Tremors, you have to find high ground or you're sunk.  Those burrowing beasts have an endless appetite and plenty of room to move out in the open. 

The above mentioned flicks set out to prove that traps don't require confinement.  All that is really necessary is a good sense of being alone.  You don't have to be in a dank basement or a creaky haunted abode to feel fear.  Sometimes the scariest places are those with no shadows at all.