Dark Woods(2003)
2003 · Pål Øie · 85 min
Five Norwegians head for a cabin in the wilderness for a few days of teambuilding. But strange things start happening — especially down by the water where they find an abandoned tent. Is there someone else?
Horror · Action · Adventure
5.8104 votes
TMDB score
3/5
Intensity
2/5
Gore
3/5
Stays with you
How scary is Dark Woods?
Dark Woods spends its first half building unease through isolation and small, wrong details in the woods rather than jolts. The pace is slow and patient, letting paranoia grow between the group before anything overtly threatening happens. Once the danger becomes clear, it shifts into a tense, physical fight for survival rather than a supernatural chiller. It's a good pick if you like quiet dread that slowly tightens into real fear, not quick scares.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, Dark Woods rates psychological 4/5, visceral 3/5, gore 2/5, lingering effect 3/5, and overall intensity 3/5.
- Psychological: 4 of 5
- Visceral: 3 of 5
- Gore: 2 of 5
- Lingering: 3 of 5
- Intensity: 3 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 25 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 75 of 100 — leans Real-world
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 55 of 100 — balanced
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A slow, quiet setup gradually tightens into mounting dread before a sustained, brutal final stretch.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 4.
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