Psychos, monsters, knives, guns and ghouls — these are the staple ingredients in the vast catalogue of horror films.

But Down Under there is another, uniquely Australian, component that has been employed to devastating effect: the outback.

From Picnic At Hanging Rock to Wolf Creek and now Killing Ground — released this week — the outback has often been the setting in which we watch our characters fight for survival.

Australian horror films Picnic At Hanging Rock, Wolf Creek and Killing Ground are standouts in the genre. ( Supplied )

But why do we keep going back to this source? And does the fact that this setting appears so suited to the horror genre speak to our own anxious relationship with rural Australia?

There's a history to the horror

The broad subgenre of Australian bush horror goes back decades, with many filmmakers pitting humans against each other in a remote setting.

In Wake In Fright (1971), Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975), and more recently the two Wolf Creek films (2005, 2013), the story revolves around people trying to escape the horrors inflicted on them by others.

In other takes, it is about humans versus animals. In Razorback (1984) a wild boar terrorises a town, while giant crocodiles have been the hunters in Dark Age (1987) and Rogue (2007).

Then there are the more obscure threats, as seen in Long Weekend (1978) where nature itself fights back, and The Cars That Ate Paris (1974) in which a whole town profits from causing fatal accidents.

Razorback, Rogue and The Cars That Ate Paris show the breadth of the Australian horror genre. ( Supplied )

Film critic Zak Hepburn rates Wolf Creek and Wake In Fright as particularly good examples in this subgenre.

"Both showcase the landscape as simultaneously beautiful but also deadly," he said.

"The successful and enduring horror films we have produced, and the ones that stick with us, not only show the duality of our national landscape, but also show our cultural, social duality and the darker elements evident within that."

Where does this fascination stem from?

For Killing Ground writer and director Damien Power, it was the image of a deserted camp tent that inspired him to produce his own film about being lost and hunted in the wilderness.

"Killing Ground is part of a long tradition of Australian cinema exploring our sense of unease in our own backyard," he said.

"Thinking about what might have happened to the tent's missing occupants reminded me of the scary stories we tell around a campfire."

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And our choice of the outback is about more than just scaring off tourists, according to Hepburn.

"The bush/outback has always cast a mystical spell over storytellers interested in our primal fear in the great unknown," he said.

"It's similar to the woods of American genre films — being cast out into an outback setting allows the filmmaker to draw on our inner fears of not being able to control your environment.

"Add an aggressive antagonist into mix and you have the perfect fundamental formula to create tension."

Why do we choose to watch these films?

Horror films have long drawn on and played with our primal fear of death, but there's more to it than just that, said QUT senior lecturer in film and television, Mark Ryan.

"It's becoming more understood that horror films are well and truly influenced by culturally specific fears and anxieties," he said.

Sorry, this audio has expired Killing Ground

In the US, for example, alien films were common throughout the 20th century as the country became fascinated with otherworldly ideas.

In Japan, many thrillers revolve around the rise of technology and its influence on humans.

In Australia, it comes back to our relationship with the vast unknown of the outback.

Of course, for Killing Ground actor Harriet Dyer it may just be that we like the thrill of the scare.

Sorry, this video has expired 'There is something in the unknown, in our country being so vast,' says Harriet Dyer

"It's like an extra sensory level," she said.

"It is like a sport. You know if you're going to sit down and watch a scary movie it's going to cost you something.

"Like you're going to be a little physically involved. But I think that's kind of exciting."

Dyer said it was encouraging to see people hadn't been desensitised by real-life horrors seen in the news and could still have a reaction to a scary film.

"[Films are] certainly a safe version of an unsafe thing," she said.

"It's a controlled environment where things are out of control."