As the spookiest day of the year (Halloween) approaches, people start talking about what actually scares them the most. We’ve run several articles this month discussing horror films from multiple genres (Comedy, Sci-Fi, Thriller) and then we covered a list of “fun for everyone” Halloween films.
In too many instances people focus on the alien, zombie, ghost and slasher films to represent the horror genre – and while those are all truly frightening topics for films, I think that ultimately one of the scariest horror sub-genres often gets overlooked: Animals gone crazy!
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Whether it’s by land, sea or air, creatures of every imaginable size and shape have terrorized us for decades. Some are exotic animals, others are extinct beasts brought back to life by the magic of Hollywood, while still others hit closer to home and make us question if we should even own a pet. Come join me now and see if your favorite beast film made the list as we discuss the animals that scare us.
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JAWS -1975
Let’s just start off with the heavy-hitter that made the phrase “We’re gonna need a bigger boat,” a classic movie line. Well before the Discovery Channel had ever thought about Shark Week, Steven Spielberg, Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider all teamed up to make sharks scary in Jaws. Set to a classic John Williams score that still holds up today (more than thirty years later) people all over the world are still apprehensive about going into the water for fear of sharks. No one can even mention the name Jaws without thinking “Dun Duh! Dun Duh! Dun Duh!”
Spielberg’s film Jaws would be “sequeled” to death, but none would ever reach the classic status of the original.
PIRANHA – 1978
OK, so maybe you aren’t scared by creatures in the ocean because you live in the Midwest and the closest thing to a body of water near you is a big fresh water lake. Go ahead, strip to your skivvies, grab your boyfriend or girlfriend and jump in – I just hope you don’t mind being torn apart by thousands of tiny flesh-ripping teeth belonging to genetically altered, government created Piranha. For a movie that never showed the actual animal(s), Joe Dante’s Piranha managed to convince most Americans that piranha fish could and do survive in North American lakes and rivers. There’s a 3D remake coming out soon directed by Alexandre Aja, and we can only hope it is as convincing as the original.
LAKE PLACID – 1999
“But Paul,” you say, “I never actually go into the water, ocean or lake, so I’m safe right?” Fair enough; to answer that question, I now give you Lake Placid and its giant man-eating alligator. Full of a list of recognizable and decent actors (Bill Pullman, Oliver Platt, Mariska Hargitay and a foul-mouthed Betty White) Lake Placid provided some truly memorable moments in horror. To this day, doing something as innocent and “safe” as taking a canoe ride or fishing off the bank of a lake makes me think about a giant pre-historic reptile jumping out and chomping me up. Argue this point if you want, but I still say Betty White had the best performance of anyone in this movie.
FROGS - 1972
It’s time to start transitioning from water to land animals, and what better way to do that than with an amphibian? Frogs represents one of those truly classic animal horror films where logic is thrown to the wind and phobias begin to seep into the mix. Starring Ray Milland and Sam Elliot, director George McCowan manages to take a low-budget horror film about something smaller than my hand and turn it into a cult classic. Why should we be afraid of a frog in the garden? Because the frog will eat you, that’s why! Fed up with being mistreated and targeted for termination by a local farmer, the frogs take matters into their own hands and bring down vengeance in a way that will make you look at Kermit in a whole different light.
Continue reading about terrifying land beasts…
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21 Comments
oh my God .
Arachnophobia scared the Hell out of me.
my and Spiders do not mix well.
ack !
How come there’s never been a horror movie about the Loch Ness Monster?
@neontiger21
there have been a few, the only problem is that the majority of them Suck.
i’d love to see a good nessie Monster flick.
but we can only hope.
Nessie is scary when presented as a documentary, NOT as a movie. She’s (he?) a legend enough as it is.
Pah ha, that feature header is top! Where do you find pictures like that? Brilliant!
Komodo had some pretty scary lizards.
I found most those movie more humorous than scary. My favorite line in Lake Placid was when they found the thumb(?) of one of the victims and the remark was made like “I thought he was taller.” But Betty White WAS the highlight of that movie.
“Lake Placid” was supreme camp that somehow turned into Oscar material if you ask me,,, Agreed Betty White was amazing!!!
“The Ghost and the Darkness”,,, I’ll have to check that out, can’t go wrong with that cast,,,
On hunting Lions,,,
I’ve been confronted by some pretty dangerous wildlife and even with high powered weapons felt a strong sense of, “what if I miss?”
I’m screwed, there’s 5 of them,,,
Lions, Tigers and Bears will kick your butt, if you can’t handle your adrenaline…
^
Cool post,,,
i thought “Ghosts in the darkness” was really good. always loved lions growing up.
i had to bring up a movie called “Prophecy” about a giant mutated killer bear, not to be confused with “Grizzly.”
I can’t remember if it scared me, but I still remember seeing it as a young buck.
great list and topic
just a few animal creepy films as well “Rogue”,”Mimic”,”Food of the Gods” (giant human eating hamster), and “Them”
LMAO @ “They have nine lives, we only have one” HAHAHA
And Frogs, I mean, seriously?? Is that like a miniature hand in its mouth???
I saw that movie Ghost and the Darkness, but don’t remember it, must add it to my list of movies to rent… Wild cats are freakin crazy ass super hunting machines, I don’t think any other class of animals can even begin to compete… Have you seen the special about this guy that trained two Tigers to live in grass lands instead of the forest? What a freakin slaughterfest, he didn’t need to train them at all! lol.
I also loved ‘Ghost And The Darkness”, and the most interesting thing about it is that the really dumb parts actually happened. All the smart stuff (including the Michael Douglas character) was made up. But I never really considered this a horror, but I can see the appeal to horror fans.
I’m a huge ‘Blue Monkey’ fan (giant mantis in hospital flick from ‘86), and I keep my eyes peeled for a DVD version. I still have the VHS tape. Better than nothing. I also had a guilty pleasure in “Komodo” (2000) as well. Then there’s “Mimic”, “Deep Blue Sea” and “Rogue”
I’m a little surprised that ‘Jurassic Park’ isn’t on this list, and the sci-fi classic ‘Them!’ is nowhere to be seen, but there is one favorite film of mine that I must mention.
1983’s Of Unknown Origin
Folks, you don’t know what you are missing. Take a overworked biz executive played by Peter Weller, have his hot wife go on an unrelated biz trip of her own, and have the dude become obsessive-complusive in getting rid of one troublesome rat. Not a giant rat. Just big enough to cause damage to furniture, appliances, getting into the food and drink and strong enough to kill a cat. Sure, the body count isn’t real high, it’s basically one guy vs. a rodent. But it’s a terrific film.
@ Paul young
There ahve already been two remakes of Piranha both were str8 to DVD done. I can’t see this new crap 3D ( yes 3D is a POS gimmick that needs to stop) version living up to the original as most new remakes can never capture the essence of the original film.
I’d take the movie Rogue over lake placid any day.
Oh yes why was the movie SLUGS not put on here. ROFL and a half.
James Cameron directed “Piranha2 the Spawning.”
Just fyi…
@ 790
Yes he did, but let’s keep that lock and key :p. The remakes of the Original Pirahna were made by New Horizon’s video (which also made the first live action Fantatistic 4 Movie, and Anchorbay made one as well).
i have almost everyone of those films. killer animal films are some of my favorites,and they dont make enough of them. i liked rogue,and deep blue sea as well. i think steve altens book the loch should be made its got everything anyone would want. i also would love to see meg,creature from the black lagoon remade,birds remade,a very latge taranchula film in the amazon like anoconda,and some more really thought out and greats acrion and cgi animal films with crocs,bears,insects, sharks,and snakes,and beasts.i would also like a jurrasic park 4 that is a little scarier.and off the subject a resident evil remake like the first video game.well thats my opinions.
I would have voted Jurassic park should have made the list…that T rex eating the dude off the toilet and the raptors scared the Bejeesus out of me. Or what about the sci fi classics carnivores with the killer dinosaurs. Also The Edge was crazy where Alec baldwin and Anthony hopkins had to fight off that grizzly bear.
i agree marcusfenix, i have the edge to and jurrassic park 1-3. that part were the guy is attacked by the grizzly and is ripped apart was brutal,but that makes the film feel real and terrifying.directors need to look at these films and study them and make alot more of them,with better acting,great story and graphics like rogue,and anoacondas.i for one would love to see great killer animal films keep coming but only if they are well thought out,i love them.
I tried to read a book years ago called “Alaska Grizzly Bear Attacks”. The book contained true stories of actual attacks.
The book was so graphic that I stopped mid way through,it was that disturbing.
Grizzly Bears are insanely tough to kill and will wipe your face off when confronted. Intense stuff…
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