Halloween Beasts of Horror: The Animals That Scare Us

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!

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…

ANACONDA – 1997

Technically, snakes are reptiles, not amphibians, but a giant snake movie belongs on this list. Anaconda was another great animal horror film featuring a host of big name actors: Jennifer Lopez, Jon Voight, Ice Cube, and Owen Wilson all star in this movie about a documentary film crew that cruises the Amazon jungle and meets up with a creepy snake hunter (Voight), only to meet an untimely demise in the squeezing coils and jaws of a huge anaconda. This is also the first time that I can recall a black actor surviving to the end of a horror film – LL Cool J would also accomplish this great feat of social progression two years later in Deep Blue Sea.

THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS – 1996

If by some slim chance you ever happen to be in the African Savannah and are living in a tent, you might want to consider relocating. Widely considered to be a major bust as a movie, The Ghost and the Darkness was, by my opinion, a hugely successful animal-based horror film. The story is loosely based on a true story from 1898 where two lions played a game of one upping each other and managed to slaughter 130 people over the course of nine months. To me, director Stephen Hopkins captures the intensity that those people must have felt back then. It’s a scary thing to know that something bigger and stronger than you is hunting you down day and night and there is literally no place you can hide. Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas turn in good performances as the two guys charged with hunting down the feline killing machines.

ARACHNOPHOBIA – 1990

So you may never visit Africa and have no need to be afraid of lions, but there is one thing almost everyone has been afraid of at one point in their lives – Spiders! And no other movie has ever captured that phobia better than Frank Marshall’s Arachnophobia. Starring Jeff Daniels and John Goodman, Arachnophobia reminded us why it isn’t safe to just stick your head or hand into dark recesses of a house or barn. Spiders are smaller than us, yes; we should be able to totally dominate them and squash them under foot. But let’s see how brave you are the next time a huge camel spider is crawling on your chest when you wake up. No sir, I don’t like spiders and just like Goodman’s exterminator, it is my job to rid the earth of each one I see.

MAN’S BEST FRIEND - 1993

So let’s just say you’re one of those folks who fights for the right of every animal to live – especially dogs (insert random Michael Vick joke here). Well, how about you go ahead and watch Man’s Best Friend and then tell me how quickly you change your mind! Lance Henriksen is a “mad” scientist that genetically alters a huge hulking dog to have the natural abilities of other animals, as well as an increased intellect. The dog escapes and finds shelter at the home of Ally Sheedy, a reporter and animal activist who doesn’t believe the dog is a killer – that is, until said dog begins hunting her down and killing everything in his path, including a shocked and surprised cat!

CUJO – 1983

Well, I can see how you wouldn’t be scared of a genetically altered canine – there’s really no way an animal of that type could exist… But wait, what about the movie that to this day is synonymous with “Bad Dog?” Of course I’m talking about Cujo, one of Stephen King’s classic horror novels turned film and a film I consider to be in the top three King screen adaptaions, behind Misery, and The Shining. Director Lewis Teague really captures the true feeling of betrayal, heartache and terror as the once loving, protective household pet is turned into a biting, killing animal by rabies.  Eventually all turns out well and why no one bothers to just knock the dog out with a bat is beyond me (crazy animal lovers…), but it’s the horror of being confronted with a rabid Cujo that makes you feel helpless in face of a 100-plus-pound animal bearing down on you.

Continue reading about Cats, Birds and Bears (oh my)…

STRAYS – 1991

OK, so dogs aren’t your type of pet and most people would already consider you to be the crazy lady in the neighborhood that can been seen at Wal-mart buying up dozens of bags of Tidy Cat. I get it: Cats are independent, faithful, therapeutic and if we believe John McPherson and Shaun Cassidy, cats are also feral, intelligent, clawing, killing machines. When a new family moves into a home of much-needed repair, they get more than they bargain for when a feisty pack of felines – led by an “Alpha Cat” – take offense and start eyeball scratching everyone in sight. Strays is laughable at most moments during the film, mostly because it was a made-for-TV movie – but still, the movie does make you question what is going through a cat’s mind as he sits there staring at you during dinner. The best way to protect yourself is with a bag of catnip and a laser pointer for distraction.

THE BIRDS – 1963

Correctly considered one of the best classic horror films, horror/thriller auteur Alfred Hitchcock spins a fantastic tale of birds going crazy (or is it calculated?) and attacking humans in Northern California. Even now, modern day directors try to duplicate Hitchcock’s unique approach to horror. Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette and others are bombarded by all forms of fowls, the most notable being crows and seagulls. The best part of this film is the explanation as to why the birds attack – there isn’t one given. The film ends just as creepily as it begins, with all the birds stopping their attack for no apparent reason. It really makes you think “What if?” Would there be any way to outrun or outlast a full-on bird attack?

DAY OF THE ANIMALS – 1977

So, up to this point you’ve managed to dodge each and every animal attack by staying away from areas where ferocious animals live. You stay out the water, never visit an African jungle, keep your house clean of spiders and never own house pets,  but you can’t out run them all. Day of the Animals proves that, if even in a campy way. William Girdler directs a cast of people who want to (ironically enough) get back to nature, and nature is not pleased. Leslie Nelson, who you may not know used to do serious roles, leads the group through the mountains where, because of depletion in the ozone layer, animals living above 5,000 feet have gone mad with frenzy. Every animal attacks – not each other just people – as mountain lions, vultures and bears take their decades of frustration out on the unsuspecting hikers with prejudice.

As you can see, you can’t fight Mother Nature and you can’t hide from her either. There are plenty of other animal movies out there that are just as horrific (in one way or another). We would love to hear your thoughts on the above movies or any that you feel are other terrifying animal flicks.

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