Except Lassie or Benji, live-action animals in the cinema, whether they are famous (Jaws), semi-famous (Cujo), or even of undersized status (Asylum’s best efforts), will in all likelihood bite if you try to cuddle them. Entirely motivated by hunger and bloodlust, the deadly beasts in the following list will tear you limb to limb, tear you to death, lurk in your vegetable garden, or simply devour you as you swim. You may notice that Jaws missing from the list of horror movies; we’ve seen it all and everyone knows about it, so check out some fun movies you might not have seen.
Piranha 3D
Piranha 3D is a brutal modern reboot of Joe Dante’s 1978 original courtesy of director Alexandre Aja (High voltage, the hills have eyes). A hallmark of “nature-run-amok” in the horror genre is that it will end in blood, screams, and bizarrely violent deaths for the people at the center of the story. As such, Aja’s film is extremely gory; there is some shocking violence here, a scene with a propeller will make you wince. In the film, a school of carnivorous piranha is unleashed on a small community during spring break, and it’s a massacre.
Alligator
A favorite Quentin Tarantino movie, Alligator was largely overshadowed by the phenomenal success of Jaws. This is so much more than a cheap redemption of Spielberg’s blockbuster. Lewis Teague’s first entry on the list is all about the titular alligator. Teague cleverly uses the urban alligator-in-the-sewer legend and has a lot of fun with the concept. Robert Forster is the jaded cop that no one will take seriously until the giant alligator starts eating cops and crashing millionaires’ soirees. Tightly expanded, Alligator has great characterization and has amazing alligator attacks.
Arachnophobia
A sleepy American town becomes the breeding ground for a deadly species of arachnid in Frank Marshall’s 1990 classic, Arachnophobia. Dr. Ross Jennings (Jeff Daniels) is the town doctor trying to integrate into the rural community, and he has a deep, debilitating fear of spiders. Once the death toll begins to rise and Jennings realizes spiders are responsible, he must face his fears. John Goodman’s performance as the exterminator is absolutely delightful here.
boar
boar is an underappreciated Australian film about an outback town plagued by a giant boar. Some locals decide to try to exterminate the deadly pig and spectacularly fail at every attempt. Yes, it follows a similar trajectory to similar films, and yes, it has similar stock characters, but overall it does something new with the subgenre and makes wonderful use of the Australian setting.
Lake Placid
Entering boar is pretty brutal, but only slightly less horrifying is the fate that befalls some of the characters Lake Placid. A huge crocodile has taken up residence in a Maine lake and has begun eating livestock and the occasional person. Bridget Fonda’s prudish museum curator’s crocodile expertise is put to the test by Bill Pullman’s dry sheriff, who is furious that a crocodile has invaded to be Lake. Betty White appears as a nice old lady who happens to be feeding the crocodile, and Oliver Platt’s mad crocodile expert is an absolute hoot.
To crawl
An athletic and accomplished swimmer takes on hungry alligators during a storm To crawlthe second entry on Alexandre Aja’s list, scripted by Shawn and Micheal Rasmussen and produced by Sam Raimi. To crawl revolves around swimmer Haley (Kaya Scodelario), who must pick up her father from his house before a Category 5 hurricane hits the area. Flooding at their home and more than a dozen gators thwart their plans, and Haley must put her swimming skills to good use if she and her father are to avoid being devoured. , and claustrophobic film that became a hit with critics.
Eight-legged freaks
An evil menagerie of spiders is exposed to a chemical spill and has a growth spurt into the wonderfully mad Eight-legged freaks. This more or less means that they are getting bigger and are a serious threat to the local population in the small town in America’s backwoods. For an intentionally schlocky film, there are some legitimately fantastic action sequences here as the city is besieged by an army of giant spiders. A charming David Arquette, a gently humorous battle between a cat and a hermit within a wall, and the biggest arachnid since Earth Vs. The Spider also make this a truly memorable film.
Cujo
One need only glance at the Rotten Tomato review of Lewis Teague’s 1983 adaptation of Cujo to see it universally panned upon release. Supposedly Stephen King (addiction problem) can’t remember writing the book the movie is based on, but it was nevertheless the start of one of the most iconic careers in history. A sweet Saint Bernard succumbs to the violent symptoms of rabies and goes on a murderous rampage.
Dee Wallace plays the young mother trapped in her car with her son, as she’s trapped trying to outsmart a 300-pound killing machine. It may not be the best adaptation of a King novel, but it’s far from the worst, and the sadly sympathetic dog, reduced to a mechanism of pure violence, makes for some surprisingly complicated emotions.
Snails
Usually our vegetable garden is the only threat our slimy friends pose. Not in the American/Spanish production of Juan Piquor Simon. A deadly spawn of carnivorous black slugs is taking over a small town, and it’s not pretty. One of the most inventively creepy animal attack movies to make the list. The deaths are both brutal and stomach-churning (including a restaurant scene that will instantly throw you off your Chicken Caesar).