As it turned out, not only wild animals living in impenetrable jungles can pose a danger to humans. Domestic sheep from the family farm, on which experiments have been conducted, are also capable of causing harm and injuries.
Do not forget about the water element: you may meet bloodthirsty mutant sharks, or huge alligators wanting to eat human flesh. In this selection you will find the best animal horror movies, which will clearly show what the games with nature and careless handling of toxic waste lead to.
Pet Sematary
- IMDB Rating – 5.7
- Genre: Horror
- Production: USA, Canada / 2019
- Budget: $21,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $113,118,226
- Director: Kevin Kolsch, Dennis Widmyer
- Starring: Jason Clarke, Amy Simetz, John Lithgow, Jeté Laurence, Yugo Lavoie, Luca Lavoie, Obssa Ahmed, Alyssa Brooke Levine, Maria Herrera, Frank Scorpio
After getting a position as a doctor in college, Louis Creed moves with his family from Chicago to the quiet small town of Ludlow, Maine. They settle into their new home, which, as it later turns out, is located near a pet cemetery.
On Halloween, disaster strikes: Church’s beloved cat is hit by a truck. Louis buries the pet where the other animals are buried. Soon, unexpectedly, the cat returns, but not the sweet creature that Louis’s daughter loved so much.
The new animal horror movie is based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name. The role of Church was played by four street cats. All of them found homes after filming.
Backcountry
- IMDB Rating – 6.0
- Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama, Adventure
- Production: Canada / 2014
- US box office receipts: $13,848
- Director: Adam MacDonald
- Starring: Missy Peregrim, Jeff Roop, Nicholas Campbell, Eric Balfour
Alex and Jen, a young couple in love, decide to spend a weekend away from the hustle and bustle of the city and go to a protected forest. The hike through the picturesque places does not go well from the very beginning: the path that Alex wanted to take turns out to be closed.
However, the guy, confident that he knows the park well, continues on another road. Very soon the unexpected happens: the heroes notice traces of a predatory black bear.
The movie is based on a true story that describes a bear attack on tourists in 2005 in the Canadian province of Ontario.
Romasanta
- IMDB Rating – 5.3
- Genre: Horror, Action, Thriller, Drama
- Production: Spain, UK / 2004
- Budget: €4,500,000
- Russian box office: $265,000
- Director: Paco Plaza
- Starring: Julian Sands, Elsa Pataky, John Sharian, Gary Picker, David Gant, Maru Valdivielso, Luna McGill, Carlos Reig-Plaza, Reg Wilson, Ivana Baquero.
Mid-19th century, central Europe. Villagers are terrified by horrific cases of murder: unfortunate victims are found in the woods with mutilated bodies and suspiciously precise cuts. Legends of werewolves resurface in people’s minds, and this only adds to the fear.
A young man named Manuel turns out to be the only one who is not afraid to enter the forest. What is behind his actions: courage, or a monstrous essence that comes out at night and does atrocities?
The movie was based on the work of the same name by Alfred Condé, who in turn wrote the novel based on the real facts of the life of a certain Spaniard who killed 13 people in the 1850s, explaining that a curse turns him into a wolf and he cannot resist his animal nature.
Burning Bright
- IMDB Rating – 5.9
- Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
- Production: USA / 2010
- Worldwide box office receipts: $58,147
- Director: Carlos Brooks
- Starring: Garrett Dillahunt, Briana Evigan, Charlie Tahan, Peggy Sheffield, Mary Rachel Dudley, Tom Nawicki, Katie, Shika, Kismet, Mit Loaf.
The protagonist wakes up in a boarded-up house, caught in the epicenter of a hurricane. The first thing the girl, frightened by the natural disaster, rushes to find her autistic brother, who is in one of the rooms.
Suddenly, the fear of the raging elements overshadows a bigger problem: a cannibalistic Bengal tiger, which has already smelled its prey, is roaming around inside the closed room. In an effort to avoid the sharp fangs, the girl shows marvels of intelligence and skill. Will they be able to escape from the lair of the dangerous beast?
The animal horror movie featured real tigers, but footage of them was shot separately from the actors.
White God
- IMDB Rating – 6.9
- Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama, Detective
- Production: Hungary, Germany, Sweden / 2014
- Budget: HUF 700,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $581,904
- Director: Kornel Mundruzo
- Starring: Zsofia Psotta, Sándor Joter, Lili Horváth, Szabolcs Turoczy, Lili Monori, Gergay Banki, Tamás Polgar, Karoly Ascher, Erika Bodnár, Bence Csepeli
After her parents divorce, 13-year-old Lily decides to stay with her father and moves in with a mongrel dog named Hagen. Her father is not happy to have a four-legged pet in the house, which is not even registered.
The sanitary inspection arrives and takes Hagen away, but the dog manages to escape. He goes through a series of misadventures, after which he ends up in a dog shelter. However, not ready to accept his situation, the furry hero organizes a mass escape of dogs, and intends to take revenge on people for their inhumane treatment of animals.
There were 250 mongrel dogs involved in the dog mass. It took two months to find them and another six months to train them. At the end of filming, all the dogs found their owners.
Wilderness
- IMDB Rating – 6.1
- Genre: Horror
- Production: UK / 2006
- Budget: £3,000,000
- Worldwide gross: $566,098
- Director: M. J. Bassett
- Starring: Sean Pertuis, Alex Reid, Toby Kebbell, Stephen White. Luke Neal, Ben McKay, Lenora Crichlow, Carly Green, Adam Deacon, Richie Campbell.
The management of a prison for troubled teens decides to send the inmates to serve their time on a deserted island once used as a military training ground. In their opinion, in this way, young criminals will become on the path of correction, learning to work in a team.
Soon, all who are on the island, learn about the existence of a certain Hunter, wielding a crossbow, and having a whole pack of ferocious dogs. A real bloody hunt begins for the teenagers.
Brotherhood of the Wolf
- IMDB Rating – 7.0
- Genre: Horror, Action, Thriller, Drama, Adventure
- Production: France / 2001
- Budget: FRF 29,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $70,752,904
- Director: Christophe Gans
- Starring: Samuel Le Bian, Vincent Cassel, Emilie Decienne, Monica Bellucci, Marc Dacascos, Jérémie Renier, Jean Yann, Jean-François Stavenen, Jacques Perrin, Christian Marc.
France, second half of the 19th century. Unexplained events occur in the small village of Gevadan. A terrible creature mercilessly kills the locals, sparing neither women nor children. All attempts to find out who hides under the mask of the monster, are fruitless.
The investigation of the case is entrusted to the scientist Gregor de Fronsac. Together with him, the mysterious silent Indian Mani arrives in the city, who intends to catch the dangerous monster with the help of mysterious rituals.
The movie is based on the work of writer Stephanie Cabell’s “Wolf Pack”.
Willard
- IMDB Rating – 6.1
- Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
- Production: Canada, USA / 2003
- Budget: $20,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $8,546,666
- Director: Glen Morgan
- Starring: Crispin Glover, R. Lee Ermey, Laura Harring, Jackie Burrows, Ashlyn Geer, William S. Taylor, Edward Horn, Gus Lynch, Laara Sedik, David Parker.
Shy and unsociable Willard lives a completely unhappy life. In his spare time he has to take care of his sick mother, and when he comes to work he becomes an object of endless ridicule from his superiors.
Willard’s only friends are two rats Ben and Socrates. One day the staff deliberately kills one of the rodents. Having reached a nervous breakdown, the hero begins to take revenge on everyone who has ever caused him suffering.
The movie is a remake of the 1971 film of the same name.
47 Meters Down
- IMDB Rating – 5.7
- Genre: Horror, Thriller
- Production: UK / 2016
- Budget: $5,500,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $62,187,529
- Director: Johannes Roberts
- Starring: Mandy Moore, Claire Holt, Chris J. Johnson, Jani Gelman, Santiago Segura, Matthew Modine, Myra Juarez, Axel Mansilla
Two sisters Lisa and Kate are vacationing in Mexico. At a party the girls meet local guys who organize illegal “attractions” for tourists – diving underwater in a special cage to look at white sharks. The next morning they meet at the agreed place and make a dive.
However, a harmless pastime turns into a struggle for survival. The cable breaks and the girls find themselves at a depth of 47 meters. The oxygen supply in the cylinder is catastrophically low, and a great white shark circles around the cage, eager to eat the easy prey.
To shoot this movie, actresses Mandy Moore and Claire Holt had to learn to scuba dive.
Crawl
- IMDB Rating – 6.1
- Genre: Horror, Action, Thriller
- Production: USA, Serbia, Canada / 2019
- Worldwide Box Office: $91,542,097
- Director: Aleksandar Aja
- Starring: Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, Morvet Clark, Ross Anderson, Jose Palma, George Somner, Anson Boone, Amy Metcalfe, Tina Pribicevic. Srna Vasiljevic
Professional swimmer Haley has a bad day: she loses a competition, and then a powerful cyclone hits Florida. All residents in the epicenter of the hurricane are evacuated, but the girl’s father does not answer the phone. Going in search of her parent, Haley finds him badly wounded in the basement of the house.
The downpour intensifies, water flows into the basement at high speed, but the worst is ahead of them: she notices a huge aggressive alligator, ready to attack at any opportunity.
In reality, alligators very rarely attack humans, unlike crocodiles.
The scenario is based on a real case that occurred during Hurricane Florence in 2018.
The Shallows
- IMDB Rating – 6.3
- Genre: Horror, Action, Thriller, Drama
- Production: USA / 2016
- Budget: $17,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $119,100,758
- Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
- Starring: Blake Lively, Oscar Jaenada, Joseph Salas, Brett Cullen, Sedona Ledge, Pablo Calva, Diego Espejel, Janell Bailey, Ava Dean, Chelsea Moody
American Nancy Adams comes to Mexico to enjoy the wildlife of a deserted beach in the best place for surfers and to swim on a board. However, the first swim turns into a tragedy: the girl is attacked by a white giant shark.
Finding herself on a tiny reef, bleeding Nancy fights for her life. However, the shark is not ready to swim away until it gets its…
The scene in which Nancy hits her face on the buoy and breaks her nose was real. Blake did hit herself hard, but she was able to finish the scene, which was eventually included in the final cut.
Piranha 3D
- IMDB Rating – 5.4
- Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Melodrama, Comedy
- Production: USA, Japan / 2010
- Budget: $24,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $83,188,165
- Director: Alexander Aja
- Starring: Elisabeth Shue, Steven R. McQueen, Adam Scott, Jerry O’Connell, Jessica Szohr, Ving Rhames, Brooklyn Prue, Sage Ryan, Christopher Lloyd, Kelly Brook
Several thousand teenagers plan to go wild at the lake’s annual summer day celebration. But as a result of an earth tremor, a rift forms at the bottom of the lake, from which hordes of blood-thirsty prehistoric piranhas emerge.
Charming Sheriff Julie Forrester and her deputy try to do everything to prevent a deadly disaster. However, their efforts are in vain: furious and hungry piranhas kill those in the water in a fraction of a second.
In one scene of the movie, 1,112 boats, catamarans and yachts were involved.
283 thousand liters of liquid imitating blood were used for filming bloody scenes.
Prey
- IMDB Rating – 4.7
- Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Thriller, Drama, Adventure
- Production: South Africa / 2007
- Director: Darrell Roodt
- Starring: Bridget Moynahan, Peter Weller, Carly Schroeder, Jamie Bartlett, Conner Dowds, Marius Roberts, Muso Sefatsa, Jacob Makgoba, Ashley Taylor, Tumisho Masha.
In the center of the horror film about wild animals – an American married couple who decided to spend a vacation in the hot, sun-drenched African savannah. An amusing journey, in which the heroes wanted to feel incredible freedom and primitiveness, soon turns into a fierce struggle for survival.
A pack of ferocious lions, having spotted people, waits for the moment to attack and eat the easy prey. There is no one to help them. To get out alive, the couple will have to fight the dangerous beasts alone.
Anaconda
- IMDB Rating – 4.8
- Genre: Horror, Action, Thriller, Adventure
- Production: Peru, Brazil, USA / 1997
- Budget: $45,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $136,885,767
- Director: Luis Llosa
- Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Eric Stoltz, Jonathan Hyde, Owen Wilson, Kari Wuhrer, Vincent Castellanos, Danny Trejo, Frank Welker.
A film crew embarks on a journey through the mysterious Amazon jungle to find lost Indian tribes. While enjoying the wild scenery of the full-flowing river, they meet a guide who gladly offers them his help.
The team of explorers does not suspect that they have become hostages of a crazy hunter, whose only goal is to catch a giant anaconda that lives in the area. No one believes his stories, considering them just childish scary stories. But when the first victim appears, the journalists are convinced that the local legends do not lie.
A snake 12 meters long and weighing 2.5 tons was made for the film.
Black Sheep
- IMDB Rating – 5.8
- Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Comedy
- Production: New Zealand, Korea South / 2006
- Worldwide box office receipts: $4,947,717
- Director: Jonathan King
- Starring: Matthew Chamberlain, Nick Fenton, Sam Clark, Eli Kent, Nathan Meister, Nick Blake, Oliver Driver, Danielle Mason, Peter Viney, Glenys Levestam.
Young Henry Oldfried, who experiences uncontrollable panic at the sight of sheep, returns to his father’s farm after treatment to sell the business to his older brother Angus. He does not yet know that by conducting genetic engineering experiments on the sheep, his brother accidentally creates a mutant lamb that infects the rest of his fellow sheep, turning them into bloodthirsty predators.
The heroes, who find themselves in the very epicenter of a nightmare, will have a hard time, especially since the bite of a mad sheep leads to irreversible consequences …
Eight Legged Freaks
- IMDB Rating – 5.4
- Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Action, Thriller, Comedy, Adventure
- Production: USA / 2002
- Budget: $30,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $45,867,333
- Director: Ellory Elkayem
- Starring: David Arquette, Kari Wuhrer, Scott Terra, Scarlett Johansson, Doug E. Doug, Rick Overton, Leon Rippy, Matt Zukri, J. Arlen Jones, Eileen Ryan
In the quiet mining town of Prosperity, an emergency occurs: toxic waste, which is carried by a truck, falls into the lake. The chain of events following the ecological disaster leads to irreversible consequences. A certain entomologist, who took insects from the polluted lake, feeds them to his exotic spiders, after which they quickly turn into huge bloodthirsty creatures.
Giant spiders prowling the city in search of easy prey don’t mind feeding on the locals at all. The townspeople don’t know how to deal with the dangerous arthropods yet, but the sooner they find a way out, the fewer victims they will be able to avoid.
Spider-webs live up to their name – in nature they weave circular webs, which is not the case with the webs in the movie.
Dog Soldiers
- IMDB Rating – 6.8
- Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Action, Thriller, Adventure
- Production: UK, Luxembourg / 2001
- Budget: $2,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $3,530,620
- Director: Neil Marshall
- Starring: Sean Pertuis, Kevin McKidd, Emma Clisby, Liam Cunningham, Thomas Lockyer, Darren Morfitt, Chris Robson, Leslie Simpson, Tina Landini, Craig Conway.
A group of British soldiers, under the command of Sergeant Wells, are sent into the impenetrable Scottish forests to take part in another exercise. Arriving at a camouflaged military camp, the team finds mangled human bodies.
As the soldiers search for the killers, they come across a farmhouse infested with a pack of bloodthirsty werewolves. The soldiers, ready for defense, are horrified to find that ordinary ammunition does not take them. The only hope left is the dawn, but there is still the whole night ahead….
Black Water
- IMDB Rating – 5.9
- Genre: Horror, Action, Thriller, Drama, Adventure
- Production: Australia / 2007
- Budget: $700,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $637,959
- Director: David Nerlich, Andrew Traucki
- Starring: Diane Glenn, Maeve Dermody, Andy Rodoreda, Ben Oxenbould, Fiona Press
A group of friends decides to go to the impenetrable jungle to spend time in nature and fish on a picturesque river. Upon arrival, they hire a guide who knows the neighborhood to the last detail.
Everything goes as well as possible, the tourists enjoy the weather and a good catch, but even such a professional as their guide does not suspect what lurks in the wild waters of the river. A huge crocodile, hungry for fresh prey, sets a trap for the heroes, not everyone can get out of it.
The movie is based on real events. A terrible story took place in Australia in 2003 on the Finnis River. Three friends, traveling on motorcycles, stopped at the river to wash their bikes and take a swim. The swimming was tragic – one of the guys was attacked and killed by a crocodile.
Komodo
- IMDB Rating – 4.2
- Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Thriller, Adventure
- Production: Australia / 1999
- Budget: A$15,000,000
- Director: Michael Lantieri
- Starring: Jill Hennessy, Billy Burke, Kevin Zegers, Paul Gleeson, Nina Landis, Michael Edward-Stevens, Simon Westaway, Bruce Hughes, Jane Conroy, Melissa Yaffer.
A driver transporting a shipment of exotic animals bought on the black market throws one of the reptile eggs into a lake, believing it to be rotten. Some time later, 15-year-old Patrick Connally, along with his parents, goes on vacation to a summer house on the same island near the northern coast of America.
The family has no idea that this vacation, will be the most dangerous event in their lives. The coast is ruled by huge lizards that devour all life in their path. Finding themselves alone with the wilderness, the heroes are forced to fight for their lives.
Into the Grizzly Maze
- IMDB Rating – 5.3
- Genre: Horror, Action, Thriller, Drama, Adventure
- Production: USA, Canada / 2013
- Budget: $10,000,000
- Director: David Hackl
- Starring: Thomas Jane, James Marsden, Piper Perabo, Billy Bob Thornton, Scott Glenn, Michaela McManus, Adam Beach, Kelly Karren, Reese Alexander, Louise D’Olivera.
Rowan has just recently been released from prison after a long incarceration. Beckett is a sheriff’s deputy in a small town. They are brothers who no longer find words for each other. But the events that happen make them come closer together and become a family again.
The whole thing is that in the wild forests surrounding the town, lives a giant grizzly bear, killing everyone who decides to set foot on his property. Despite the danger of the venture, the heroes decide to go into the forest to stop the ferocious predator.
The Breed
- IMDB Rating – 5.1
- Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Action, Comedy
- Production: Germany, South Africa, USA / 2006
- Worldwide box office receipts: $1,689,984
- Director: Nicholas Mastandrea
- Starring: Michelle Rodriguez, Oliver Hudson, Taryn Manning, Eric Lively, Hill Harper, Nick Boraney, Lisa-Marie Schneider
A group of young people go to an abandoned island to relax and have a good time. But the exciting trip turns into a real nightmare: they are attacked by a pack of wild dogs. Very soon the frightened teenagers realize that they are dealing with not simple dogs, but genetically modified creatures that have been experimented on.
A tense struggle for survival begins, but the heroes realize that they are unable to overcome the unusually intelligent and blood-thirsty animals. The only chance for salvation is a motorboat, which is not far from the shore, but you still have to run to it.
This is the debut work of director Nicholas Mastandrea. The movie was shot in South Africa.
Boar
- IMDB Rating – 5.1
- Genre: Horror, Thriller, Adventure
- Production: Australia / 2017
- Budget: A$3,000,000
- Director: Chris Sun
- Starring: Nathan Jones, Bill Moseley, John Jarrett, Steve Beasley, Chris Heywood, Ernie Dingo, Roger Ward, Hugh Sheridan, Simone Buchanan, Chris Bridgewater
The events of the horror movie about killer animals unfolds in the Australian outback. In the neighborhood of a small village there is a bloodthirsty boar, the size of a rhinoceros, on the account of which there are already several human victims. The only one who saw the dangerous beast is a local drunkard, but no one believes him.
There is no telling how many more people may die if he is not stopped. It is at this point that the town family decides to visit a relative at a nearby farm. An innocent trip out of town turns into a real ordeal.
Serpent
- IMDB Rating – 4.5
- Genre: Thriller
- Production: South Africa, USA / 2017
- Director: Amanda Evans
- Starring: Tom Ainslie, Sarah Dumont, Nicole Johnson, Skye Russell
Gwynneth decides to go with her husband Adam, engaged in the search for rare species of animals and insects on an expedition through the rainforests of South Africa. The exciting trip into the wilderness, as the girl believes, should save their crumbling marriage.
After making their way deep into the wild forests, the couple pitch their tent and prepare for bed. Everything goes well, but reality has prepared for them a terrible and cruel surprise: at night a deadly poisonous snake – a black mamba – crawls into the tent. A treacherous game full of confessions, temptations and betrayals begins.
The lethal dose of black mamba venom for an adult is 10-15 mg, while the snake can inject up to 400 mg of venom in one bite. If no antidote is administered, the probability of death is 100%.
Bloodmonkey
- IMDB Rating – 3.1
- Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Action, Thriller, Adventure
- Production: Thailand / 2007
- Director: Robert Yang
- Starring: F. Murray Abraham, Matt Ryan. Amy Manson. Matt Reeves, Laura Aikman, Sebastian Armesto, Freyshia Bomambehran, Prapimporn Karnchanda, Andrea Mascagni, Ulf-Peder Johansson
A group of students on a scientific expedition travel into the heart of the Thai jungle to join the rest of the team camped there. Their goal is to observe the behavior of a new species of primate in the wild.
However, when they arrive, the students find only the professor and his assistant in the camp. All the others turn out to be dead… Very soon the team arrives to find out that they are just bait for bloodthirsty and very dangerous creatures living in these parts.
Lake Placid
- IMDB Rating – 5.7
- Genre: Horror, Action, Comedy
- Production: USA / 1999
- Budget: $35,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $56,870,414
- Director: Steve Miner
- Starring: Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, Oliver Platt, Brendan Gleeson, Betty White, David Lewis, Tim Dixon, Natasha Malthe, Marishka Hargitay, Meredith Salenger.
Lake Placid, a quiet lake hidden in the protected forests of America, is mesmerizing in its beauty. However, it has a terrible secret: at the bottom of the lake dwells a terrible monster of unprecedented size. Anyone who dares to disturb its peace, awaits certain death.
Local sheriff Hank together with a researcher goes to the lake to study the vital activity of beavers. Unexpectedly, the latter is mauled by a huge amphibian creature. Terrified, the sheriff enlists everyone who can help him deal with the monster and begins his search.
Betty White, who played the role of Dolores Bikerman (in the film she feeds a cow to a crocodile), is in reality a member of the social organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
