The Top 10 Best Killer Animal Movies

You’re Going to Want to Stay Inside After These Killer Animal Movies.

After doing the research for this top 10 list, I can confirm that there are nowhere near enough good killer animal movies. Sure, there are plenty of shark movies and more than enough giant monster movies, but it’s hard finding a good old fashioned when animals attack flick. Even when you do you have to shuffle through plenty of god-awful films to find anything worth watching. Trust me, getting mauled by a lion, tiger or bear is preferable to sitting through some of those movies. Luckily for you though, I did the heavy lifting and managed to come up with a list of 10 awesome killer animal movies for you to enjoy. Just for good measure, I put a few rules in place for this list.

1) No shark movies. You can check the best of those out on another list here (and we all know what movie would come in number one if they were included).
2) The creatures cannot be genetically engineered or crossbred. As in no escaping from a lab or being man-made monsters (though one movie on this list will come close. But I’ll get to that later).
3) These cannot be giant monsters (ie: kaiju)

So, with that in mind, get ready to embrace the air-conditioned lifestyle, because these movies are going to make you think twice about any camping trips or exotic vacations.

10. Anaconda

Kicking off this list is a film that should set the tone for the kind of movies you’re going to see. Let’s face it, killer animal movies aren’t what one might call traditionally “good,” but damn if they aren’t fun to watch. Case and point is the 1997 masterpiece Anaconda starring J Lo and Ice Cube (it turns out the best way to defeat a giant snake is with a team of musicians turned mediocre actors). This movie features a giant anaconda (which is already the world’s heaviest snake) who doesn’t take kindly to a documentary film crew that stumbled into it’s feeding grounds. While most snakes are typically happy with one meal and skedaddle afterward, this snake keeps coming back for seconds and slowly works its way through the cast. It’s far from realistic, but if I wanted that I’d go to the zoo, not the movies.

9. Lake Placid

Critics weren’t big fans of Lake Placid when it came out, but they also thought The Last Jedi “honors the saga’s rich legacy while adding some surprising twists.” So, who really cares what they have to say? Lake Placid is the first entry on our killer animal movies list to feature a giant crocodile and as a native Floridian, I can vouch for how scary even regular sized one can be. While a lot of the films on here are straightforward horror, this one mixes it up with plenty of comedy thanks to the likes of Oliver Platt, Brendan Gleeson, and even a cameo by Betty White. While it might seem impossible for a croc to end up in Maine, saltwater crocs have been known to show up in all the wrong places. As if sharks weren’t enough, now you got man-eating reptiles to look out for at the lake and the beach now.

8. Cujo

Old Yeller this is not. While Cujo might not be one of the best Stephen King adaptations, it’s definitely one that will make you realize just how dangerous man’s best friend is. For all you doggy lovers out there, I’m sorry to tell you that roughly 25,000 people are killed by canines each year. Of course, those are regular dogs and not rabid Beethoven’s (Saint Bernards), which are huge. The horror of this movie isn’t just that Cujo goes after his loving owners, but ends up trapping them in a car where they slowly die from starvation and dehydration. I’m more of a fan of those happy dog movies Hollywood pumps out in droves, but they’re far from appropriate for this killer animal movies list. So, next time you see that doggy in the window think about whether you can take it or not if it goes crazy. I guess that’s why Chihuahuas are so popular.

7. Backcountry

Whenever people ask me why I’m not big on camping I like to show them Backcountry, because then they’re no longer big on camping either. As far as killer animal movies go, this one doesn’t offer a lot of screen time to the said killer animal. Instead, it mostly follows a couple who are trying to get away from the big city with a weekend trip out to the middle of the woods. Like so many camping trips I’ve experienced, things slowly deteriorate as the couple realizes they’re lost and start bickering. Just when they’re ready to make up with each other Yogi comes a calling and he is not looking for a picnic basket. Backcountry is not a film for the faint of heart because bears do not take prisoners and they will absolutely shred whatever gets in their way. Just ask Leo after The Revenant.

6. Piranha 3D

This is another movie that holds a special place in my heart because it was one of the first films I reviewed in theaters. A lot of killer animal movies end up suffering because they take themselves so seriously. This remake from acclaimed director Alexandre Aja knows exactly what it is though and takes full advantage of its absurd premise. It features plenty of memorable sequences from a Girls Gone Wild feeding frenzy resulting in nothing by breast implants left to a cameo from Richard Dreyfuss, Piranha 3D is everything that Stars & Popcorn stands for. It’s a ridiculous horror movie with gratuitous bloodshed and nudity, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t just a blast to watch. This movie squeezes onto this list because while it does feature fictional ancient piranhas, there’s nothing man made about them.