Python (2000)
Giant Snake Amok
One of the more likeable among the 2000s fad for low-budget CGI monster movies, this is aided considerably by a sense of humour and a line-up of oddball characters
Animals Amok
This refers to films dealing with animals turning on and attacking humanity. This can either occur in terms of individual animal attacks – as in Jaws (1975) – or in terms of a massed attack by an entire species of animal as in The Birds (1963. These works frequently come with an environmentalist theme where animals are seen as being mutated or driven to attack by pollution or in revenge for despoliation of the environment.
For films about animals and insects enlarged to giant size see Giant Animals. For films dealing with the insect kingdom turning against humanity see Bugs. Specific species where depictions are numerous have been spilled over their own themes with Apes and Killer Sharks. For all general rampaging monstrosities see Monster Movies.
For a more detailed overview of the topic read the theme essay Animals Attack Films
Rattlers (1976)
Killer Snakes
An entry in the 1970s Animals Attack cycle about a small desert town under attack by rattlesnakes
Razorback (1984)
Killer Boar
Russell Mulcahy, a director fresh from success on the early days of MTV, returned to his native Australia to make this extraordinary variant on the Animals Attack film. Mulcahy piles on amazing photography, turning the landscape into something otherwordly
Roboshark (2015)
Robot Shark Amok
Another in the fad for deliberately ridiculous shark movies following in the wake of Sharknado. With immensely entertaining regard, this offers up sharks invading Starbucks, swimming through malls, eating Bill Gates and even going on Twitter
Rogue (2007)
Killer Crocodile
The second film from Greg McLean, made directly after the hit of Wolf Creek. In this tale of a killer crocodile. McLean borrows more than a few pages from Jaws to create an incredibly gruelling and intense ride
Rogue (2020)
Killer Lion
Megan Fox is the leader of a troupe of mercenaries (!) conducting a hostage extraction from rebel territory as they come under attack by a killer lion
Rottweiler (1983)
Killer Dogs
Straggler in the 1970s Animal Amok genre about a small South Carolina town under attack by killer dogs. This was done better elsewhere by films like The Pack and i>Cujo. Made in short-lived 3D fad so we get dog snouts poking out the screen
Rottweiler (2004)
Killer Cyborg Dog
Brian Yuzna usually makes well worthwhile films but this one about an escaped prisoner hunted by a killer cyborg dog fails to come together
Serpent (2017)
Couple Trapped in a Tent with a Deadly Snake
South African thriller that borrows much of its premise from Buried as a married couple camping in a remote gorge are trapped inside their tent with a deadly snake – only for secrets in the marriage to prove just as deadly
Shakma (1990)
Killer Baboon
Film about a group of students locked in a lab and being hunted by a crazed experimental baboon
Slotherhouse (2023)
Sloth on a Killing Spree/Horror Comedy
A sloth is adopted as the mascot of a sorority house and proceeds to go on a killing spree. This emerges as entertainingly tongue-in-cheek
Slugs: The Movie (1988)
Killer Mutant Slugs
Killer slug movie from hack Spanish director Juan Piquer Simon where the sole notable aspect amid the cheapness of the production is some very gory deaths
Snakes on a Plane (2006)
Snakes Amok
Purportedly this was dreamed up by scriptwriters over drinks trying to think of the most ridiculous pitch they could make. The result was advertised as a deliberately bad movie and became a modest hit
Snakes on a Train (2006)
Snake Vomiting Curse/Snakes Amok
The first of The Asylum’s mockbusters intended as a soundalike copy of Snakes on a Plane, this ends up defeated by low-budget and one of the most absurd premises of any film in recent memory
Spasms (1983)
Psychic Link with a Giant Snake
A 1980s film that was sold around a single air bladder makeup effects scene where a man swells up and explodes from a snakebite. That and the entirely risible premise of Oliver Reed as a billionaire who has a psychic link with a giant snake
Spiders on a Plane (2024)
Spiders Amok on a Plane
From prolific producer Scott Chambers, a film that describes itself perfectly in the title. This follows the formula established by Snakes on a Plane and has regular and giant spiders amok on board a plane flight
Stanley (1972)
Man Befriends Snakes
From the 1970s Animals Attack genre, a blatant copy of Willard where a downtrodden man befriends rattlesnakes and uses them to take revenge
Supercroc (2007)
Giant Crocodile
An early mockbuster from The Asylum, a copy of 2007’s crocodile amok films with a giant 100-foot-long crocodile heading towards Los Angeles
The Swarm (1978)
Killer Bees Amok
Irwin Allen had great success in the 1970s with his disaster movies but this killer bee saga with a cast of big name stars uttering ridiculous dialogue and shabby effects proved a bomb that spelt the death knell for the genre
Swarm (2007)
Ants on a Plane
A blatant copy of Snakes on a Plane featuring mutated ants aboard a plane. Without the other film’s tongue-in-cheek approach, this collapses into absurdity
The Swarm (2020)
Woman’s Obsession with Raising Killer Locusts
Not the classic Irwin Allen bad movie but a work of disturbed psychology about a woman who develops an unhealthy obsession with feeding locusts blood and turning them into a killer swarm
Swarmed (2005)
Killer Wasps
A formula Syfy Channel killer bug film wherein a new experimental insecticide creates a horde of deadly genetically tinkered wasps that run amok through a small town
Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (1977)
Spider Takeover
A 1970s Animals Attack film as deadly tarantula spiders take over a small town
Trilogy of Terror II (1996)
Horror Anthology
Sequel to the classic Karen Black-starring horror anthology tv movie with Lysette Anthony starring in a trio of horror tales
Up from the Depths (1979)
Killer Fish
A Jaws copy made by regular Roger Corman scriptwriter Charles B. Griffith. Shot on the cheap in the Philippines and featuring a fish of unidentified species attacking a holiday resort, this is one of the most miserably cheap Jaws copies that came out during this era
The Vampire Bat (1933)
Mad Scientist/Vampire Bat Killings
Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray star in a film about a mad scientist conducting a series of vampire bat killings. A minor but watchable entry in the Golden Age of Horror.
Venomous (2001)
Deadly Snakes/Plague Outbreak
Low-budget director Fred Olen Ray makes a head-scratching crosshatch between a plague outbreak film and an Animals Amok film with a town being attacked by snakes infected with a deadly virus
Watchers (1988)
Intelligent Dog/Dean R. Koontz Adaptation
Dean R. Koontz adaptation in which Corey Haim adopts an unusually intelligent dog unaware it is part of a genetically engineered killing machine. Produced by Roger Corman who spun out a series of sequels.
The White Buffalo (1977)
Western/Hunt for a Mythic Buffalo
Probably the strangest film that Charles Bronson ever made – a retelling of Moby Dick where he plays the real-life figure of Wild Bill Hickok hunting a mythic white buffalo instead of a whale. This was a big financial flop but is a not unworthwhile film
White Dog (1982)
Racial Killer Dog
A controversial film at the time it came out where Kristy MacNichol adopts a stray dog she accidentally runs down only to find it has been trained by racists to kill African-Americans
Willard (1971)
Man Befriends Rats
Fine little tale of an introverted man who befriends a horde of rats and uses these to gain comeuppance. A hit that presaged a host of Animals Attack films throughout the 1970s.
Willard (2003)
Man Befriends Rats
James Wong and Glen Morgan, the duo behind Final Destination, remake the 1971 film about a man and his rats. However, this is set in a stylised 1940s world with a caricatured performance from Crispin Glover that causes the film to lack any credibility
Wolfen (1981)
Intelligent Wolves
Adaptation of a Whitley Strieber book about intelligent wolves hunting in New York City from Michael Wadleigh, the director of Woodstock … The film tends to bury Strieber’s straightforward horror story under social concerns as though wanting to distance itself from the horror label
Zoltan … Hound of Dracula (1978)
Dracula's Dog
aka Dracula’s Dog. Most people who hear the title think this is a joke but this is a real film and one that takes a ridiculous premise – the idea of Dracula’s dog – surprisingly seriously
Zoombies 2 (2019)
Zombie Zoo Animals
Zoombies, based around the idea of zombified versions of zoo animals, was a modest hit for The Asylum. While announcing itself as a sequel, this actually acts as a prequel explaining the origin of the zoombie outbreak
Zoombies (2016)
Zombie Zoo Animals
From The Asylum, the company that brought the world Sharknado and 2-Headed Shark Attack, a film about a zoo filled with zombie animals. Played more seriously than you might expect, this falls just between The Asylum’s usual corner cutting and the odd moment of effectiveness