Movies and TV series featuring animal attacks as their main plots often perpetuate damaging stereotypes about the animal kingdom. However, if you can be aware of the fact and take these fictionalisations at face value, you can revel in the often ludicrously enjoyable entertainment they offer.
Amongst the endless B-grade offerings - we're looking at youย Sharknado 1, 2, 3 and 4ย - there are a few stronger renditions of what happens when animals attack. From A to Z, B-grade to A-list, we take a look at ten examples below.
1. Arachnophobia (1990)
There are an inordinate amount of phobias in this world, but arachnophobia is one many are familiar with. If youโre afflicted with a fear of spiders, this eight-legged manifestation is best avoided. But if you decide youโre brave enough, youโll get to enjoy John Goodman having fun as an exterminator, and a preposterous plot bordering on clichรฉ as it waves goodbye to the โ80s with a delightful blend of comedy and horror.
2. The Birds (1963)
You could give the master of suspense a cardboard box and heโd make it scary. In 1963 Alfred Hitchcock directed his third movie based on a novel by Daphne du Maurier, The Birds, making our โfeathered friendsโ the frightening villains of the piece. The attacks are ostensibly sudden and inexplicable, but the tongue-in-cheek trailer, featuring Hitchcock, goes a long way in explaining just why they attack.ย
3. Black Sheep (2006)
Sheep may look passive and peaceful munching on the verdant hills of New Zealand, but when itโs genetically altered sheep youโre dealing with then this movie begins to look more like an early Peter Jackson movie. Filled with plenty of fun and frights, youโre sure to be entertained and never look at lamb chops in quite the same way.
4. Black Water (2007)
From the farmlands of New Zealand to the mangroves of Australia, this Aussie outing is heavy on the horror. Itโs also one of the few mildly realistic tales, and not only because itโs based on the true story of a crocodile attack. While spiders, birds, sheep and many other animals will generally leave you alone if you stay out their way, saltwater crocodiles have been known to attack all kinds of beings, including the human kind.
5. Cujo (1983)
Itโs not only wild animals or livestock that attack in these kinds of films. Dogs have featured as ferocious beasts in many a story, but none is more famous than Stephen Kingโs Cujo. The authorโs 1981 novel about a rabid dog was adapted into a movie two years later, becoming a cult classic. The title character is a St. Bernard, which is actually a rescue dog! Luckily the breed received a much friendlier depiction in movies like Peter Pan and Beethoven.
6. Jaws (1975)
You can thank Steven Spielberg and this seaside horror for giving sharks a bad name. Even though the film has contributed in maligning the species, there is no denying the taut thrills produced by the menacing yet barely-visible presence of the human-hungry shark emphasised by the trepidation of that famous two-note theme.
7. Piranha (1978)
Another reason to stay out of the water is this killer fish flick, which was created as a something of a send up to Jaws. Finding Nemoโs Bruce may have told us that โfish are friendsโ but these snappy fish have been known to attack humans. The film ups the killer ante by having them genetically altered and introduced into a summer resort. Cue holiday chaos. The film was remade in 1995, and while the first film was a hit, the remake was completely dismissed. The second remake, in 2010, hooked audiences (yes, we just wrote another awful pun) and spawned (and again!) a less successful sequel.
8. The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)
Set in 19th century Kenya, this lionsโ tale is based on the true story of the Tsavo man-eaters, a couple of lions that developed a taste for human flesh. The true tale becomes quite tall, thanks to the over-dramatisationย of several aspects, in order to ramp up the action and suspense.
9. Snakes on a Plane (2006)
The best thing about this movie is that Samuel L. Jackson didnโt even read the script when he agreed to make it. He just read the title and said yes โ and you thought he couldnโt get any cooler. As Sam Jackson โ and the movie teaches us โ this is not something to take seriously. Itโs funny, frightening, Jackson-packed with action and delivers 100% on its title.
10. Zoo (2015 - )
This TV series based on the novel by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge is kind of like The Birds, but with all animals involved. From domestic to wild, the animals have revolted and itโs up to a zoologist, a field guide, a reporter, a veterinary pathologist, and a French chic to figure out why.
Watchย Zooย Season 2 every Friday at 20:30 from 15 July on M-Net.