Entertainment
The Scariest Animal Horror Movies Ever Made
List Rules
Horror films that star animals as villains
Often when audiences see any sort of animal on the big screen, it is followed by adored oohing and aahing due to the cute and adorable nature of the animal. However, there are certain films where the wonders of nature are construed and represented in a much more dark and sinister light… These are the scariest animal horror movies ever made!
From the scary sea world of Jaws to the rural charm of Cujo to the more outlandish concepts of Anaconda, each and every one of these horrifying animal films turns the things we love into hideous and horrifying monsters. Whether your particular favorite scary animal movies pick lies with dogs, spiders, or sharks, there are unlimited scares to experience by watching movies from this list, but be warned, you may never look at your pets the same way again.
Vote up the scariest animal movies ever made, and be sure to check out the scariest movies of all time!
Ranked by
- 1Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss
- Released: 1975
- Directed by: Steven Spielberg
When a young woman is killed by a shark while skinny-dipping near the New England tourist town of Amity Island, police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) wants to close the beaches, but mayor Larry ...more - 2Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum
- Released: 1993
- Directed by: Steven Spielberg
In Steven Spielberg's massive blockbuster, paleontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) are among a select group chosen to tour ...more - 3Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne, Denise Crosby
- Released: 1989
- Directed by: Mary Lambert
Doctor Louis Creed (Dale Midkiff) moves his family to Maine, where he meets a friendly local named Jud Crandall (Fred Gwynne). After the Creeds' cat is accidentally killed, Crandall advises Louis to ...more - 4Dee Wallace, Danny Pintauro, Daniel Hugh Kelly
- Released: 1983
- Directed by: Lewis Teague
In this tale of a killer canine, man's best friend turns into his worst enemy. When sweet St. Bernard Cujo is bitten by a bat, he starts behaving oddly and becomes very aggressive. As Cujo morphs ...more - 5Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Suzanne Pleshette
- Released: 1963
- Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) meets Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) in a San Francisco pet store and decides to follow him home. She brings with her the gift of two love birds and they strike up a ...more - 6Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, Samuel L. Jackson
- Released: 1999
- Directed by: Renny Harlin
On an island research facility, Dr. Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows) is harvesting the brain tissue of DNA-altered sharks as a possible cure for Alzheimer's disease. When the facility's backers send ...more - 7Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, Oliver Platt
- Released: 1999
- Directed by: Steve Miner
When a mysterious creature violently kills a man in a Maine lake, Jack Wells (Bill Pullman), the local game warden, looks into the bizarre case, along with Sheriff Hank Keough (Brendan Gleeson) and ...more - 8Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, Morfydd Clark
- Released: 2019
- Directed by: Alexandre Aja
When a massive hurricane hits her Florida town, young Haley ignores the evacuation orders to search for her missing father, Dave. After finding him gravely injured in their family home, the two of ...more - 9Jeff Daniels, Harley Jane Kozak, John Goodman
- Released: 1990
- Directed by: Frank Marshall
After a nature photographer (Mark L. Taylor) dies on assignment in Venezuela, a poisonous spider hitches a ride in his coffin to his hometown in rural California, where arachnophobe Dr. Ross Jennings ...more - 10Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton
- Released: 1978
- Directed by: Jeannot Szwarc
Years after the shark attacks that left Amity Island reeling, Sheriff Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) finds new trouble lurking in the waters. Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) wants to rid the beach town ...more - 11Michael Douglas, Val Kilmer, Tom Wilkinson
- Released: 1996
- Directed by: Stephen Hopkins
Sir Robert Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson) is behind schedule on a railroad in Africa. Enlisting noted engineer John Henry Patterson (Val Kilmer) to right the ship, Beaumont expects results. Everything ...more - 12Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz
- Released: 1986
- Directed by: David Cronenberg
When scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) completes his teleportation device, he decides to test its abilities on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a housefly slips in during the process, leading to a ...more - 13Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney
- Released: 2012
- Directed by: Joe Carnahan
Following a grueling five-week shift at an Alaskan oil refinery, workers led by sharpshooter John Ottway (Liam Neeson) are flying home for a much-needed vacation. A brutal storm causes their plane to ...more - 14Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight
- Released: 1997
- Directed by: Luis Llosa
Filmmaker Terri Flores (Jennifer Lopez) is traveling deep in the Amazon jungle looking for a forgotten tribe. Terri and her crew, which includes an anthropologist (Eric Stoltz) and a cameraman (Ice ...more - 15Sophie Nélisse, Corinne Foxx, Brianne Tju
- Released: 2019
- Directed by: Johannes Roberts
Four teenage divers discover that the sunken ruins of a Mayan city are also a hunting ground for deadly great white sharks. With their air supply steadily dwindling, the frightened girls must ...more - 16Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, E.G. Marshall
- Released: 1982
- Directed by: George A. Romero
A compendium of five short but terrifying tales contained within a single full-length feature, this film conjures scares from traditional bogeymen and portents of doom. In one story, a monster ...more - 17Radha Mitchell, Michael Vartan, Sam Worthington
- Released: 2007
- Directed by: Greg McLean
Rugged American adventure-travel journalist Pete McKell (Michael Vartan) joins a cruise along a crocodile-infested river organized by tomboyish guide Kate Ryan (Radha Mitchell). As if dealing with ...more - 18Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody
- Released: 2005
- Directed by: Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson's expansive remake of the 1933 classic follows director Carl Denham (Jack Black) and his crew on a journey from New York City to the ominous Skull Island to film a new movie. ...more - 19Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Josh Brolin
- Released: 1997
- Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
When a cockroach-spread plague threatens to decimate the child population of New York City, evolutionary biologist Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino) and her research associates rig up a species of "Judas"Â ...more - 20Fay Wray, Bruce Cabot, Robert Armstrong
- Released: 1933
- Directed by: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
Actress Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) and director Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) travel to the Indian Ocean to do location shoots for Denham's new jungle picture. Along the way, the actress meets and falls ...more - 21Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies-Urich, Kevin McCarthy
- Released: 1978
- Directed by: Joe Dante
Two people (Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies) unwittingly free a mad military scientist's (Kevin McCarthy) mutant fish near a summer camp and resort lake. - 22Mila Kunis, Alexandra Paul, Soleil Moon Frye
- Released: 1995
- Directed by: Scott P. Levy
Piranha, also known as Piranhas, is a 1995 American horror film directed by Scott P. Levy about a school of killer piranha descending upon the bustling Lost River Lake Resort. Produced by Roger ...more - 23Dylan Walsh, Laura Linney, Ernie Hudson
- Released: 1995
- Directed by: Frank Marshall
Scientist Karen Ross (Laura Linney) is sent by her father-in-law, mogul R.B. Travis (Joe Don Baker), to the Congo to determine the whereabouts of his son's missing diamond-hunting team. Led by expert ...more - 24Dominic Purcell, Orlando Jones, Brooke Langton
- Released: 2007
- Directed by: Michael Katleman
Veteran reporter Tim Manfrey (Dominic Purcell) lands possibly the worst assignment of his life: Travel to the African country of Burundi to locate and capture the world's largest crocodile. Dubbed ...more - 25Bo Derek, Richard Harris, Charlotte Rampling
- Released: 1977
- Directed by: Michael Anderson
Orca is a 1977 horror film directed by Michael Anderson and produced by Dino De Laurentiis, starring Richard Harris, Charlotte Rampling, and Will Sampson. It is based on Arthur Herzog's novel of the ...more
