Nature Strikes Back: The 10 Best Nature Horror Films
These are the films where Mother Nature decides not to play nice. In keeping this list specific, I have left off the "Big Bug" films of the '50s and 60's, as they really deserve their own list. These are simply my favorite films where real nature strikes back!
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- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsRoy ScheiderRobert ShawRichard DreyfussWhen a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.The undisputed king of the summer blockbuster.
- DirectorJohn 'Bud' CardosStarsWilliam ShatnerTiffany BollingWoody StrodeIn rural Arizona, countless killer tarantulas are migrating through a farm town, killing every living thing in their path. The town's veterinarian will do everything in his power to survive the onslaught.Still has the power to creep you out today. Relentlessly bleak and skin-crawling.
- DirectorWilliam GirdlerStarsChristopher GeorgeAndrew PrineRichard JaeckelAn eighteen-foot-tall grizzly bear terrorizes a state park, leaving it up to a Park Ranger to save the day.One of the better Jaws rip-offs of the '70s, this is a starkly gruesome film, and boasts a wonderful performance by veteran actor Richard Jaeckel.
- DirectorWilliam GirdlerStarsChristopher GeorgeLeslie NielsenLynda Day GeorgeA battle for survival ensues after a group of hikers encounters a chemically imbalanced forest.A decidedly strange film in which all of nature turns against humans on the same day. A rare performance by Leslie Neilson as a truly evil character.
- StarsWilliam PetersenKaren SillasCharles Martin SmithMysterious things happen at the coast of Graves Point: An empty boat lies at the shore, divers vanish. The sea biologist Dr. Talley thinks he knows the solution of the mystery: In the depth there is a gigantic squid.Tentacles... lots and lots of tentacles.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsRod TaylorTippi HedrenJessica TandyA wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.Still terrifying, still mesmerizing. Hitchcock set the high mark here for the nature-runs-wild horror film.
- DirectorLee TamahoriStarsAnthony HopkinsAlec BaldwinElle MacphersonAn intellectual billionaire and two other men struggle to band together and survive after getting stranded in the Alaskan wilderness with a blood-thirsty Kodiak Bear hunting them down.Perhaps the most brutal bear attack ever filmed.
- DirectorLewis TeagueStarsDee WallaceDaniel Hugh KellyDanny PintauroCujo, a friendly St. Bernard, contracts rabies and conducts a reign of terror on a small American town.A gritty and relentless film about man's best friend becoming man's worst fiend.
- DirectorJoe DanteStarsBradford DillmanHeather Menzies-UrichKevin McCarthyWhen flesh-eating piranhas are accidentally released into a summer resort's rivers, the guests become their next meal.The best of the Jaws imitators, this also boasts a smart and funny script written by John Sayles.
- DirectorFrank MarshallStarsJeff DanielsJulian SandsJohn GoodmanA new species of South American killer spider hitches a lift to a small California town in a coffin and starts to breed, leaving a trail of deaths that puzzle and terrify the young doctor newly arrived in town with his family.The perfect blend of eight-legged horror and humor.