January’s Chilling Start with Raging Raccoons

It’s January, and a pet chimpanzee has caught rabies—talk about a wild beginning to the year. This sets the scene for Primate, a horror flick that’s surprisingly engaging. It’s well-directed, packed with suspense, and has some impressively gory practical effects. Ben, the fury-filled chimpanzee, is a sight to behold. Directed by Johannes Roberts, known for 47 Meters Down, this film skillfully revives the often outrageous subgenre of killer animal tales that surged in popularity post-Jaws in the late ’70s and ’80s. Notably, a remake of Anaconda is now screening, offering a comedic riff on that 1997 classic.

Now, killer animal movies often tread a tricky line. Animal rights advocates are right to point out that these films can reinforce misleading stereotypes about wildlife. Yet, isn’t that kind of the point of horror? It plays on deep-seated fears—often not very rational, but widely felt. I mean, most solitary figures aren’t akin to Jason Voorhees, just like most bats don’t really align with that kind of nightmare either.

At the same time, I think it’s somewhat beneficial to remind folks that wild animals need to be seen as, you know, a bit more unpredictable than those adorable viral videos imply. Chimps aren’t pets, people! With that in mind, let’s honor the depth of primates while exploring five noteworthy entries in killer animal cinema. Here are some loose guidelines: these shouldn’t involve any sci-fi twists—no giant creatures or radioactive mutations here. It’s all about the primal fear without venturing into the realm of true monsters. Oh, and just to clarify, no Jaws. Not because it’s not a classic, but let’s leave the sharks out of this and focus on the land-dwelling threats.

1. Animal attack horror often struggles to make the animals feel like credible characters unless they have ample screen time. A great example is Willard, which solves this by highlighting an eccentric man who befriends a pack of rats, allowing their personalities—especially Ben and Socrates—to shine. It’s actually a remake of a 1971 cult classic, which later spawned Ben in 1972. A draw to remaking it was having Crispin Glover play the peculiar role of a charming yet violent rodent enthusiast, a blend that perfectly suits Glen Morgan’s quirky and darkly humorous take.

2. The most comical entry might just be Eight Legged Freaks, where the invasion of spiders isn’t overly dramatized. Sure, there’s one particularly disturbing spider for true arachnophobes, but what makes it fun is crafting a menacing breed from ordinary North American spiders. The humor pops out through characters like an arachnophobic doctor, played by Jeff Daniels, and a bold exterminator (John Goodman) who tackle these creepy crawlies.

3. As mentioned earlier, killer animal films often exaggerate the threat posed by animals. The Gray manages to maintain a believable scale as Liam Neeson and a group of plane crash survivors confront not just the elements but the looming threat of vicious gray wolves. Joe Carnahan successfully balances masculinity with understated intelligence in this narrative, showcasing one of Neeson’s better performances as it delves into the complexities of nature-driven terror.

4. Director Alexandre Aja became notable in the “New French Extreme” movement within horror. In his film Crawl, while it is calmer in gore compared to his earlier work, it still builds suspense. This involves a swimmer (Kaya Scodelario) facing both a troublesome alligator and a hurricane while trying to save her father. The dynamic of turning homes and streets into treacherous waterlogged traps keeps viewers on edge, even if the crocodile has a good share of CGI.

5. One of the all-time great horror flicks is Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, which is an unsettling exploration of animal behavior gone awry. It’s based on a short story and twists viewers’ perceptions by showing birds inexplicably attacking people. Hitchcock ingeniously creates an atmosphere of dread, particularly with the iconic imagery of birds gathering ominously, blurring the lines between ordinary life and nature’s inscrutable mysteries. Though it proves horrifying, the behind-the-scenes stories blur the goodness of the art with troubling accounts of mistreatment faced by Tippi Hedren.

The mix of these tales illustrates the fine line between fear and fascination that animal horror can evoke.