Natural horror is a subgenre of
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...
s that features natural forces,
typically in the form of
animals
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, have myocytes and are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a ...
or
plants
Plants are the eukaryotes that form the kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria to produce sugars f ...
, that pose a threat to human characters.
Though killer animals in film have existed since the release of ''
The Lost World'' in 1925, two of the first motion pictures to garner mainstream success with a "nature run amok" premise were ''
The Birds'', directed by
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
and released in 1963; and ''
Jaws'', directed by
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
and released in 1975. Following ''Jaws'', numerous horror films of a similar narrative were produced, including ''
Grizzly
The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America.
In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...
'' (1976), ''
Piranha
A piranha (, or ; ) is any of a number of freshwater fish species in the subfamily Serrasalminae, of the family Serrasalmidae, in the order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, floodplains, lakes and reservoirs. Although ...
'' (1978), and ''
Alligator
An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...
'' (1980).
Arthropods
See also the
section on insects.
Arachnids
* ''
Kingdom of the Spiders
''Kingdom of the Spiders'' is a 1977 American science fiction horror film directed by John "Bud" Cardos and produced by Igo Kantor and Jeffrey M. Sneller. The screenplay is credited to Richard Robinson and Alan Caillou, from an original sto ...
'' (1977; tarantulas)
*''
Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo'' (1977; banana spiders)
[
* '']Arachnophobia
Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders and other arachnids such as scorpions and ticks. The word "arachnophobia" comes from the Greek words arachne and phobia.
Signs and symptoms
People with arachnophobia tend to feel uneasy in any area they b ...
'' (1990; spiders)
* ''Ticks
Ticks are parasitic arachnids of the order Ixodida. They are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, and species, but can become larger when engorged. Ticks a ...
'' (1993; giant ticks)
* ''Eight Legged Freaks
''Eight Legged Freaks'' (originally titled ''Arac Attack'', under which it was released in some parts of Europe and other countries around the world) is a 2002 monster comedy horror film directed by Ellory Elkayem and starring David Arquette, ...
'' (2002; giant spiders)
* '' Big Ass Spider!'' (2013; giant spider)
Crustaceans
* '' The Bay'' (2012; isopods)
Birds
* '' The Birds'' (1963; flocks of gulls, crows, sparrows and other birds)
Fish
Piranhas
* ''Piranha
A piranha (, or ; ) is any of a number of freshwater fish species in the subfamily Serrasalminae, of the family Serrasalmidae, in the order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, floodplains, lakes and reservoirs. Although ...
'' (1978; genetically enhanced piranhas)
** '' Piranha II: The Spawning'' (1982; mutant piranhas)
** ''Piranha 3D
''Piranha 3D'' is a 2010 American 3D horror comedy film that serves as a remake of the comedy horror film '' Piranha'' (1978) and an entry in the ''Piranha'' film series. Directed by Alexandre Aja and written by Pete Goldfinger and Josh Sto ...
'' (2010; prehistoric piranhas)
** ''Piranha 3DD
''Piranha 3DD'' is a 2012 American 3D horror comedy film directed by John Gulager and written by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton. It is a sequel to the 2010 film '' Piranha 3D'', part of the ''Piranha'' film series, and stars Danielle Pan ...
'' (2012; prehistoric piranhas)
* ''Piranha
A piranha (, or ; ) is any of a number of freshwater fish species in the subfamily Serrasalminae, of the family Serrasalmidae, in the order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, floodplains, lakes and reservoirs. Although ...
'' (1995; killer piranhas)
Sharks
* '' Jaws'' (1975; a large great white shark
The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocea ...
)Jaws 2
''Jaws 2'' is a 1978 American horror thriller film directed by Jeannot Szwarc and co-written by Carl Gottlieb. It is the sequel to Steven Spielberg's '' Jaws'' (1975), and the second installment in the ''Jaws'' franchise. The film stars Roy ...
'' (1978; a great white shark)
** '' Jaws 3'' (1983; a great white shark)
* '' Up from the Depths'' (1979; a prehistoric shark)
* '' Great White'' (1981 a.k.a. ''L'ultimo squalo''; a great white shark)
* '' Deep Blood'' (1989 a.k.a. ''Sangue negli abissi''; a great white shark)
* '' Cruel Jaws'' (1995, a great white shark)
* '' Deep Blue Sea'' (1999; large genetically engineered shortfin mako shark
The shortfin mako shark (; ; ''Isurus oxyrinchus''), also known as the shortfin mako, blue pointer, or bonito shark, is a large Lamniformes, mackerel shark. It is commonly referred to as the mako shark, as is the longfin mako shark (''Isurus pau ...
s)
*'' Shark Attack '' (1999; great white shark)
** '' Shark Attack 2'' (2000; great white shark)
** '' Shark Attack 3: Megalodon'' (2002, a Megalodon)
*''Megalodon
''Otodus megalodon'' ( ; meaning "big tooth"), Common name, commonly known as megalodon, is an extinction, extinct species of giant mackerel shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago (Mya), from the Early Miocene to the Earl ...
'' (2004; a Megalodon)
* '' Red Water'' (2003; a bull shark
The bull shark (''Carcharhinus leucas''), also known as the Zambezi shark (informally zambi) in Africa and Lake Nicaragua shark in Nicaragua, is a species of requiem shark commonly found worldwide in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in riv ...
)
*'' Shark Zone'' (2003; great white sharks)
* '' Open Water'' (2003, Caribbean reef sharks)
*'' Blue Demon'' (2004; a great white shark)
* '' 12 Days of Terror'' (2004; great white shark)
* '' Shark Swarm'' (2008; great white shark, mako shark, thresher shark)
* '' Shark in Venice'' (2008; great white sharks)
* '' Malibu Shark Attack'' (2009; goblin sharks)
* '' The Reef'' (2010; a great white shark)
* '' Shark Night'' (2011; great white shark, hammerhead shark, cookie-cutter shark, sand tiger shark)
*'' Jurassic Shark'' (2012; a prehistoric great white shark)
* '' Bait'' (2012; two great white sharks)
*'' 2-Headed Shark Attack'' (2012; a mutated great white shark)
* '' Sharknado'' (2013; swarms of various species of sharks emerging out tornadoes
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
).
* '' 47 Meters Down: Uncaged'' (2019; cave-dwelling great white sharks)
* '' Great White'' (2021; two great white sharks)
* '' The Requin'' (2022; a great white shark)
Insects
Ants
* ''The Naked Jungle
''The Naked Jungle'' is a 1954 American adventure film directed by Byron Haskin, and starring Charlton Heston and Eleanor Parker. Telling the story of an attack of army ants on a Brazilian cocoa plantation, it was based on the 1937 short st ...
'' (1954; army ant
The name army ant (or legionary ant or ''marabunta'') is applied to over 200 ant species in different lineages. Because of their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", a huge number of ants forage simultaneously over a limited ...
s)ant
Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...
s)
Honey bees
* '' The Deadly Bees'' (1966)
* '' Killer Bees'' (1974)
* '' The Savage Bees'' (1976)
* '' The Bees'' (1978)
* '' The Swarm'' (1978)
Cockroaches
* '' Creepshow'' (1982, killer cockroaches)
* ''Mimic
In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. In the simples ...
'' (1997, evolved human-sized genetically engineered cockroaches)
Locusts
* '' Locusts: The 8th Plague'' (2005)
Wasps
* '' Stung'' (2015; large mutated wasp
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...
s)
Mammals
Bats
* '' The Devil Bat'' (1940; mutant bat
Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...
s)
* ''Nightwing
Nightwing is a superhero alias used by multiple characters in American comic books published by DC Comics. The most prominent bearer is Dick Grayson, the original Robin, who adopts the Nightwing identity to assert his independence from Batman. ...
'' (1979; vampire bat
Vampire bats, members of the subfamily Desmodontinae, are Phyllostomidae, leaf-nosed bats currently found in Central and South America. Their food source is the blood of other animals, a dietary trait called hematophagy. Three extant bat species ...
s)Bats
Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...
'' (1999; genetically altered bats)
Bears
* ''Grizzly
The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America.
In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...
'' (1976; a grizzly bear
The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America.
In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...
)Prophecy
In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain di ...
'' (1979; a mutant bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...
)Bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...
'' (2010; A grizzly bear)
* '' Backcountry'' (2014, a black bear)
*'' Into the Grizzly Maze'' (2015; a grizzly bear)
* '' Cocaine Bear'' (2023, a black bear)
Canines
* ''Dogs
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers ...
'' (1976; domestic dog
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...
s turned into killers)
* '' The Pack'' (1977; feral dogs)rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. It was historically referred to as hydrophobia ("fear of water") because its victims panic when offered liquids to drink. Early symptoms can include fever and abn ...
)
* '' The Breed'' (2006; mutated feral dogs)
* '' Frozen'' (2010; gray wolves)
Dolphins
* ''Orca
The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopol ...
'' (1977; a killer whale
The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopolit ...
)
Felines
* '' Black Zoo'' (1963; lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...
s and tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...
s)[
* '' Maneater'' (2007; a ]Bengal tiger
The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies and the nominate tiger subspecies. It ranks among the largest wild cats alive today. It is estimated to have been present in the Indian subcontinent since the Late ...
)
Pigs
* ''Pigs'' (1973)
* ''Razorback
A feral pig is a pig, domestic pig which has gone feral, meaning it lives in the wild. The term feral pig has also been applied to wild boars, which can interbreed with domestic pigs. They are found mostly in the Americas and Australia. Razorb ...
'' (1984; a huge wild boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...
)
* '' Pig Hunt'' (2008; a boar)
Primates
* ''Monkey Shines'' (1988)
* '' Shakma'' (1990)
* '' Blood Monkey'' (2007)
Rats
* '' Willard'' (1971)
*''Ben
Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett, Benson or Ebenezer, and is also a given name in its own right.
Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin ...
'' (1972)
* '' Deadly Eyes'' (1982; a.k.a. ''The Rats'')
* '' Graveyard Shift'' (1990)
* '' Willard'' (2003)
Others
* ''Night of the Lepus
''Night of the Lepus'' (also known as ''Rabbits'') is a 1972 American science fiction film, science fiction horror film directed by William F. Claxton and produced by A. C. Lyles, A.C. Lyles. Based upon Russell Braddon's 1964 science fiction nove ...
'' (1972; giant rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...
s)
* ''Black Sheep
In the English language, black sheep is an idiom that describes a member of a group who is different from the rest, especially a family member who does not fit in. The term stems from sheep whose fleece is colored black rather than the more comm ...
'' (2006; genetically engineered killer sheep
Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
)
Mollusks
Gastropods
* ''Slugs
Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a sma ...
'' (1988; abnormally large killer black slug
The black slug (also known as black arion, European black slug, or large black slug), ''Arion ater'', is a large Terrestrial locomotion in animals, terrestrial Gastropoda, gastropod mollusk in the family (biology), family Arionidae, the round bac ...
s)
Octopuses and squids
* '' Bride of the Monster'' (1955; a killer octopus)
* ''Tentacles
In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...
'' (1977; a giant octopus)Octopus
An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...
'' (2000, a giant octopus)
Reptiles
Alligators and crocodiles
* '' The Great Alligator River'' (1979; an alligator
An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...
god)
* ''Alligator
An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...
'' (1980; an abnormally large American alligator)Dark Age
The ''Dark Ages'' is a term for the Early Middle Ages (–10th centuries), or occasionally the entire Middle Ages (–15th centuries), in Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which characterises it as marked by economic, int ...
'' (1986; a monstrous crocodile god called Numunwari)
* '' Killer Crocodile'' (1989, mutated large crocodile)saltwater crocodile
The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats, brackish wetlands and freshwater rivers from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaland to northern Australia and Micronesia. It ha ...
)
** '' Lake Placid 2'' (2007)
** '' Lake Placid 3'' (2010)
** '' Lake Placid: The Final Chapter'' (2012)
* ''Crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...
'' (2000; an abnormally large Nile crocodile
The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the eastern, southern, and ce ...
)
* '' Blood Surf'' (2001; a monstrous giant crocodile)
* '' Black Water'' (2007; a saltwater crocodile)Croc
JSC CROC incorporated () is an technology company operating in the Russian IT market. CROC was established by Boris Bobrovnikov in 1992. The company provides systems integration and managed B2B services, off-the-shelf products and promising end- ...
'' (2007; a saltwater crocodile)Crawl
Crawl, The Crawl, or crawling may refer to:
Biology
* Crawling, any type of tetrapod quadrupedal locomotion with the torso persistently touching or very close to the ground.
** Crawling (human), any of several types of human quadrupedal gait
* L ...
'' (2019; several American alligators)
Snakes
* '' Rattlers'' (1976)
* '' Anaconda'' (1997)
** '' Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid'' (2004)
** '' Anaconda 3: Offspring'' (2008)
** '' Anacondas: Trail of Blood'' (2009)
* ''King Cobra
The king cobra (''Ophiophagus hannah'') is a species complex of snakes Endemism, endemic to Asia. With an average of and a record length of , it is the world's longest venomous snake and among the heaviest. Under the genus ''Ophiophagus'', i ...
'' (1999)
* '' Silent Predators'' (1999; rattlesnakes)
Plants
* ''Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors may refer to:
* '' The Little Shop of Horrors'', a 1960 American film
* ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (musical), a 1982 musical based on the 1960 film
* ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986 film), a 1986 American film based on th ...
'' (1960; mutant Venus flytrap)
* '' The Day of the Triffids'' (1962; man-eating plants)
Worms
* ''Attack of the Giant Leeches
''Attack of the Giant Leeches'' (originally to be called ''The Giant Leeches'') is an independently made, 1959 black-and-white science fiction film, science fiction-horror film, produced by Gene Corman and directed by Bernard L. Kowalski. It star ...
'' (1959, giant leeches)
* '' Squirm'' (1976, bloodworms and sandworms)
Miscellaneous
* ''Godzilla
is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...
'' (1954; a giant irradiated
Irradiation is the process by which an object is exposed to radiation. An irradiator is a device used to expose an object to radiation, most often gamma radiation, for a variety of purposes. Irradiators may be used for sterilizing medical and p ...
''Godzillasaurus'')
* ''Frogs
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough skin texture due to ...
'' (1972; various species of animals)
* '' The Food of the Gods'' (1976; various species of animals)
See also
* List of disaster films
* List of eco-horror films
* List of films featuring giant monsters
This is an alphabetical list of films featuring Monster movie, giant monsters, including the ''kaiju'' subgenre.
Overview
One of the first films involving giant monsters was the 1933 classic ''King Kong (1933 film), King Kong'', as developments in ...
References
External links
List of natural horror titles
in the Internet Movie Database
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Natural horror films
Natural
Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...