By the end of the 1970s, the eco-horror subgenre was slowing down as the counterculture movement gave way to a conservative resurgence that defined the 80s. Most fans of 70s horror recognize title like Orca, Piranha, or Grizzly. Lovers of ‘cheese cinema’ have likely seen Frogs, Tentacles, or Day of the Animals. But the 1979 […]
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Apparently, in 1985, a noted drug smuggler named Andrew C. Thornton II dropped duffel bags of cocaine over a national park in Georgia. A poor black bear stumbled on one of the bags, helped themselves to some of white powder, and died shortly thereafter. It’s a bizarre footnote in history appropriately coined ‘Cocaine Bear’. Not […]
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Even before Jaws changes the box office rules forever, eco-horror was a somewhat popular horror subgenre in the 1970s. Frogs, Phase IV, and Night of the Lepus found nature in a foul mood with humanity. And technically, Jaws isn’t really an eco-horror in its narrative design. But Spielberg’s classic killer shark movie inspired a host […]
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Horror fans love when nature takes a bite out of humanity. And it can’t just be a regular-sized animal or insect. The bigger, the better. Following the massive success of Jaws, studios rushed to some version of a larger-than-average animal attacking a small community. Grizzly, Orca, Tentacles, Razorback – they all copied Steven Spielberg’s formula […]
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If you didn’t know, animals can be pretty scary. Zoophobia refers to the general fear of animals. Not surprisingly, horror movies have exploited the more obvious choices. Are you afraid of spiders? If so, you’re not alone. Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders and several horror movies have dangled these eight-legged beasts into our laps. […]
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Happy National Puppy Day! Since 2006 we’ve set aside March 23 to celebrate our furry friends, big and small. After all, dog is man’s best friend. That is, unless you fancy yourself to be a cat person. While ‘killer dogs’ fall under the larger ‘killer animal‘ movie umbrella, there’s certainly a handful of movies where […]
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Over 20 years ago, Deep Blue Sea surprised audiences with its B-movie mix of action and CGI shark thrills. Though critics were split, audiences made it a surprise box office hit. No, it’s no Jaws, but Samuel L Jackson’s death scene remains a hilariously surprising subversion of genre expectations. Yet in spite of its success, […]
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Don’t be surprised there’s a movie about killer slugs. After all, 1970s eco-horror gave us killer frogs, killer worms and, yes, giant killer rabbits. Though it was nearly a decade behind the eco-horror craze, Slugs faithfully follows the well-established playbook for the subgenre. Audiences all but ignored Slugs when it was released, but horror fans […]
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