A new film book called When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies With Killer Animals, has just become available in paperback and Kindle format. And it’s a lot of fun!
The essays were written by “[leading] horror writers and filmmakers”, who were each asked to write about “one of their favorite ‘animal attack’ films” in detail. The films range from the heights of The Birds (US-1963; dir. Alfred Hitchcock) and Jaws (US-1975; dir. Steven Spielberg) to the ludicrous depths of Beginning of the End (US-1957; dir. Bert I. Gordon) and Sharknado (US-2013; dir. Anthony C. Ferrante).
As the editor, Canadian horror writer Vanessa Morgan (Drowned Sorrow and The Strangers Outside), commented, “Some of the films are touching, some are repulsive, and some are just plain silly. Not all of these horror movies line up with the critical consensus, yet they have one thing in common: they have made the heart of the writer beat faster with excitement.”
Published by Moonlight Creek Publishing, When Animals Attack may not include ALL the best animal-attack horror flicks, but its 402 pages sure include a decent slew of them. The essays are written in different styles and take various approaches that reflect the individual authors responsible. It makes for both informative and entertaining reading, and will be a useful reference volume for those seeking something new to watch in this sub-genre — or for those who value being reminded of a piece of animalistic cinema they’d forgotten. You may even learn something new about your favourite animal-attack epic.
Here is the table of contents:
Alligator by Kevin Matthews
Anaconda by Russ Hunter
Ants by J.P. Wendel
Arachnophobia by Declan Lynch
Attack of the Crab Monsters by Noah C. Patterson
Bats by Ton van Rooij
Baxter by Daphnis Olivier Boelens
Beaks: The Movie by Fawn Krisenthia
Beginning of the End by Ken Begg
Birdemic: Shock and Terror by Johnny Zontal
Black Sheep by Kate Larkindale
Bug by D.M. Anderson
Chosen Survivors by Doug Lamoreux
Cujo by Maxim Stollenwerk
Curse II: The Bite by Justin McKinney
Day of the Animals by Erich Kuersten
Deadly Eyes by Jay Clarke
Deep Blue Sea by Nick Meece
Dogs by Gert Verbeeck
Eight Legged Freaks by Chelseaa Benwell
Empire of the Ants by Vanessa de Largie
Frogs by Sven Soetemans
Grizzly by Steve de Roover
In the Shadow of Kilimanjaro by Charles M. Kline
Jaws by Warren Fahy
Jersey Shore Shark Attack by Katelyn Rushe
Kaw by Paul Kane
Killer Crocodile by Jonas Govaerts
Kingdom of the Spiders by B.J. Colangelo
Lake Placid by Alex J. Cavanaugh
Locusts by Amanda Reyes
Long Weekend by Ingrid Dendievel
Monkey Shines by Megan Fisher
Night of the Lepus by Michael McCarty and Mark McLaughlin
Of Unknown Origin by Russell Fisher
Orca: The Killer Whale by Brody Rossiter
Pig Hunt by Bryan Schuessler
Piranha by Beverly Gray
Prey by Christine Hadden
Prophecy by Bob Ignizio
Rats: Night of Terror by Chris Hewson
Razorback by Robert Hood
Shakma by Tenebrous Kate
Sharknado by Ben Daniels
Sharktopus by Michael P. Spradlin
Slugs: The Movie by Danger_Slater
Snakes by Stuart R. West
Snakes on a Plane by Christine Rains
Squirm by Jeff Lieberman
Strays by Daniel Alves
The Beasts are on the Streets by Brian Saur
The Birds by Chris Austin
The Deadly Mantis by Christopher Robinson
The Devil Bat by Sven Daems
The Food of the Gods by Aaron Christensen
The Ghost and the Darkness by Kajah Ram
The Giant Claw by John Kitley
The Killer Snakes by Wim Castermans
The Last Shark by Stephan Jankovic
The Pack by Joel Warren
The Swarm by Adam Artruc
The White Buffalo by Peter Braidis
Them! by Barend de Voogd
Ticks by Matthew House
Uninvited by Justin Coote
White Dog by J. Luis Rivera
White God by Oksana Osachiy
Wild Beasts by Vanessa Morgan
Willard by David Royce
Zoltan: Hound of Dracula by Marvin the Macabre
As you may or may not notice, Robert Hood (whose undead backbrain is the creator of this blog), contributed an essay on Russell Mulcahy’s 1984 rampaging wild boar flick, Razorback. It’s a favourite of his and definitely at the positive end of the cinematic quality scale.
Be sure to check out When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies With Killer Animals.
Title information:
Vanessa Morgan | When Animals Attack.
US$17,99 | ISBN: 978 90 245 7478 0 | 402 pages | paperback & Kindle.
Available from Amazon.com, Amazon UK, Amazon FR etc.
Source: Vanessa Morgan, Press release, the book itself.
