Narrative conflict comes in a variety of forms, each with its own tropes and expectations. One of the classic types of conflict is Character vs. Nature, man against the hostile environment, and these five films place that concept over the format of modern horror, to mixed results.
Animal horror films have existed almost as long as film itself, but the commonly cited popularizer of the genre is typically Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. Horror, almost uniquely as a genre, can be just as much fun when it's terrible as when it's excellent, so these creature features will vary wildly in quality.
Jaws
Steven Spielberg's 1975 classic needs no introduction; it's the film that defined the concept of summer blockbuster cinema, even into the modern-day. When someone imagines a horror movie about an animal, Jaws is what jumps to mind. It's the popularizer and obvious best example of the tremendously prolific subgenre of killer shark films.
The tale of Brody, Quint, and Hooper, taking to the sea to do battle with a horrific great white is as straightforward as it is clever. It remains the go-to example for cinematic suspense, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats as the film's antagonist is kept shrouded. There is no better example of the quality of animal horror films than Jaws. Anyone who has somehow managed to miss this one owes it to themselves to seek it out.
Willard
From an undeniable cultural touchstone to a bizarre cult classic. Released in 1971 and followed by a 1972 sequel and a decent 2003 remake, Willard is a horror film about a sullen hate-filled misanthrope with an unhealthy relationship with rats. The title character is a man in crisis, being forced out of his late father's company by its new owner and struggling against his overbearing mother. When Willard finally breaks, he begins a rampage, using his army of rodents to destroy and kill on his behalf.
The film is best explained as a lesser take on Falling Down, with hundreds of skittering creatures in place of a submachine gun. The film has its faults, but it was a big hit in its time, and the concept is strong enough to carry it through its duller moments. The killers of Willard are the rats, but the villain is the eponymous man. This film blends animal and human horror in a truly engaging way that must be seen to be believed.
Shakma
King Kong aside, not a ton of horror movies pick primates for their scary animal of choice. Shakma was directed by Hugh Parks and Tom Logan and released to limited theaters in 1990. The film was not well-received or widely known, but a small cult audience has kept the film available thirty years later through sheer dedication. The plot centers around a group of medical students being attacked by a chemically enhanced hamadryas baboon as they try to LARP late into the night at their school.
The eponymous primate was portrayed by a baboon named Typhoon who genuinely terrified actors on set. This movie is far funnier than it is scary, the sight of a screeching monkey tackling med students to death lands with great aplomb each time. The film is justifiable as a genuine offering, and as a so bad its good irony watch. Its faults are numerous, but it doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't. The plot is one sentence long, the movie's barely 100 minutes, just ready yourself for baboon violence and dive in.
Crawl
Alexandre Aja, the visionary behind Horns, The Hills Have Eyes, and Piranha 3D, directed this underrated 2019 monster movie. Crawl is the tale of a young woman and her father who are barricaded in their Florida home by a torrential downpour. In the wake of this disaster, a host of American alligators are swept in with the rains, leaving the main characters stuck in their home with the hostile creatures.
With a tight 87 minute runtime and a hard R-rating, Crawl does exactly what it sets out to do. The alligators are terrifying, and the floods, which leave both the house and the entire town completely waterlogged, put the advantage even more squarely in their corner. There isn't even too much to say about Crawl, other than when it tries to do one thing right and succeeds, it's hard to do anything but watch and enjoy.
Roar
Noel Marshall's Roar is not a horror film on the grounds of its script, tone or intent. Roar is a horror film to its audience, because its production placed its cast and crew in intimate contact with seemingly hundreds of big cats. The fear is genuine, the audience is vibrating on the edge of their seat from opening to credits, because a lion or tiger could, at any moment, brutally wound a real person.
An estimated 70 of the 140 cast and crew members who worked on Roar were injured in the making of this film. The plot plays with this concept, cutting wildly from very real violence to weirdly toothless comedy. Roar places its cast and crew right into the fray with real wild animals, and through exploring that concept, puts the audience right there with them.