Animal Sanctuary: Not Cute. Some Fluffy.

On Christmas Eve, 1896, Georges Méliès created the horror film with ‘Le Manoir du diable’. Everything about early genre films was born here, the gothic castle, witches, Christianity overcoming Satan etc etc. It also touched on an issue that would become a staple of the horror genre in its later period, with it’s depiction of an animal, in this case a bat, turned into an evil, threatening force.

Whereas in early horror films the animal itself was not the threat, as with ‘Le Manoir du diable’ the threat comes once the bat has transformed into the legendary Mephistopheles of the ‘Faust’ tale. But as time progressed and the 50’s brought with it a wave of science-based disaster-horror films featuring giant scientific experiments gone wrong, it became apparent that the creatures of yore were no longer frightening to the majority of moviegoers.

Then came Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ in 1960 and it all changed. No longer was the ‘unbelievable’ scary for audiences. The fear of ‘us’ became the ultimate fear for audiences as cemented by George A. Romero’s legendary ‘Night of the Living Dead’ in 1968, and remains so to this day. There was also another milestone during this period from Hitchcock, ‘The Birds’ in 1963. Not only did we have to be afraid of those around us, but of other creatures: creatures as seemingly unthreatening as seagulls became potential harbingers of doom … and they wouldn’t be the last.

Since those menacing seagulls et al attacked, filmmakers have upped the anti from movie to movie. Exploitation cinema was also there to fill the audience’s desire for more animals running amok with a staggering variation of animals loosing their marbles, from 1972’s ‘Frogs’ from George McCowan; which sees a household being terrorised by not just the titular amphibians but also lizards, birds and more surreally butterflies! And who could forget William F. Claxton’s 1972 carnivorous killer rabbits epic ‘Night of the Lepus’?

Hell, the modern Hollywood blockbuster was born from this pandemic with Steven Spielberg’s ‘Jaws’ in 1975; changing the movie industry forever and shaping it into what we know it as today, cheers Steve! Of course the film industry are always keen to cash-in on success and ‘Jaws’ was no different. All kinds of fish have lost their marbles in filmland, such as killer whales in 1977’s ‘Orca’, octopus in the same years ‘Tentacles’ and barracudas in err… ‘Barracuda’ from Harry Kerwin in1978!

Now, it’s all good and well to find ‘inspiration’ in another movie, but certain filmmakers, well… certain Italian filmmakers, felt that imitation was indeed the sincerest form of hackery and actually ripped ‘Jaws’ off entirely. The father of the ‘Inglorious Basterds’ himself, Enzo G. Castellari was the first inline with 1980’s ‘Great White’ which managed to reframe from ‘referencing’ whole lines of dialogue and even managed to top ‘Jaws 2’ highlight set-piece, involving the shark attacking a helicopter. It was later ‘referenced’ itself by trash cinema icon Bruno Mattei in…

1995’s ‘Cruel Jaws’. Truly a film that needs seeing to be believed! Not only does it rip lines of dialogue straight from Spielberg’s blockbuster, but it also lifts actual footage from fellow rip-offs ‘Great White’ and Joe D’Amato’s lazy 1989 effort ‘Deep Blood’! It’ll never see the light of day in the UK or US, but it can be had for those willing to risk their sanity.

Marine life, Birds, rabbits, butterflies and lizards were just the tip of the iceberg though as audiences have been terrified by electrically juiced up bloodworms in Jeff Lieberman’s grossly effective 1976 outing ‘Squirm’. The same year also saw cult legend Christopher George fending off an 18-foot man-eating bear in, equally cult-worthy, William Girdler’s ‘Grizzly’.

George and Girdler re-teamed in 1977 for ‘Day of the Animals’ which sees the depleted O-zone layer causing a chemical shift in animal life. Animals such as mountain lions, black bears, German shepherds, and birds of prey all lose the plot. Also that year, William Shatner had to defend a small Arizonan town from thousands of hungry tarantulas in John "Bud" Cardos’ epic ‘Kingdom of Spiders’.

1978 saw the last worthwhile forays into the Nature Amok subgenre, with Joe Dante’s horror-comedy ‘Piranha’, capturing the absurdity of the genre to perfection while Australian, Colin Eggleston created a genre masterpiece with ‘Long Weekend’. His tale of a reckless couple whose selfish treatment of their surroundings catches up with them in the most frightening of ways remains an under-looked genre film to this day.

From there the subgenre dwindled with only a few worthwhile titles finding their way to the screen. Roger Corman produced 1979 effort ‘Up From the Depths’ from Charles B. Griffith is a guilty pleasured cheese-fest featuring a killer shark-like critter that will cause many a laugh. As will James Cameron’s (yes, him) ‘Piranha II: The Spawning’ from 1981. An Itlaian-American co-production starring the incomparable Lance Henriksen is as entertaining as it is improbably – flying Piranha?!

1982 saw James Herbert’s novel, ‘The Rats’ transferred into ‘Deadly Eyes’ by ‘Enter the Dragon’ and ‘Black Belt Jones’ director Robert Clouse. Giant killer rats, the produce of contaminated grain (!) go on a rampage in Canada. This Golden Harvest production would be one of the last guilty pleasures of the Nature Amok subgenre, that seemingly died out… until recently.

As re-make fever continues to fester in the horror community, Nature Amok titles have suffered the same fate as some of the horror genre staples like ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and ‘Dawn of the Dead’, they’ve been… re-imagined, for a whole new generation. With the recent release of Alexandre Aja’s re-make of ‘Piranha’ scaring up big bucks at the box-office, maybe we’ll see more re-imaginings of these guilty pleasure?

But fret not hardened horror fans, original Nature Amok titles are still being produced, and just like the bygone era that birthed them; they remain as underappreciated now as they did then, Carter Smith’s 2008 shocker ‘The Ruins’ being one such title. There’s also Carlos Brooks 2010 feature ‘Burning Bright’ which is currently creating buzz within the horror community.

After nearly 50 years worth of cinematic animal madness, the genre is long overdue a fresh take and ‘Burning Bright’ is just that. Here we have an animal most people wouldn’t care to bump in to, a Bengal tiger, not only is it already known as a prestigious man-eater, but this tiger hasn’t been fed in days! Enter a caring sister and her autistic brother, locked in their waste-of-space step-fathers house which just happens to have been boarded up for an incoming hurricane, and unleash the tiger and watch the fun and games unfold.


Mashing the Nature Amok subgenre with the Home Invasion subgenre, made famous by the likes of Bob Clark’s 1974 seminal ‘Black Christmas’, Robert A Endelson’s 1977 grindhouse classic ‘Fight for your Life’ and Michele Heneke’s 1997 arthouse wonder ‘Funny Games’ is a bold and ingenious realisation. It’s also one that pays off and creates a truly original horror movie in a genre awash with re-imaginings and sequels.

‘Burning Bright’ has just been premiered at Filmfour’s celebrated Frightfest and makes its DVD debut courtesy of Momentum Pictures on September 6th.

Grizzly (1976)

When a small little movie by the name of Jaws hit big at the box-office in 1975, Universal Pictures cinematic landmark inevitably spawned a whole slew of rip-offs, some which were shamelessly ripping it, such as Italian schlock master Bruno Mattei’s infamous 1995 TV effort Cruel Jaws , which went as far as to steel the dialogue! Others however decided to camouflage its influence somewhat, such as William Girdler’s 1976’s Grizzly. Armed with a budget of $750,000 – compared to Spielberg’s $7,000,000 – Girdler decided to set his feature inland, and his chaos causing animal of choice was a ferocious 18-foot grizzly bear, hence the loving moniker ‘Jaws with claws’ being born.

Two young hikers are mauled at a National Park, Ranger Michael Kelly (Christopher George) is shocked at the destruction caused to the surrounding areas as well as the victims bodies and fears for the worst. The corner confirms his fears, the girls died after receiving wounds inflicted by a bear. The park’s supervisor, Charley Kittridge (Joe Dorsey), pins the blame and Michael as all bears were supposed to have been cleared out before tourist season began and demands the corpse of the guilty bear. Arthur Scott (Richard Jaeckel), the parks naturalist informs that all bears were moved in time and none got by him, Michael asks Charley to close the park to allow him and Arthur time to locate the rogue bear but his request is denied.

Deaths in the park area are becoming more and more frequent, and they are starting to hit home as part of the Park Rangers are starting to perish, yet the park’s supervisor still refuses to close shop until the mauling of a mother and her child. As desperation mounts, Michael, Arthur and park guide Don Stober (Andrew Pine) launch one more ditch attempt to bring this bear down once and for all. The hunter is now the hunted, or is it?

Grizzly lives up to the name in more than one definition, what first impresses is the level of gore the film contains. It may have only a fraction of the budget the movie which inspired it has, but it sure-as-hell has more grue to offer. It doesn’t have the money to make a full animatronic bear, so opts for a real grizzly. Unfortunately for them, kinda, finding a tamed bear that big would be nigh-on impossible, so Girdler has to be creative with what he shows and which angels to shoot; some of these shots are pretty laughable in this day and age, but certain shots of the live bear raising on it’s hind legs do send shivers down the spine – the bear looks rather large, in real life it was 11-foot, and intimidating! You won’t envy the cameraman that’s for certain.

Christopher George does his best Sheriff Brody impersonation here; the character bears (tee hee) a little too much in common for it to be coincidental. In fact the whole dynamic of the three male leads is strikingly similar to that of Jaws, however the characters here aren’t as likeable and they’re lacking a Quint-like older character. Where it does excel over Jaws is in its brutality, grizzly is 2,000 tonnes of big furry anger and he sure-as-shit isn’t afraid of showing that off! Bloodily clawing peoples arms and heads off with ease and bear-crushing chumps like it ain’t no thang, Grizzly is one mean mother.

Though the film doesn’t have the same energy that drove its inspiration it does have the heart to match it. It’s a likeable little film let down by some sloppy pacing towards the final third, but small gripes aside, this is a modest classic in itself. It’s vicious, it’s funny (some times unintentionally) and it’s all entertainment! Those with a fondness, like myself, for the Jaws clones will find plenty to admire here and the films climax is truly legendary, it needs witnessing to be believed. Ignore the UK release however, there’s a lovely 2-disc edition from US company Shriek Show that’s more than worth your hard earned pennies. Overall Grizzly is certainly big, but it sure isn’t clever and it’s all the more loveable for it.

As an interesting aside, a sequel was to Grizzly was planned and actually went into production 1983. Grizzly II: The Predator was never fully completed, cast in minor roles in the movie were none other than George Clooney, Laura Dern and Charlie Sheen! After fund ran out in ’83, production restarted in ’87 and filming was completed, however now actual footage of the bear was completed and neither were all the effect shots. The film was believed to be an urban legend of sorts until a workprint for the film surfaced online in 2007! Apparently the film resolves around a rock concert in which the bear was due to come and terrorise, the title was also renamed to Predator: The Concert due to rights issues. Oh what could have been aye?

Purchase the 30th anniversary edition here.
Those without a multi-region player can get the UK release here. (Not recommended)

Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)

There’s always been an intriguing element to a small town in jeopardy that never fails to entertain me. It could be because I read too many Stephen King novels as a child; which has instilled that love of small town terror deep within my subconscious, or maybe it’s the fact that I live in a small-ish city in a small country within Britain (Wales) which helps add to the ‘small town America’ vibe? All I know is its infectious; even the worst of the ‘small town in terror’ films can bring a smile to my face – especially when it’s the mayor’s fault for all the ensuing carnage! Those fucking Mayors’ ruin everything!

Back in the 70’s, small towns weren’t safe from anything; sharks, bears, frogs, rabbits, bees… Worms! Anything exploitation masterminds deemed worthy would get a shot a crushing a town. Kingdom of the Spiders carries on with this tradition and gives Spidy a shot at causing some chaos – a good decade before Arachnophobia scared the pants off of us too I may add. If the thought of tarantulas ruining a small town wasn’t appetite whetting enough, they only went and cast William Shatner as the hero of the piece! Dig it.


A slight warning to lovers of the eight legged blighters, this film should probably be avoided!

Verde Valley, Arizona is a rural town that survives off of agriculture, when veterinarian ‘Rack’ Hansen (Shats) receives a call from a local farmer whose prize calf has fallen mysteriously ill. Blood samples sent to a near-by university state that the calf perished as a result of spider venom, but what spider could bring down a calf? Diane Ashley (the lovely Tiffany Bolling) is sent in to help establish what is going on and prove to everyone that a spider was behind the murder of the animal. She is met with much scepticism, until they discover a huge spider hill containing hundreds of tarantulas not too far from the farm. An annual fare is approaching and the mayor (Roy Engel) arranges for a plane full of pesticide to spray the land believing it will kill the spiders, Diane protests but she is denied and chaos inevitably ensues!

It transpires that chemical pesticides have evolved the species from a cannibalistic arachnid into a carnivorous predator of men, women, children, cattle and dogs! This is where the fun comes in, watching as tarantulas lazily bumble towards their intended prey and watching as actors are covered in live spiders; that roam freely over their bodies! It’s enough to give any arachnophobe the willies. It may not be original, but god damn it’s a lot of fun! First of all, for a PG rated film, this has some pretty horrific moments on offer – one including a woman who shoots a tarantula off her hand only to have the bullet rip threw the beast and plough through her hand, taking off multiple fingers… nice!

For a low budget ‘nature amok’ film, this is quality stuff. It’s utter exploitation in execution and that’s the reason I had a warm reaction to it, it knows what it is, what it has to deliver and sets out to deliver - in spades. The acting is hammy in a 70’s soap opera kinda way which is becoming more and more endearing as these films age I find, so judging on your tolerance for ‘good’ bad acting then you may have a hoot with this element too. The biggest joy however is from the spiders, those evil, evil tarantulas that can bring down anything they apply themselves upon, even aeroplanes!
It’s hard to find a flaw in Kingdom of the Spiders when viewed through B-movie goggles, those looking for them may want to seek Xanax and mellow out. Yes it’s cheesy, yes the country singing intro sucks, yes that is library music, yes that’s William Shatner in a fetching salmon pink shirt and yes, those spiders are being run over by a police cruiser! The death of all those arachnids is deplorable, unless you have that certain phobia of course, but this was made in different times and the fun of the premise overrides the horrors of squished spiders; hell, I’m sure most viewers will be more concerned – hopefully - by the fact that children get covered in live tarantulas.

This is a mean spirited little film, made all the more remarkable for the fact it was granted a PG certificate! How far we’ve come aye? Few films truly earn ‘Cult’ status these days, but Kingdom of the Spiders makes it look effortless, it’s a one-of-a-kind film that could never be made today and for that reason alone it deserves a place on any horror, sci-fi and exploitation collectors shelving. Not sure how the film would go down with the BBFC these days, do they care about spiders getting killed onscreen? Or must the animal be fluffy and have a tail before such footage is removed? I hope we get the chance of finding out one day if a company is willing to take the risk on this fun, trashy, exceptionally entertaining little title that comes highly recommended.

Purchase the DVD here.

Stay tuned for more nature amok film reviews, coming soooon...