10 Killer Animal Movies To Watch If You Liked Primate

I just heard about this new horror movie coming out in 2026 called Primate, and it sounds like exactly the kind of fun, old-school creature feature I love! Apparently, it’s going back to those classic ‘animals run wild’ films where it’s just a non-stop thrill ride of mayhem. The story centers around a chimpanzee named Ben who gets rabies and, well, turns on his family. Sounds intense!

Although “Primate” received good reviews, its story is similar to many other films from the past few decades. These movies often show people feeling secure around animals – whether in the wild or even in urban areas – before realizing those animals are actually dangerous predators.

Anaconda(1997)

A new movie called Anaconda came out in 2025, but it was a funny comedy starring Jack Black and Paul Rudd. If you’re looking for the original Anaconda – the scary one – that was released in 1997.

Okay, so this movie is packed with famous faces – Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Owen Wilson, Jon Voight, and Eric Stoltz are all in it! They basically play the people this giant anaconda decides to hunt. Honestly, though, let’s be real, the snake itself is totally over-the-top and unbelievable. It’s not high art, that’s for sure, but I have to admit, it’s a fun, guilty pleasure kind of movie.

Look, if you’re in the mood for a seriously over-the-top movie about a massive snake just… causing chaos and eating people, then Anaconda is surprisingly great. It doesn’t take itself seriously, and honestly, that’s part of the fun. It’s one of those movies that’s so bad, it’s good, which is probably why it’s become a bit of a cult favorite over the years. I can always count on it for a silly, thrilling time!

Brotherhood Of The Wolf (2001)

Brotherhood of the Wolf stands out as a more sophisticated animal attack movie. Released in 2001, this French horror film was directed by Christophe Gans, who later directed the Silent Hill movie. The film impressed studios enough to give him the opportunity to create the visuals for that adaptation.

The movie Brotherhood of the Wolf centers around Chevalier de Fronsac and Mani, an Iroquois warrior, as they try to uncover the mysterious creature responsible for killing many people. It’s inspired by a true story and a famous legend from 18th-century France about a beast that terrorized the region of Gévaudan.

Although the fight sequences, particularly those featuring Mark Dacascos as Mani, were a major draw, the film is fundamentally a thrilling animal feature. It tells the story of a lion taken from Africa as a young cub and brutally trained to be a deadly predator in France.

47 Meters Down (2017)

While many movies feature dangerous sharks, 47 Meters Down is notable for its surprising twist involving the characters who survive. The story centers on sisters Kate (Claire Holt) and Lisa (Mandy Moore) who are on vacation in Mexico and decide to go shark watching from inside a protective diving cage.

Trapped inside a shark cage, Lisa and Kate are suddenly plunged into a terrifying situation when great white sharks begin to circle. Their cage detaches and plummets to the ocean floor, over 150 feet down, cutting off their communication. When the rescue team is attacked and killed, Lisa and Kate are left on their own, facing dwindling oxygen and a desperate fight for survival.

This film features a surprising twist at the end that completely changes how you understand the story, making it worth watching again to see all the pieces fall into place. “47 Meters Down” is still one of the most original shark thrillers we’ve seen recently.

The Grey (2012)

In the survival thriller The Grey, Liam Neeson plays John Ottway, a skilled sharpshooter working at an oil facility in Alaska. He’s responsible for protecting the workers from attacks by a pack of grey wolves. While not a typical horror movie, it’s a gripping film about battling the elements and dangerous wildlife, directed by Joe Carnahan.

The movie The Grey begins with a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness. The surviving passengers are stranded and must face the harsh elements and the constant danger of a pack of grey wolves. While one of the survivors, John, has some knowledge of wolves, it’s not enough to protect them from the brutal conditions and the wolves’ relentless attacks.

When it came out, The Grey was praised for its thrilling action sequences – especially the wolf attacks – and its ability to create a truly isolating and frightening atmosphere. Ultimately, it’s a standout animal horror film where the humans venture into the wolves’ territory and face the resulting dangers.

The Meg (2018)

If you enjoy classic shark thrillers like the original Jaws, 47 Meters Down delivers a reliably suspenseful experience, though it does have a surprising turn. For those looking for a more over-the-top, action-packed shark movie, The Meg is a great choice, featuring a massive, prehistoric shark called the megalodon.

The Meg is an exciting action movie starring Jason Statham as a deep-sea diver. He’s called upon to rescue a submarine that’s become trapped in a previously unknown part of the ocean. But the rescue mission unleashes a massive, prehistoric shark – the megalodon – and Statham and his team must find a way to stop it from attacking swimmers at a busy beach.

While there’s a follow-up film with even more prehistoric creatures, the original Meg is a truly great monster movie. If you enjoyed that, you might also like Deep Blue Sea, about sharks made even more dangerous through genetic engineering, or Cocaine Bear, which is exactly as wild as it sounds.

Lake Placid (1999)

Like The Meg, Lake Placid is a movie that doesn’t take itself seriously. However, it’s closer in style to Anaconda, but with much better special effects. The story centers around a massive crocodile causing chaos in a Maine lake, and a team of law enforcement and scientists attempt to stop it.

The movie featured a strong cast, including Bill Pullman as a wildlife officer and Bridget Fonda as a paleontologist determined to capture, not kill, the crocodile. But Oliver Platt, playing a mythology professor and crocodile lover, and Betty White, who secretly raised the crocodiles, really stole the show.

Betty White was hilarious in the movie, playing a quirky local woman known for her colorful language and unusual habit of feeding cows to crocodiles – a practice that started after a crocodile ate her husband. While critics didn’t love the film initially, White’s performance helped turn it into a beloved cult classic and launched a whole series of sequels.

The Birds (1963)

Although the premise of birds attacking people sounds far-fetched, Alfred Hitchcock’s skill as a director and his talent for building suspense made ‘The Birds’ a truly frightening movie. He convinced audiences that a large group of coordinated birds could realistically terrorize and even kill the residents of a town.

Though not as famous as Hitchcock’s Psycho, The Birds is still a classic film by a brilliant director and stands out as one of the best horror movies ever made. Featuring Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, and Tippi Hedren, the film is memorable, especially for its realistic and frightening bird attacks.

Although The Birds received an Academy Award nomination for its visual effects, Tippi Hedren was recognized with a Golden Globe for her acting. In 2016, the film was also selected for preservation in the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry.

Jurassic Park (1993)

It’s easy to forget that dinosaurs were animals, but they absolutely were! They were living creatures just like crocodiles, the extinct megalodon shark, or enormous snakes. Many people consider the 1993 film Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg, to be the best dinosaur movie ever made, and it was a groundbreaking film for computer-generated imagery (CGI).

One of the things that makes this film so impressive is its groundbreaking use of computer-generated imagery for its time. Surprisingly, the effects still look better and more believable than many later movies, even some of the sequels in the Jurassic Park franchise. Beyond the visuals, it’s a thrilling animal attack movie with a clear message: don’t tamper with science.

Bringing dinosaurs back to life was a reckless decision, and the movie proves it. While not all dinosaurs were dangerous, tampering with nature always has consequences, and ultimately, people suffered for it.

Cujo (1983)

As a movie buff, when I watched Primate, the film that immediately came to mind was Stephen King’s Cujo. They’re surprisingly similar – both center around a cherished animal, practically part of the family, who tragically contracts rabies and becomes dangerously aggressive. The main difference is the animal itself: Primate features a chimpanzee, which isn’t a typical house pet, while Cujo focuses on a beloved dog gone wild.

Cujo is a tense, intimate story about a woman named Donna (Dee Wallace) who gets stranded at a repair shop with her young son, Tad. Their ordeal quickly turns terrifying when a friendly St. Bernard named Cujo suddenly becomes aggressive, forcing Donna to take refuge inside the car and desperately hope for rescue as the heat intensifies.

The book featured a truly heartbreaking conclusion, typical of Stephen King. However, the movie version offered a more hopeful ending, showing the main characters deeply affected but ultimately surviving.

Jaws (1975)

Jaws remains the most well-known animal thriller film ever made, and it essentially invented the modern summer blockbuster. The movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, centers around a beach town terrorized by a massive shark, even though the mayor hesitates to cancel events and protect tourists.

While Jaws is a great movie overall, the heart of it lies with the three men tasked with hunting down the shark. Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw deliver fantastic performances as this unlikely team, and their dangerous mission to stop the shark is what truly drives the story forward.

Jaws is still considered one of the greatest horror and animal thriller films ever made. In 2001, the Library of Congress recognized Steven Spielberg’s classic by adding it to the National Film Registry.

2026-01-10 21:04