Animal attack movies continue to excite audiences

Moviegoers enjoy a good animal attack movie, with shark attack movies the overwhelming favorite.
It’s a popular subgenre of action and horror movies. Sometimes they are combined with other genres such as war and crime dramas. Other times, they have a darkly humorous tone.
Upcoming animal attack movies include “Anaconda,” an action comedy about a giant killer snake, of course. It’s a remake/homage to the original “Anaconda” (1997), which starred Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Eric Stoltz and Jon Voight. The new version will be in theaters on Dec. 25.
Meanwhile, “Primate,” about a killer chimpanzee, is due out on Jan. 9.
What follows is a list of animal attack movies from the past three years. I also included the type of animal involved as well as the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes critics score.
I left off those with supernatural, sci-fi or fantasy aspects, such as bringing back extinct animals like megalodons and dinosaurs.

Recent animal attack movies and miniseries:

The Bayou (2025), alligators, no consensus
Beast of War (2025), great white shark, 90% positive reviews
A Breed Apart (2025), wild dogs, 18%
Cocaine Bear (2023), black bear, 65%
Coyotes (2025), coyotes, 59%
Dangerous Animals (2025), sharks, 87%
Deep Fear (2023), sharks, no consensus
The Flood (2023), alligators, 37%
Infested (2024), spiders, 95%
Into the Deep (2025), sharks, 27%
The Last Breath (2024), sharks, 31%
No Way Up (2024), sharks, 36%
Out Come the Wolves (2024), wolves, 64%
Something in the Water (2024), sharks, 46%
The Swarm (2023), orcas and other sea creatures, 70%
Under Paris (2024), sharks, 64%

Earlier articles:

Animal attack movies are popular summer fare (June 30, 2024)

Animal attack movies are a staple of summer cinema (Aug. 28, 2022)

Photos: Movie posters for “Coyotes,” “Anaconda” and “Primate.”