Four "Animals Run Amok" movies to watch this summer

In celebration of my latest book, When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies With Killer Animals, the B to Z summer editions at the Cinematek in Brussels, Belgium, will be dedicated to "animals run amok" movies. The screenings will be accompanied by a book signing, and I'll be giving an introduction to the films together with director Bruno Forzani (Amer, The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears).

Here's the "animals run amok" summer program...

July 28, 2017

19:00 OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN (George P. Cosmatos, Canada, 1983)

Wall Street businessman Peter Weller (Robocop) battles against one rat and in doing so, destroys both his cool reputation and his interior design.

21:00 DAY OF THE ANIMALS (William Gridler, US, 1977)

Animals in the high mountains turn into murderous monsters due to the thinning ozone layer. This is bad news for a group of backpackers trekking through the Sierra Nevada.

August 25, 2017

19:00 SSSSSSS (Bernard L. Kowalsky, US, 1973)

A crazy scientist injects his unsuspecting assistant (played by Dirk Benedict, later known for his roles in the TV shows Battlestar Galactica and The A-Team) with a serum causing him to gradually turn into a King Cobra.

21:00 BUG! (Jeannot Szwarc, US, 1975)

After an earthquake, mutant cockroaches that are capable of setting fire crawl out of the ground in this nail-biting horror movie.

Don't forget to check out in-depth essays about these "animals run amok" movies in When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies With Killer Animals. On the evenings of the screenings, you'll be able to buy the book at the Cinematek as well.

Illustration by Gilles Vranckx