Jaws (1975)
One of the earliest animal horror films, “Jaws” is the story of three people who set out to capture a large man-eating shark that kills people on the sea front of a fictional town. The local police chief, a marine biologist and a professional shark hunter come face to face with the giant killer mid-sea while in the boat. The shark attacks and damages the boat and tries to kill the people on board. But ultimately the team triumphs. This movie became the highest-grossing film in history when it was released, a record it held until the release of Star Wars.
Fact
Only about a dozen out of the 300 species of sharks are known to attack humans.
Humans are not part of their normal diet and they primarily feed on smaller fish and some marine mammals.
In the U.S. lightning kills more people than sharks. And according to the National Geographic , you have a one in 63 chance of dying from the flu and a one in 3,700,000 chance of being killed by a shark during your lifetime. On the other hand, according to a wildlife organisation, about 11,000 sharks are killed by humans every hour!
Jurassic Park (1993)
A theme park of a different kind is about to open — one populated by multiple species of dinosaurs created from prehistoric DNA. A group is chosen to be taken on a tour before the opening of the park. The billionaire owner assures everyone that it is safe as the ferocious animals are kept within their territory by electric fences. But things turn out otherwise as these carnivorous predators break free and hunt down the group.
Fact
Dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago, a long time before the first humans ever roamed the earth. So we can only assume their behaviour and traits based on a study of their remains.
DNA cannot last millions of years as they decay too quickly, so the chances of finding DNA which the scientists can use to clone the dinosaurs from, is highly improbable.
Piranha (2010)
A fun, relaxing holiday turns into horror when a tremor releases hundreds of carnivorous piranha into a lake on the banks of which is a popular tourist resort. These razor-toothed creatures tear apart anything — human or animal — in its path. A band of strangers unite to stop these creatures from terrorising the people.
Fact
All the 20 species of piranha are found in the Amazon River in South America and only about five of them are actually dangerous. The rest are quite harmless.
Lake Placid (1999)
A 30-foot-long monstrous crocodile terrorises a lake, killing people. A game warden, a police officer and a palaeontologist team up to stop this creature which “devours everything in its path.”
Fact
The largest of crocodiles ever recorded measure about 20 feet in length.
A few species are dangerous indeed, but when left to themselves and when humans do not encroach into their territory all is well.
Anaconda (1997)
A filmmaker along with her crew travels deep into the Amazon jungle in search of a forgotten tribe. On their journey, they come across a man who is stranded on the riverbank and offers to help. But in time they realise that the man is using them to find the world’s largest snake — the anaconda that is worth a lot of money. But in the wild, it is just them against the deadly anaconda.
Fact
Anacondas are not vicious man-eaters. They prey on animals that are much smaller than humans like sheep, goat and wild pigs. But like any other animal, when provoked or harmed they will attack.
In fact, humans are more of a threat to the anacondas. These snakes are killed for their skin.
Because of their size (the average size of an anaconda is 20 feet), they cannot move fast on land. For this very reason, they prefer to stay and move in the water.
Word List
Highest-grossing: A film that earns a lot of money.
Prehistoric: A period of human existence before the availability of written records with which documented history begins.
Carnivorous predators: Meat eating animals that prey on other animals.
DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms.
Paleontologist: A person he who studies forms of life existing in prehistoric or geologic times, as represented by the fossils of plants, animals, and other organisms.
