Top Horror Movie Dogs
“Something’s wrong with Cujo, Mom!”
I guess you can call that an understatement. Dogs have a proud history in horror movies as both monsters and heroes. Here are some of the most notable pooches in the genre. WOOF!
The new release Love and Monsters features a frisky and fearless travel companion, protecting Joel from giant mutant critters. The generically named “Boy” exhibits everything you want from a horror movie dog: courage, loyalty, and spunk. Sadly, there is also a history of dogs in horror movies being used as sacrificial animals to display the monster or villain’s power. Such is the fate, often, for genre film canines. A sad and ignoble ending.
For this exercise, we’re looking at dogs who had memorable or significant roles within the movies. We were contacted by one of our fans, Scarlett Gold, who he spotted our Dead list of Animals in Horror. She has put together The Woof of Fame, a growing comprehensive list of famous dogs, from Laika, to Snoopy, to Bo and Sunny (The Obama’s Dogs), and Spuds Makenzie. Scarlett asked me if I had any other dogs in the horror genre.
Yes, yes I do. And here they are:
Be forewarned though, there is a tradition of discussing dogs and horror movies, and that is to warn people in advance if the dog dies in the movie. It can be a trigger for some folks, and in fact, there is a website entitled Does the Dog Die? which will provide the clues you would need going into the story. Because both “Dog Makes it!” and “Dog Doesn’t Make it.” are big horror tropes, we are including that helpful information for you here as well.
https://scariesthings.com/2020/10/27/dead-list-our-favorite-horror-movie-dogs/
I guess you can call that an understatement. Dogs have a proud history in horror movies as both monsters and heroes. Here are some of the most notable pooches in the genre. WOOF!
The new release Love and Monsters features a frisky and fearless travel companion, protecting Joel from giant mutant critters. The generically named “Boy” exhibits everything you want from a horror movie dog: courage, loyalty, and spunk. Sadly, there is also a history of dogs in horror movies being used as sacrificial animals to display the monster or villain’s power. Such is the fate, often, for genre film canines. A sad and ignoble ending.
For this exercise, we’re looking at dogs who had memorable or significant roles within the movies. We were contacted by one of our fans, Scarlett Gold, who he spotted our Dead list of Animals in Horror. She has put together The Woof of Fame, a growing comprehensive list of famous dogs, from Laika, to Snoopy, to Bo and Sunny (The Obama’s Dogs), and Spuds Makenzie. Scarlett asked me if I had any other dogs in the horror genre.
Yes, yes I do. And here they are:
Be forewarned though, there is a tradition of discussing dogs and horror movies, and that is to warn people in advance if the dog dies in the movie. It can be a trigger for some folks, and in fact, there is a website entitled Does the Dog Die? which will provide the clues you would need going into the story. Because both “Dog Makes it!” and “Dog Doesn’t Make it.” are big horror tropes, we are including that helpful information for you here as well.
https://scariesthings.com/2020/10/27/dead-list-our-favorite-horror-movie-dogs/
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- 14 titles
- DirectorLewis TeagueStarsDee WallaceDaniel Hugh KellyDanny PintauroCujo, a friendly St. Bernard, contracts rabies and conducts a reign of terror on a small American town.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellWilford BrimleyKeith DavidA research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
- DirectorFrancis LawrenceStarsWill SmithAlice BragaCharlie TahanYears after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsWinona RyderCatherine O'HaraMartin ShortWhen a boy's beloved dog passes away suddenly, he attempts to bring the animal back to life through a powerful science experiment.
- DirectorJohn LafiaStarsAlly SheedyLance HenriksenRobert CostanzoA genetically engineered dog escapes from the science facility where it was created. A family takes it in unaware of its deadly instincts which soon emerge. The scientist who created the dog tries to find it before its too late.
- DirectorMichael MatthewsStarsDylan O'BrienJessica HenwickMichael RookerSeven years after he survived the monster apocalypse, lovably hapless Joel leaves his cozy underground bunker behind on a quest to reunite with his high school sweetheart.
- DirectorEric RedStarsMariel HemingwayMichael ParéMason GambleAfter being bitten by a werewolf in the jungle, Ted looks for a cure. His lawyer sister, with a son and dog, invites him to park his camper by her house in the woods and live out of her fridge.
- DirectorZack SnyderStarsSarah PolleyVing RhamesMekhi PhiferA nurse, a policeman, a young married couple and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.
- DirectorAlexandre AjaStarsKaya ScodelarioBarry PepperMorfydd ClarkGigantic alligators swarm around a young woman and her father as floodwaters engulf their home.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsJodie FosterAnthony HopkinsScott GlennA young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.
- DirectorAlexandre AjaStarsTed LevineKathleen QuinlanDan ByrdA traveling family falls victim to a group of mutated cannibals in a desert far away from civilization.
- DirectorDon CoscarelliStarsChase WilliamsonRob MayesPaul GiamattiA new street drug that sends its users across time and dimensions has one drawback: some people return no longer human. Can two college drop-outs save humanity from this silent, otherworldly invasion?
- DirectorJon TurteltaubStarsJason StathamBingbing LiRainn WilsonA rescue mission to the bottom of the ocean is terrorized by a massive prehistoric shark.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsRoy ScheiderRobert ShawRichard DreyfussWhen a massive killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Long Island, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
