5 Rabid Dog Horror Movies Ranked
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Bad to the Bone
Dog horror movies are rare. Just one – Cujo – is well known in mainstream pop culture. This list was inspired by the trailer for the upcoming Good Boy (2025), a movie that features a loyal dog, Indy, trying to protect his owner from ghosts in a haunted farmhouse.
Just to be clear, this is a list of killer dog movies, not werewolf or wolf man films. If you’re looking for werewolf movie recommendations, I suggest reading my Night Howls article.
Dogs have been beloved human companions for centuries. But what happens when good doggies go bad? Here are five rabid dog horror movies ranked!
5. Dogs of Hell (1983)
Cujo was released in 1983, but there’s another much less famous killer dog movie that came out the same year. Dogs of Hell (also known as Rottweiler and Rottweiler 3-D) is about a pack of killer canines who are part of a secret government experiment.
The truck transporting the creatures is destroyed in a fiery crash. The dogs escape and invade a folksy small town and the surrounding camping area. A government official arrives hoping to save the creatures, but the local sheriff is determined to blast the varmints to kingdom come!
Dogs of Hell deserves its obscurity. There’s way too much talking and not enough dog screentime. The acting and production values are painfully amateurish. Much of the carnage takes place offscreen.
This low budget flick may as well have been sponsored by Coca Cola, judging by the amount of Coke vending machines and drinks that appear. Dogs of Hell does have one claim to fame – as far as I know, it’s the only 3-D dog horror movie ever made.
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4. Man’s Best Friend (1993)
Lance Henriksen plays Dr. Jarett, a fanatical scientist who is obsessed with creating a new breed of superhuman guard dogs. A journalist, Lori (Ally Sheedy), is investigating Jarett’s controversial animal experimentation headquarters. She and a friend break into the facility. Lori frees Max, a huge mastiff, and takes him home with her.
Max quickly becomes obsessed with protecting Lori. He brutally slaughters anyone who he deems a threat to her, even the mailman! Cats and birds also run afoul of Max’s wrath.
This is another cheesy movie about a killer dog created by a secret experiment. Man’s Best Friend is as campy as it gets, but it’s made with more competence and professionalism than Dogs of Hell. No movie with Lance Henricksen can be all bad, right?
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3. Cujo (1983)
Cujo is an adaptation of the 1981 Stephen King novel. The eponymous dog is a mild mannered St. Bernard at the beginning of the story. One day, he chases a rabbit into a cave and is bitten by a bat. Now rabid, the massive, lumbering canine embarks on a bloody rampage.
A young mother, Donna (Dee Wallace) and her son Tad (Danny Pintauro) are trapped inside their car with the monstrous menace stalking them outside. They know that Cujo, who is strong enough to slaughter grown men, will easily overpower and kill them if they leave the vehicle.
It’s a brutally hot day and they are in danger of succumbing to the heat. Can they escape before it’s too late?
I’m surprised to be ranking Cujo this low on the list, but I don’t find it as compelling as a couple of the other dog horror movies I’ve watched. Dee Wallace is a good actress, and Cujo is a believable menace, but there wasn’t as much tension or atmosphere as there should have been.
Netflix has announced plans to produce a remake.
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2. The Pack (2015)
This underrated Australian movie is about a farm family, the Wilsons, who are in danger of losing their home due to financial troubles. The mother, Carla (Anna Lise Phillips), works as a veterinarian, but her clinic is losing money. If that isn’t bad enough, a pack of wild dogs is rampaging through the area, and they’ve developed a taste for human flesh.
The pack helps the family by disposing of the guy who’s trying to evict them, but the ferocious creatures quickly turn their attention to the farm. The Wilsons are trapped inside their house with the crazed canines relentlessly trying to break in like a horde of hungry zombies.
The battle turns into a bloody all-out war, with the family using firebombs, tire irons, crowbars, and whatever else they can find to fend off the invaders.
The Wilsons are a likeable group. They won’t win any awards for intelligence, but it’s still easy to root for them to survive. The Pack is one of the most fast paced and action packed killer dog movies.
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1. Good Boy (2020)
Despite its title, this Good Boy has nothing to do with the 2025 movie of the same name. This is a feature-length film that’s part of Hulu’s Into the Dark anthology series.
Judy Greer stars as Maggie, a middle-aged journalist who is dissatisfied with her life. She’s 39 years old and wants kids, but every guy she dates turns out to be a disappointment. She’s also struggling at work, where she’s been demoted from an employee to an independent contractor.
Discouraged and depressed, Maggie adopts an emotional support dog, Rueben, a cute little retriever. She quickly falls in love with her furry companion, and her life starts to get better. But Rueben is not what he seems. Despite his small size, Rueben is a ferocious force who turns violent whenever he senses Maggie becoming anxious.
As the bodies pile up, Maggie tries to cover up Rueben’s crimes. Her new boyfriend, a police officer, gradually becomes suspicious, leaving him in Rueben’s crosshairs.
Good Boy has the most interesting storyline and best acting of the dog horror movies in this list. Judy Greer is alternately sympathetic and despicable as Maggie. This movie has many sad and disturbing moments that are balanced with plenty of dark humor.
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Gone to the Dogs
Unlike most horror movies about dogs, the 2025 Good Boy features a canine as the protagonist. Dogs are villains in all the films in this list, but most of them are easy to sympathize with. Their behavior stems from being victimized by the actions of human beings.
After all, dogs can’t be truly evil. They are products of their environment and experiences. They can’t make moral choices in the sense that humans can. Maybe that’s why dog horror movies aren’t common. Dogs are usually too loveable to make great horror antagonists.
