5 Insect Horror Movies That Will Make Your Skin Crawl
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Creepy Crawlies!
Many people are terrified of bugs, so these creepy critters are perfect subjects for horror films. Insect horror movies have been common since the 1950s, when movies like The Fly first became popular.
As special effects have improved, so have the ability of bug horror movies to gross us out with gooey, nasty content. Here are five insect horror movies guaranteed to make your skin crawl, ranked by slimy bug grossness, with a special bonus at the end! Read on, if you dare!
5. Earth vs. The Spider (1958)
There’s no way I could make a bug horror movies list without including at least one of the classic over the top insect monster movies from the ’50s. We’ve all heard of The Fly, but have you seen Earth vs. The Spider? The title is a major exaggeration. The gigantic creature doesn’t terrorize the entire planet, just one small town.
The protagonist is science teacher Art Kingman (Ed Kemmer), who wants to study the creature, and a teenage couple, Carol (June Kenney) and Mike (Gene Persson) who are the first to discover the spider’s secret lair.
Earth vs. The Spider is a fun little retro ride, a fast paced, action packed movie that was perfect for the midnight drive-in circuit back in the day.
The film regulations of the era prevented this movie from having any major explicit gore. Many deaths happen offscreen, but there is some blood and grotesqueness. Earth vs. The Spider was remade in 2001 as a tv movie.
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4. Arachnophobia (1990)
A new species of spider infests a small California town. Anything they bite dies. Ross Jennings (Jeff Daniels), a local doctor, figures out that mysterious toxins inside the victims’ bodies are from killer spiders.
Despite suffering from extreme arachnophobia, Ross is determined to save the town. Armed with a flamethrower, he and other townsfolk launch a desperate search for the spider nest where the creatures breed.
I wish Jeff Daniels was in more horror films. He’s had a versatile career, with numerous comedy and dramatic roles, but little work in my favorite genre. His only other horror role is in the obscure Chasing Sleep (2000), which is about a college professor whose mental health deteriorates after his wife disappears.
Speaking of famous actors who don’t usually do horror, John Goodman is here, too. He plays a cocky pest exterminator.
Arachnophobia takes itself less seriously than the other movies in this list. It’s PG-13. There’s still plenty of slimy bug grossness to be found, but not as much as the rest of this list, which are all R-rated flicks.
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3. Tics (aKA Infested) (1993)
Troubled teens from L.A. are sent to a summer camp for rehabilitation. This sounds like a classic set up for a summer camp slasher, right? Not this time. Instead, they are terrorized by tics that have been mutated by steroids.
The monsters infest people and devour their organs. The kids, and the counselors who are mentoring them, must contend with both the tics and a gang of drug dealers who are using the area for pot farming.
Tics stars a pre-fame Seth Green as the main character, nerdy teenager Tyler. Clint Howard, who appeared in numerous cheesy low budget ’90s horror movies, plays a drug dealer who accidentally creates the superpowered tics.
Mutant killer tics are way more interesting than a bunch of bumbling backwoods pot farmers. The drug subplot is an unnecessary complication that takes up way too much screentime. The movie should have just focused on the camp kids and the tics. That stuff is fun, but the movie never quite lives up to its promising premise.
Animal lovers beware: Tics depicts a beloved pet dog being brutally devoured by the ravenous insects.
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2. Mimic (1997)
Cockroaches are spreading disease in New York City, but they’re not the main villains of Mimic, one of director Guillermo del Toro’s first movies.
In a classic example of the cure being worse than the disease, the CDC creates a genetically modified super insect, “Judas”, to eradicate the roaches. The creation of Dr. Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino) and Dr. Peter Mann (Jeremy Northam) successfully accomplishes its mission.
Years pass. Susan and Peter marry. The creature, which is believed to have perished long ago, breeds and evolves. It transforms into a giant monster that lurks inside dark corners of NYC subways, capturing and killing people.
“Judas” even has the power to physically imitate humans, hence the movie’s title. Peter and Susan journey into the depths of New York City to destroy their creation.
The innovation of featuring a specially created bug, rather than a known species, sets Mimic apart from other insect horror movies. So does del Toro’s brooding direction, which gives the film plenty of tension. Mimic doesn’t pull any punches, with both kids and animals falling victim to the monster.
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1. Phenomena (AKA Creepers) (1985)
Bet you weren’t expecting to find a giallo on an insect horror movies list! In this one, the bugs are the good guys!
Jennifer Corvino (Jennifer Connelly), an American teen at a boarding school in Switzerland, has a telepathic connection with insects. A serial killer lurks in the area, and she uses her powers to summon swarms of flies to try to stop him.
An entomology professor, John McGregor (Donald Pleasence), investigates Jennifer’s psychic powers and tries to piece together the identity of the murderer.
Donald Pleasence wasn’t in many horror movies other than the Halloween series, so it’s a treat to watch him here. Seeing a young Connelly is fun as well. Dario Argento directs with his usual panache.
The gory killings and gooey makeup effects make Phenomenon (which was retitled Creepers for its initial U.S. release) one of the most unique and memorable bug horror movies ever made.
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Bonus Time!
Slugs (1988)
Slugs are mollusks, so technically they don’t belong on a list of horror movies about insects. But where else am I going to put this obscure ecohorror oddity, which is, as far as I can tell, the only horror film ever made with slugs as the antagonists?
These slimy, grotesque creatures invade and infest a small New York town. The slugs have developed a taste for human flesh. They swarm people and eat them alive, reducing them to skeletons within minutes. A series of dead bodies turn up all over town. The police are baffled.
Local health inspector Mike Brady (Michael Garfield) discovers that slugs are responsible. Of course, nobody believes him. People never believe the doomsayers in these movies.
The creatures have been mutated by toxic waste deep in the bowels of the town’s sewers. Mike and his friend Don (Philip MacHale) descend into the sewer for a final confrontation with the creatures.
This movie is not for the weak of stomach, that’s for sure. There’s loads of gore throughout. While it’s far from being one of the best ’80s horror movies, Slugs is surprisingly well made and effective for a low budget genre film of its era. If I was ranking it, I’d put it #2 on my list, narrowly edging Mimic for grossness.
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