9 of the most stomach-turning creature features that you absolutely must watch

Creature features have been around in the world of horror movies and television for a very long time. In fact, it's one of the largest horror subgenres. In these films, the story typically revolves around a singular or group of giant monsters, alien beings, mythical creatures, mutated animals, mythological beings, insectoid monsters, cryptids, human-animal hybrids, etc., as the primary antagonists who endanger the human characters.

Horror fanatics tend to enjoy these types of films because they can create a thrilling viewing experience for them. However, some horror fans will find creature features quite disturbing due to their use of grotesque creature designs and imagery, graphic violence, body horror, etc. We've watched our fair share of stomach-turning creepy-crawly movies here at 1428 Elm, so we decided to share a list of some that we believe are worth watching. Check out our list below!

Infested (2023)

Directed by: Sébastien Vanicek

Written by: Vanicek and Florent Bernard

Cast: Théo Christine, Finnegan Oldfield, Jérôme Niel, Sofia Lesaffre and Lisa Nyarko

When a young man with an interest in exotic animals brings home a venomous spider to his apartment, it doesn't take long for the spider to get loose from its cage and reproduce. Now, there's an army of deadly spiders that are becoming bigger and bigger, invading his rundown apartment complex, and he and his neighbors must band together to find a way out and survive.

The Swarm (2020)

Directed by: Just Philippot

Written by: Jérôme Genevray and Franck Victor

Cast: Suliane Brahim, Sofian Khammes, Marie Narbonne, Raphael Romand, Nathalie Boyer

The Swarm centers around a single mother named Virginie, who is struggling to make ends meet. She begins raising locusts for protein and selling them in an attempt to bring in a source of income. But when it becomes difficult to get the locusts to reproduce, she becomes frustrated and is at a loss for what to do. One day, she discovers by accident that the locusts have a taste for blood so she begins supplying her own body as a food source as well as other animals. That way, she can get them to rapidly reproduce. But it's not going to be easy keeping this dark secret hidden from her loved ones.

The Fly (1986)

Directed by: David Cronenberg

Written by: Cronenberg and Charles Edward Pogue

Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz

The Fly is a sci-fi horror film that's a remake of the 1958 movie of the same name. After one his experiments goes terribly wrong, brilliant yet eccentric scientist, Seth Brundle, starts to gradually transform into a grotesque human–fly hybrid. With no cure in sight, Seth finds himself having to confront his own humanity.

Anaconda (1997)

Directed by: Luis Llosa

Written by: Hans Bauer, Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr.

Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Eric Stoltz, Jonathan Hyde, Owen Wilson

In Anaconda, a documentary film crew ventures into the Amazon rainforest to shoot a documentary about a long-lost indigenous Amazonian tribe, only to find themselves stranded and fighting for their lives when a massive anaconda begins hunting them and picking them off one by one.

Critters (1986)

Directed by: Stephen Herek

Written by: Herek and Domonic Muir

Cast: Dee Wallace-Stone, M. Emmet Walsh, Billy Green Bush, Scott Grimes, Nadine van der Velde, Don Opper

Critters centers around a family on a rural Kansas farm who must band together with two shapeshifting bounty hunters to put a stop to a group of small, furry aliens known as "Krites," who are wreaking havoc on their small countryside town.

Tremors (1990)

Directed by: Ron Underwood

Written by: Brent Maddock and S. S. Wilson

Cast: Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross, Reba McEntire

Tremors sees two repairmen, a seismology student, and an eccentric survivalist couple work together to outsmart and battle against the giant, worm-like monsters that have invaded their isolated desert town and attacked and killed its inhabitants and livestock.

The Host (2006)

Directed by: Bong Joon-ho

Written by: Joon-ho, Ha Joon-won, Baek Chul-hyun

Cast: Song Kang-ho, Byun Hee-bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Doona, Go Ah-sung

The Host is a South Korean monster film centering around a loving family who does everything in their power to rescue their youngest daughter who has been captured by a monstrous amphibious creature residing in the Han River.

Splinter (2008)

Directed by: Toby Wilkins

Written by: Wilkins, Kai Barry, Ian Shorr

Cast: Jill Wagner, Paulo Costanzo, Shea Whigham, Rachel Kerbs, Laurel Whitsett, Charles Baker

Splinter follows a young couple whose initial plans to go on a romantic camping trip are thwarted when they're car-jacked by an escaped convict and his girlfriend. They're then forced to drive to a nearby gas station where they eventually find themselves having to work together with the escaped convict to survive a splinter parasitic organism that infects and then turns its victims into deadly hosts.

Feast (2005)

Directed by: John Gulager

Written by: Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan

Cast: Balthazar Getty, Navi Rawat, Henry Rollins, Judah Friedlander, Josh Zuckerman, Jenny Wade, Duane Whitaker

Feast is a horror-comedy flick set inside a remote bar in the middle of the Nevada desert. It follows a group of strangers who find themselves having to work together to survive against a group of ravenous, bloodthirsty monsters that lurk just outside the bar.

What are some your favorite creature features?

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