Animal (2014)

Jeff (Parker Young) and Alissa (Keke Palmer) are brother and sister that convince a group of friends to venture off for a weekend in the forest; a forest they went to regularly when they were younger. Now they want to return to the forest that is threatened to disappear. The close-knit friends get turned around and find themselves in very unfamiliar territory and hole up in an abandoned cabin. The close quarters have tensions mounting as little hidden secrets are brought into the open. That is the least of the groups problems; they find themselves the prey of a menacing, blood thirsty predator. The beast rapidly takes control of the forest and the body count will only build.Brett Simmons directs while Drew Barrymore listed as an Executive Producer is credited with making a smooth horror flick sans the roughest of edges. Also in the cast: Elizabeth Gillies, Jeremy Sumpter, Paul Iacano, Amaury Nolasco and Joey Lauren Adams.

Chiller Films has brought to the screen one of the truly original and thrilling horror films of the last decade with Animal. Screenwriters Thommy Hutson and Catherine Trillo script is nothing short of brilliant and realized by the gifted director Brett Simmons, it results in a motion picture unlike anything ever produced in this genre. Superb performances from an esteemed cast of actors serve to enhance this excellent production to such an extent that this is the sort of cinema one is accustomed to see coming from a major studio. Unique in its vision and a stunning horror film of extraordinary power, Animal is certainly more than a movie. It is a cinematic event.

I thought this movie was just....amazing. I loved the tension and creature, the best 'ChillerFilms' movie yet. One of the best things about this movie is that it doesn't stick to stereotypes like the slut dying first. Not only was the slutty girl (Elizabeth Gillies) the only one to survive but she killed one of the creatures. She also rubbed dirt on herself and threw the shirt which proved that she isn't dumb like stereotype sluts are, she knew how to throw the creature off her scent. This movie also had some good humour within it, it makes you calm down and then BOOM the unexpected happens. The worst thing about this movie, it was only given a limited release, I personally believe it deserved a bigger release. And the rating for the movie here on IMDb is way too low. No wonder no-one wants to watch this movie, its rating is just under 5. It deserves a 6 or 7 at least. It could've got more if only they had some back-story for the creature in the film.

"Animal" is simplistic, nonsensical, juvenile, and extremely unoriginal. The acting is average, at best.Rating this movie a 10, you'd have to have low expectations as to what constitutes an outstanding movie with superb acting performances and an awesome story accompanying an even better script. There is nothing true about those sentiments in this movie, whatsoever! People go into woods. Monster in woods. Monster chases people. People find cabin. People hole up in the inexplicably impenetrable cabin , blockaded with flimsy pieces of wood, a 5 year old could break through, now people have to figure way out! But people are scared, ooooo. The monster was the only thing that was slightly cool and put together extremely well but the kills were lame and monotonous. Why this movie garnered an NR is beyond me. Some blood thrown around here and there, some superficial wounding, a little monster chomping, but nothing to rave about. Pretty bad,actually. After the opening sequence, we see a Jeep full of people driving on a desolate dirt road, who happen to come upon a blockade, across said road. They park and proceed to hike in the direction from whence they just drove. It makes no sense. Keke Taylor was very good in her role. The other characters stood around and stared a lot and blabbed stupid lines, some of which had no reason to even be in the script. There are no frights, no scares, and no tension. Overall, it was very boring and a complete waste of time.