The Ghost and the Darkness in 35mm

Steven Spielberg’s second feature as a director set the standard for edge-of-your-seat suspense and quickly became a cultural phenomenon. When the seaside community of Amity Island falls prey to a great white shark, the chief of police (Roy Scheider), a young marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss), and a grizzled shark hunter (Robert Shaw) embark on a desperate quest to destroy the beast before it strikes again. A box office record-breaker as well as a Best Picture nominee, Jaws earned Oscars for its film editing, sound, and John Williams’s thrilling score.

New print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.

Scientists exploring the Brazilian Amazon discover a terrifying creature, a “Gill Man,” who grows infatuated with the female member of their team, putting all their lives in danger. This horror classic reunited several key participants from Universal’s 3D hit It Came from Outer Space (1953) including producer William Alland, actor Richard Carlson, writer Harry Essex, and director Jack Arnold. With its evocative 3D cinematography, the unexpected eroticism of its underwater sequences (which influenced Jaws’s classic opening sequence), and the superbly designed creature suit, the film spawned two sequels and was a major inspiration for Guillermo del Toro’s 2017 Oscar winner The Shape of Water.

One of the first aquatic killer-animal movies released after the blockbuster success of Jaws took a remarkably different approach to the genre. Richard Harris is Nolan, a fishing-boat captain whose attempt to capture a killer whale leads to a tragic chain of events and a climactic confrontation on icy Arctic waters. Directed by Michael Anderson (Around the World in 80 Days), this dark thriller plays at times like Moby Dick with the whale as the hero, and benefits from an elegiac score by the great Ennio Morricone.

Them!

A family is mysteriously killed in the remote desert, leaving only a traumatized little girl uttering one word: “Them!” One of the first mutant animal thrillers released in the 1950s and still one of the best, this exciting sci-fi horror about giant ants benefits from Oscar-nominated special effects and influenced such genre classics as James Cameron’s Aliens (1986).

Novelist Evan Hunter (Blackboard Jungle) adapted the story by Daphne Du Maurier (Rebecca) for one of director Alfred Hitchcock’s most daring films, with Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren as a pair of San Franciscans whose burgeoning romance faces a unique threat: an inexplicable assault on the human race by the local bird population. The film features some of the most intense sequences from the Master of Suspense, and its bleakly apocalyptic tone makes it a rarity among Hollywood films of the era. Ub Iwerks was nominated for the film’s ambitious special effects, and the film’s iconic imagery includes remarkable matte paintings by two-time Oscar-recipient Albert Whitlock.

Of Unknown Origin in 35mm

An investment banker hopes to use the absence of his vacationing family to focus on renovating his Manhattan brownstone, only to find that a large and unusually cunning animal intruder has other designs. George P. Cosmatos (Tombstone) directed this stylish, minimalist thriller, anchored by Peter Weller’s witty performance as the tormented homeowner in what plays like a yuppie reimagining of Moby Dick.

Piranha in 35mm

Released by Roger Corman’s New World Pictures, Piranha was Joe Dante’s first solo job as director on this feature written by John Sayles. The danger in this film isn’t one large animal, but hordes of ravenous, genetically modified piranhas released from an abandoned military compound. Grounded by a sharp script, an eerie score by Pino Donaggio, and great effects work from Rob Bottin, Phil Tippett, and Chris Walas, while featuring campy performances by Kevin McCarthy and Barbara Steele as army scientists along with Corman regulars Paul Bartel and Dick Miller as stuffy resort workers, Piranha is a fun summer flick with schools of scares.

Prophecy in 35mm

A doctor investigating mysterious illnesses among Native Americans living in Maine discovers a monster created by pollution from a local lumber mill in this environmental sci-fi horror film directed by John Frankheimer (The Manchurian Candidate). The screenplay by David Seltzer (The Omen) provides both social commentary and old-fashioned thrills, and Oscar nominee Thomas Burman (Scrooged) created the film’s massive mutated menace.

The Edge in 35mm

While staying at an Alaskan resort with his wife, intellectual billionaire Charles (Anthony Hopkins) boards a prop plane with charismatic photographer Bob (Alec Baldwin) and his assistant. After the ill-fated flight leaves the men stranded in the wilderness, infighting becomes the least of their problems when a massive Kodiak bear stalks and repeatedly attacks them. The Edge is one of the last films to feature a performance by Bart the Bear, an animal actor who appeared in more than 10 films, including The Bear (1988) and Legends of the Fall (1994), and even helped present an award at the 70th Academy Awards.

Crawl

As a Category 5 hurricane batters Florida, competitive swimmer Haley (Kaya Scodelario) defies evacuation orders to check on her estranged father (Barry Pepper), fearing he may be at their former family home, which lies in the path of the destructive storm. She quickly discovers the hurricane isn’t the only threat to their safety, as rising floodwater has brought large alligators to the area. Compelled to save her father, Haley faces off against the deadly predators, putting her athletic ability and will to survive to the ultimate test. Directed by Alexandre Aja and co-produced by genre film icon Sam Raimi, Crawl is a tight thriller that pits woman against nature in every sense.

Deep Blue Sea in 35mm

Scientists hoping to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease use mako sharks as test subjects in a high-tech underwater facility out in the open ocean. As the sharks begin to display heightened intelligence, they attempt to escape, attacking the crew and their laboratory. Shark wrangler Carter Blake (Thomas Jane) attempts to save the remaining crew while the labyrinthine facility floods at an exponential rate. With supporting roles by LL Cool J (who also contributed songs to the soundtrack) and Samuel L. Jackson, Renny Harlin’s entry in the killer-animal genre was a spiritual update on Jaws.

Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s gorgeously crafted survival epic was inspired by the true story of a 19th-century frontiersman who was abandoned by his companions after a near-fatal bear attack and had to make his way back to civilization alone. Iñárritu won his second consecutive Oscar for directing this primal story. Additional Oscars were won by Leonardo DiCaprio for his intense lead performance and Emmanuel Lubezki for his stunning natural-light cinematography. Filmed on spectacular, remote locations in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina, The Revenant received 12 nominations including Best Picture.