chubbydave This movie has been made and remade over and over again. A group of young people in the woods (or jungle or island or exotic land or wherever) stalked and attacked by a mysterious woodland creature. These are all low budget movies so the effects are pathetic.The only high points (and this is curious because they can do better than this) are Keke Palmer, Elizabeth Gillies and Joey Lauren Adams. Keke we've known for a long time from Akeelah and the Bee and True Jackson VP. Elizabeth was in the Nick show Victorious. Both young likable young actress who you hope would have good careers. Joey is a veteran actress who has been showing her breathtakingly beautiful face in films for decades. I don't know why any of them agreed to do this movie. The money couldn't have been very good, and it certainly isn't a career boost. All three of them could easily get other projects.Anyway, this is just a pathetic remake of a remake of a remake. If you like Elizabeth or Keke, there are plenty of other projects they've done where you can see them. Skip this.

Bryan Kluger The poster for this film does not shy away from showing you the actual monster up close. In fact, it's what the poster solely is, an image of the beast or 'Animal' for it's title. Most horror films want to keep you in the dark for a good thirty to forty-five minutes before you get a glimpse of whatever monster they throw at you, but that's not the case with this film. That being said, this very low budget monster movie has a very cool looking monster. It's one of the better ones I've seen in recent years, however, that is about the only thing this film has going for it.I was shocked to see that Drew Barrymore was a producer on the film. Maybe it's because she starred in several horror movies in her career and wanted to give back to a new generation. Or maybe it's because she owed someone a big favor, but trust me, you wouldn't want your name associated with this movie. And then there is actress Joey Lauren Adams who shows up for a good chunk of the movie too. The rest of the cast, you may or may not have every heard or seen before. But for the low budget that this film has, Barrymore and Adams are huge names and assets to market this type of movie.Unfortunately, the film doesn't really go anywhere, nor is that exciting, as it's the same horror film we've seen one-hundred million times before. 'Animal' centers on a group of five co-ed teens who decide to have a long weekend trip together. Instead of going to a city or beach, they head out to the deep dark woods to a cabin for a little rest and relaxation. I sense you can see what happens next. Well, as their luck would have it, there is a hideous monster living in the woods, whose sole purpose is to eat and brutally kill anything or anyone that just happens to be in the woods. And that my friends, is the story of 'Animal'. No more, no less.With so many movies that have the same story lines and similar characters, it becomes a game of how fresh or different you can make the film fit in the genre. That's not the case here. Director Brett Simmons (The Monkey's Paw), doesn't want to keep things fresh here. Instead, he keeps the same exact flow and story from each film, prior to this one as each character is picked off one by one. Again, the one thing going for this film is the look of the monster. The monster was built and is not CG, which is cool. And even though it looks fairly cheap, Simmons knew how to shoot it to make it look like a scary and thrilling monster.It's just too bad he didn't focus on the script or story line. As for you gore-hounds, the blood and guts fly all over the place, and should be up to your twisted standards. For a monster movie that you've seen a thousand times before, 'Animal' does the job, but other than that, this horror film is a stinker.

Andrew Gold Animal doesn't have much substance as a horror movie. It's your typical "teenagers lost in the woods and are getting picked off one by one" story, except instead of a machete wielding maniac chasing them it's an Alien-Predator-hybrid animal that has a taste for human meat. For what it is, it's a fun watch - it's exactly what you'd expect from a B-movie called "Animal".I can't score it any higher because it gets zero points for originality and I can't score it lower because it doesn't try to be anything more than a schlocky monster movie. It's surprisingly cohesive writing-wise, and is definitely more watchable than half the F13 entries. Elizabeth Gillies' ear-piercing screams are annoying yet hilarious and add some extra zest once her friends become fodder to this unstoppable beast.Overall Animal achieves exactly what it sets out to, but its sights weren't aimed high in the first place. It's a clear homage to old-fashioned monster movies with lots of campiness, cheesy special effects, blood and guts aplenty, and a handful of scares that catch you off-guard. All you can ever want in a B-movie romp-fest.

kerstinw94 Granted I wasn't expecting much after the first fifteen minutes. but its new to netflix streaming so what the hell right? Well the reviews do not lie, the bones of the film are solid, the cinematography, audio and the special effects were good. End of list. If you have seen any form of creature feature film, or monster movie even, you've seen this movie. If you haven't seen anything like this, stop and look up The Host, (korean) Grabbers, honestly so many more. The leads were consistent with most creature feature horror flicks, bad decisions were made, someones past is delved into and little attempt is made at working together, albeit for the commiserating silencing of the token villain..the dude from prison break. Yet, unlike many of its predecessors, to a fault - our protagonists reject any form of defense against the monster, save for a wall in between them. How long was that initial group there? i may have missed it but it seemed like the lay down and die approach was taken. Another issue i had was the lack of discussion regarding what the hell the creature is!? Everyone seems fine with believing it to be some woodland creature, common to the woods of wherever the hell this film takes place. While this device could have served as a commentary to the genre, in that a trope of creature features is the initial utter denial of the apparent danger or supernatural/otherwordly presence...the film chose to not really address it at all. overlooking the obvious opportunity for parody, the film instead sticks to its roots and merely chocks their insistence to denial up to stupidity and ignorance.Don't waste your time, with a little research there are some worthy genre pieces from which Animal borrows heavily.