10 Best Creature Features Of The 1980s

10. Razorback

After the unprecedented success of Steven Spielberg's Jaws, the film industry saw a dramatic rise in Man vs. Nature stories. And one of those monster movies was 1984's Razorback, which centres around a gargantuan boar rampaging through the Australian outback. 

Though many creature features emulated the bare bones of Jaws, this Aussie horror understood what made Spielberg's classic work. Like Jaws, the monstrous antagonist is rarely seen, letting our imagination run wild every time it's mentioned or hinted at. When the razorback tosses a car in the air or tears a house in half, we understand its destructive power, despite barely getting a glimpse of the tusked brute.

What makes Razorback work well is how it puts more focus on human conflict. Our heroes have to put up with hostile locals with such frequency that there are times when you forget there's a man-eating pig on the loose. 

Although features in this genre can be formulaic, Razorback is refreshingly unpredictable. It takes a page out of Psycho's book by offing the supposed protagonist early on, making it clear that any character could be next, significantly elevating the stakes.