One of the scariest devices utilised in horror fiction is the terrifying prospect of evil entities lurking beneath the Earth's surface. Whether it's deep underground in caves, or just below the surface in man-made underground locations like subways and sewers, knowing something is down there lying in wait in the darkness is the stuff nightmares are made of. Ghosts, monsters, murderous humans and various other otherworldly creatures - Hollywood has given us a massive variety of subterranean terrors over the years. In this article, I'm going to look at a dirty dozen of some of the most terrifying subterranean nasties that Hollywood has ever given us. You might want to read this from under the bed covers...
12. The Alligator - Alligator
The Alligator (1980), believe it or not, was a movie about an alligator - a particularly large alligator that roamed the sewers of Chicago, having been flushed down the toilet as a baby, after it was purchased by a teenage girl on family holiday in Florida (and promptly named 'Ramón'). The presence of the alligator comes to light when it starts picking off humans and human body parts begin to flow through the sewers, grabbing the attention of the local police - David Madison (Robert Forster in particular). David is put in touch with local reptile expert Marisa Kendall (Robin Riker), who also happens to be the girl who bought the alligator all those years earlier, and the two embark on a romantic relationship as the look for clues as to the creature's whereabouts. Anyway, it turns out that the alligator had fed on illegally disposed corpses of pets that had been experimented on with a growth serum, causing it to grow to 36 feet in length with a near-impenetrable hide. It is eventually killed with a load of explosives, but another baby alligator appears via a drain as the film ends, ensuring the cycle will continue.