The Exaggerated Terror of “Creature Features”: From Jaws to Cocaine Bear

In a strange way “creature features” like “Jaws,” “Anaconda,” “Crawl,” or “Ghosts In the Darkness” sadden me. They of course aren’t intended to be sad. These gruesome horror/adventure films are primitively engaging, even if (as in the case of “Lake Placid” or “Anaconda”) they are a bit cheesy. But they sadden me because they have the capacity to misrepresent the kind of danger predatory animals…