Top monster movies
by hkakatsakis | created - 23 Nov 2011 | updated - 23 Dec 2011 | PublicThis list is life. Well, maybe unlife. Or at least supra-life. These represent a more monstrous bent than supernatural, having certain films representing the best of a genre or group of films. Of course, this is peppered by subjective favorites, but I still tried to stick with some aspect of quality over just my favorites. Enjoy.
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1. The Thing (1982)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard Masur
Votes: 466,466 | Gross: $13.78M
Nuff said. Just a great movie, monsters or not.
2. Jaws (1975)
PG | 124 min | Adventure, Mystery, Thriller
When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary
Votes: 659,275 | Gross: $260.00M
Ditto.
3. Alien (1979)
R | 117 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 950,224 | Gross: $78.90M
Double ditto.
4. King Kong (1933)
Passed | 100 min | Adventure, Horror
A film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.
Directors: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack | Stars: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher
Votes: 90,942 | Gross: $10.00M
This is this high, not just because of the quality of the film, but for the influence and accomplishment at the time.
5. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Not Rated | 75 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Mary Shelley reveals the main characters of her novel survived: Baron Henry Frankenstein, goaded by an even madder scientist, builds his monster a mate.
Director: James Whale | Stars: Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson
Votes: 53,238 | Gross: $4.36M
James Whale kicks ass.
6. Godzilla (1954)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable dinosaur-like beast.
Director: Ishirô Honda | Stars: Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata, Akira Takarada, Momoko Kôchi
Votes: 39,619 | Gross: $2.42M
Godzilla is a personal fanatical favorite. The Japanese original was a very dark, horror inducing film. The birth of the King.
7. Aliens (1986)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Decades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser
Votes: 762,829 | Gross: $85.16M
James Cameron's best film.
8. The Fog (1980)
R | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
An unearthly fog rolls into a small coastal town exactly 100 years after a ship mysteriously sank in its waters.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, John Houseman
Votes: 82,965 | Gross: $21.38M
How can I forget the angry revenants? This is a great film.
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
PG-13 | 201 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom
Votes: 1,978,673 | Gross: $377.85M
This really represents the Trilogy. This one is my favorite.
10. The Fly (1986)
R | 96 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz, Joy Boushel
Votes: 201,841 | Gross: $40.46M
Jeff Goldblum should have been nominated.
11. Troll Hunter (2010)
PG-13 | 103 min | Drama, Fantasy, Thriller
A group of students investigates a series of mysterious bear killings, but learns that there are much more dangerous things going on. They start to follow a mysterious hunter, learning that he is actually a troll hunter.
Director: André Øvredal | Stars: Otto Jespersen, Robert Stoltenberg, Knut Nærum, Glenn Erland Tosterud
Votes: 79,530 | Gross: $0.25M
Of all the POV movies, this one is the best and most logical. The guy playing the trollhunter is awesome. An imaginative, quality film.
12. The Howling (1981)
R | 91 min | Horror
After a bizarre and near deadly encounter with a serial killer, a television newswoman is sent to a remote mountain resort whose residents may not be what they seem.
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, Christopher Stone
Votes: 40,185 | Gross: $17.99M
Best werewolf movie ever made. The creature effects still hold up and the epitome of what a werewolf should look like. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
13. Predator (1987)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Kevin Peter Hall, Elpidia Carrillo
Votes: 454,679 | Gross: $59.74M
One ugly motha' you know what. Another quality film that lasts. And it's an awesome 80s action movie too.
14. Frankenstein (1931)
Passed | 70 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Dr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.
Director: James Whale | Stars: Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff, John Boles
Votes: 79,690
Not James Whale, but one of the first great monster movies ever made.
15. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Unrated | 127 min | Horror, Thriller
During an escalating zombie epidemic, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross
Votes: 128,554 | Gross: $5.10M
The only zombie movie on the list, but I believe the best of all of them. Any other quality zombie movie is represented by this. Since all zombie apocalypse movies have basically the same story. I really dig zombies too.
16. Let the Right One In (2008)
R | 114 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Oskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.
Director: Tomas Alfredson | Stars: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl
Votes: 226,733 | Gross: $2.12M
An adult monster movie about children. Who'd have thunk it. 'Let me In' is also lumped in with this one. Equally as good.
17. Jurassic Park (1993)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A pragmatic paleontologist touring an almost complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park's cloned dinosaurs to run loose.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough
Votes: 1,066,807 | Gross: $402.45M
The Sfx still holds up and despite it's dramatic short comings and forced suspense it is nerve wracking as heck.
18. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror
Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
Director: John Landis | Stars: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher, Griffin Dunne
Votes: 120,466 | Gross: $30.57M
Another solid movie. Didn't love the creature design, but the change effects and story are classic.
19. Nosferatu (1922)
Not Rated | 94 min | Fantasy, Horror
Vampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife.
Director: F.W. Murnau | Stars: Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder
Votes: 105,403
To me this is the true original. Props to the Bela Lugosi version, that doesn't really stand up to the silent one, with it's indelible imagery.
20. Gamera, the Guardian of the Universe (1994)
Unrated | 96 min | Action, Drama, Fantasy
An ornithologist investigates reports of a monstrous new species of bird just as a teenage girl is gifted an amulet found on mysterious atoll. As the creatures begin to attack, an ancient guardian with a bond to the girl emerges.
Director: Shûsuke Kaneko | Stars: Tsuyoshi Ihara, Akira Onodera, Shinobu Nakayama, Ayako Fujitani
Votes: 4,082
The 90s resurrection of another Japanese heavy hitter. Shûsuke Kaneko does a great job of reinventing the Kaiju genre after some dismal Godzilla movies. This represents the Gamera trilogy that he directed.
21. Creepshow (1982)
R | 120 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
"Creepshow" is a 1982 movie that tells five grisly tales from a children's comic book: a murdered father rising from his grave, a bizarre meteor, a vengeful husband, a mysterious crate's occupant, and a plague of cockroaches.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Hal Holbrook, Leslie Nielsen, Adrienne Barbeau, E.G. Marshall
Votes: 53,215 | Gross: $21.03M
George Romero doing a non-zombie movie. I dig anthologies, and the acting and effects are very good.
22. Mighty Joe Young (1949)
Approved | 94 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
A young woman who has raised a giant gorilla from an infant brings him to Hollywood years later seeking her fortune.
Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack | Stars: Terry Moore, Ben Johnson, Robert Armstrong, Mr. Joseph Young
Votes: 5,782
Harryhausen's first major film and a collaboration with Willis O'Brien. That ape will break your heart.
23. The Hunger (1983)
R | 97 min | Drama, Horror
A love triangle develops between a beautiful yet dangerous vampire (Catherine Deneuve), her cellist companion (David Bowie), and a gerontologist (Susan Sarandon).
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, Cliff De Young
Votes: 29,041 | Gross: $5.98M
A sexually charged monster movie about getting old and becoming obsolete. How can I not put in a vampire movie with David Bowie, Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon?
24. The Mist (2007)
R | 126 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A freak storm unleashes a species of bloodthirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher
Votes: 340,243 | Gross: $25.59M
This is a modern version of a good old fashioned, classic monster movie. Something you'd see from the Atomic age. The paranoia and ending are a bit heavy handed, but it's very good.
25. I Am Legend (2007)
PG-13 | 101 min | Action, Drama, Horror
Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure.
Director: Francis Lawrence | Stars: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson-Whitfield
Votes: 813,964 | Gross: $256.39M
Will Smith's terror makes this one. The alternative ending where the vampires are just misunderstood is much better and closer to the source material.
26. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
Approved | 80 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A ferocious dinosaur awakened by an Arctic atomic test terrorizes the North Atlantic and, ultimately, New York City.
Director: Eugène Lourié | Stars: Paul Hubschmid, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, Kenneth Tobey
Votes: 8,722 | Gross: $5.00M
A Harryhausen Kaiju movie in America. Before Godzilla. These 50s films must be taken with a grain of salt for the antiquated story telling, but this is an influential film with some great stop motion effects.
27. Cloverfield (2008)
PG-13 | 85 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A group of friends venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack.
Director: Matt Reeves | Stars: Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Caplan, T.J. Miller
Votes: 420,580 | Gross: $80.05M
Had some reservations about this one. Didn't love the monster design. Didn't love the twenty something Hollywood leads. Didn't love the fact that they just kept filming when it became illogical. But, much of the film making is excellent. The verite, 9/11 feel of the destruction, the paranoia of not knowing where that huge thing will show up next and the desperate, all is lost feel of the resolution was very effective.
28. Dragonslayer (1981)
PG | 109 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A young wizarding apprentice is sent to kill a dragon which has been devouring girls from a nearby kingdom.
Director: Matthew Robbins | Stars: Peter MacNicol, Caitlin Clarke, Ralph Richardson, John Hallam
Votes: 19,945 | Gross: $14.11M
A really underrated film. The Dragon effects were the best of it's time. Good sound track. Good atmosphere. And, Ralph Richardson kicks ass. His monologue about the age of the Dragon is amazing.
29. Super 8 (2011)
PG-13 | 112 min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
During the summer of 1979, a group of friends witness a train crash and investigate subsequent unexplained events in their small town.
Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Elle Fanning, AJ Michalka, Kyle Chandler, Joel Courtney
Votes: 367,476 | Gross: $127.00M
Beautifully directed film, but I felt that Abrams was split between two opposing derivatives. You had your "Iron Giant/ET" derivative and your "Cloverfield" derivative. They didn't quite mix for me, but the film making is undeniable.
30. The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)
G | 105 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Sinbad and the vizier of Marabia, followed by evil magician Koura, seek the three golden tablets that can gain them access to the ancient temple of the Oracle of All Knowledge.
Director: Gordon Hessler | Stars: John Phillip Law, Caroline Munro, Tom Baker, Douglas Wilmer
Votes: 10,550 | Gross: $3.03M
My personal favorite Harryhausen film. The monsters are the most original. Tom Baker is the man. And they were followers of Islam. They invoked Allah many times. A quality that kept the film honest and something that would never be done today. Gotta love the creative freedom of the 70s.
31. Them! (1954)
Not Rated | 94 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness
Votes: 24,179
THE Atomic age giant monster movie. The suspense and seriousness with which they took the monsters holds up today.
32. Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
G | 104 min | Action, Adventure, Family
The legendary Greek hero leads a team of intrepid adventurers in a perilous quest for the legendary Golden Fleece.
Director: Don Chaffey | Stars: Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Gary Raymond, Laurence Naismith
Votes: 31,031 | Gross: $4.58M
Probably Harryhausen's best film. An epic telling of a classical Greek myth.
33. The Thing from Another World (1951)
Approved | 87 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Scientists and American Air Force officials fend off a bloodthirsty alien organism while at a remote arctic outpost.
Directors: Christian Nyby, Howard Hawks | Stars: Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, James Arness, Robert Cornthwaite
Votes: 33,343
A very different version of the source material "Who Goes There?" But a quality genre film and James Arness is a bad ass.
34. Wolfen (1981)
R | 115 min | Horror, Thriller
A New York cop investigates a series of brutal deaths that resemble animal attacks.
Director: Michael Wadleigh | Stars: Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Edward James Olmos, Gregory Hines
Votes: 11,471 | Gross: $10.63M
Awesome detective film with giant wolves. The cast is awesome with Albert Finney, Gregory Hines, Edward James Olmos and Diane Venora. The sound track is creepy in that late 70s/early 80s way and it has social commentary about the top %1. Occupy giant, intelligent wolves!
35. Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
Not Rated | 105 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A reporter, notorious for working on pseudo-documentaries, must uncover the legend of the three guardian monsters who must rise to defend Japan from the vengeful spirits within Godzilla.
Director: Shûsuke Kaneko | Stars: Chiharu Niiyama, Ryûdô Uzaki, Masahiro Kobayashi, Shirô Sano
Votes: 6,987
Shûsuke Kaneko take on the Godzilla mythos. Probably the best Godzilla movie since the original.
36. King Kong (2005)
PG-13 | 187 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
A greedy film producer assembles a team of moviemakers and sets out for the infamous Skull Island, where they find more than just cannibalistic natives.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann
Votes: 446,781 | Gross: $218.08M
Though there were some flaws in the film, mainly the length, erroneous dinosaur scenes and Jack Black's lack of pathos (and I like Jack Black), this film is ultimately effective. The emotional life of Kong and the relationship with Ann is incredibly deep and makes the whole movie. This also represents a shout out the the Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange King Kong from 76. One of my personal favorites. One of the best, romantic soundtracks ever. And Rick Baker was pretty bad ass as Kong.
37. The Blob (1958)
Approved | 86 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
An alien lifeform consumes everything in its path as it grows and grows.
Directors: Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr., Russell S. Doughten Jr. | Stars: Steve McQueen, Aneta Corsaut, Earl Rowe, Olin Howland
Votes: 29,369
The blob is creepy as heck. Always had bad daydreams about being devoured. And Steve McQueen is very serious which sells the stakes. Ahead of its time. Shout out to the remake. I liked that movie. The blob effects were pretty creative, gruesome and Shawnee Smith is a cutie pie.
38. Reign of Fire (2002)
PG-13 | 101 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A brood of fire-breathing dragons emerges from the earth and begins setting everything ablaze, establishing dominance over the planet.
Director: Rob Bowman | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Christian Bale, Izabella Scorupco, Gerard Butler
Votes: 145,424 | Gross: $43.06M
This movie is pretty good. Very underrated. One of Matthew McConaughey's best performances. Batman is pretty good too.
39. Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
Not Rated | 89 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Mothra's egg washes ashore and is claimed by greedy entrepreneurs who refuse to return it to her fairies. As Godzilla arises near Nagoya, the people of Infant Island must decide if they are willing to answer Japan's own pleas for help.
Director: Ishirô Honda | Stars: Akira Takarada, Yuriko Hoshi, Hiroshi Koizumi, Yû Fujiki
Votes: 10,298
The best Showa Kaiju film after the original. The special effects were pretty frickin cool. Only time Honda used stop motion.
40. Dracula (1979)
R | 109 min | Drama, Horror, Romance
In 1913, the charming, seductive and sinister vampire Count Dracula travels to England in search of an immortal bride.
Director: John Badham | Stars: Frank Langella, Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasence, Kate Nelligan
Votes: 11,110 | Gross: $20.16M
My favorite Dracula film. Frank Langella is at his gesticulating, sophisticated best. And the undead Mina scared the crap out of me.
41. Jabberwocky (1977)
PG | 105 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
A young peasant with no interest in adventure or fortune is mistaken for the kingdom's only hope when a horrible monster threatens the countryside.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Michael Palin, Harry H. Corbett, John Le Mesurier, Warren Mitchell
Votes: 15,980
Only "comedy" on the list, if you want to call it that. Terry Gilliam's first non-Python movie. You only see the monster at the climax, but it's a great example of how the unknown affected such superstitious people, and the utter filth that they lived in in the middle ages.
42. Monsters (2010)
R | 94 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Six years after Earth has suffered an alien invasion, a cynical journalist agrees to escort a shaken American tourist through an infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the U.S. border.
Director: Gareth Edwards | Stars: Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able, Mario Zuniga Benavides, Annalee Jefferies
Votes: 97,624 | Gross: $0.24M
Interesting film. Very well done. Kind of like an indie romance across Mexico...with giant land locked octopi.
43. Hellraiser (1987)
R | 94 min | Horror, Thriller
A woman discovers the newly resurrected, partially formed, body of her brother-in-law and lover. She starts killing for him to revitalize his body and escape the demonic beings that are pursuing him after he escaped their underworld.
Director: Clive Barker | Stars: Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Sean Chapman
Votes: 140,478 | Gross: $14.56M
Gotta have some Clive Barker.
44. The Descent (2005)
R | 99 min | Adventure, Horror, Thriller
A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.
Director: Neil Marshall | Stars: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder
Votes: 246,861 | Gross: $26.02M
How do you make a bunch of hot women seem legitimate? Make them British.
45. Rodan (1956)
Approved | 74 min | Action, Sci-Fi
A mining engineer investigates the death of his fellow coworkers and discovers prehistoric nymphs emerging from the mines. As he heads deeper into the mines, he makes a more horrifying discovery in the form a prehistoric flying creature.
Director: Ishirô Honda | Stars: Kenji Sahara, Yumi Shirakawa, Akihiko Hirata, Akio Kobori
Votes: 5,977 | Gross: $0.50M
The scenes in the beginning in the mines are creepy, claustrophobic and uncomfortable. Then when the monster shows, it reflects how quick the destruction would be compared to the lumbering Godzilla.
46. Starship Troopers (1997)
R | 129 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Humans, in a fascist militaristic future, wage war with giant alien bugs.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, Jake Busey
Votes: 321,047 | Gross: $54.81M
Gotta love teenyboppers being torn apart by giant insects. Well done movie, with an awesome anti-fascism theme.
47. The Giant Behemoth (1959)
Not Rated | 80 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Marine atomic tests cause changes in the ocean's ecosystem resulting in dangerous blobs of radiation and the resurrection of a dormant dinosaur that threatens London.
Director: Eugène Lourié | Stars: Gene Evans, André Morell, John Turner, Leigh Madison
Votes: 2,906
One of Willis O'Brien's last films. A pretty decent non Japanese Kaiju. What it lacks in drama, it makes up in bad ass stop motion animation.
48. Pumpkinhead (1988)
R | 86 min | Fantasy, Horror
After a tragic accident, a man conjures up a towering, vengeful demon called Pumpkinhead to destroy a group of unsuspecting teenagers.
Director: Stan Winston | Stars: Lance Henriksen, Jeff East, John D'Aquino, Kimberly Ross
Votes: 27,821 | Gross: $4.39M
How can I not give props to Stan Winston's baby. God bless you, Stan, you are sorely missed.
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