Monster Movies: The 37 Best Movies About Monsters

They are the creatures whose mere sight makes the blood freeze in the veins. Monsters are always a popular device in movies to keep the audience pressed in their seats and burned into their memories until the terrifying creatures in their nightmares haunt them. The following 42 are monster films, which no way leads past it!

1. The Mist (2007)


A thick fog descends over the small town of Castle Rock. The inhabitants of the small harbor town are actually used to this phenomenon. But this time, the fog is different. People who are trying to make their way through the white wall suddenly disappear without a trace. In a nearby supermarket, a group of survivors finds refuge from the deadly fog. But the unrest quickly spreads and the humans, in their panic, consider offering a human sacrifice to make the cursed Mist dissipate. But can people really send a person from their midst to certain death in cold blood just to save their own skin?

The Mist is based on a short story by Stephen King and plays with the fears of the unknown. The film manages to cause trepidation because the viewers never see exactly what is hiding in the white veils and is obviously after the people’s lives.

2. An American Werewolf in London (1981)


The two friends, David and Jack, make a trip through England. The two American students are eager to explore the country’s sights and stop off in a remote village. When the inhabitants rudely throw them out, the friends move on in the night and fog. They go off the road and get lost in the woods. Suddenly a giant creature appears and attacks the young Americans.

While Jack does not survive the attack, David wakes up the next day in a hospital. Aside from minor injuries, nothing seems to be wrong with him. But David quickly realizes that the creature’s attack has turned him into a beast that erupts every time a full moon shines in the sky.

A good mix of horror-comedy and gruesome effects makes American Werewolf a true classic, worth a look not only during the full moon.

3. The Descent (2005)


6 women want to climb through a system of caves in the American Appalachians. The descent goes smoothly, but the women quickly realize their way back is blocked. Her only hope is to descend into the depths and possibly find a way back out there. However, the women quickly realize they are not alone in the caves.

Dark, oppressive corridors and the fear of things in the shadows are the elements that make The Descent an impressive monster movie. But there is also no lack of blood and guts, so even friends of splatter food should feel well entertained.

4. Invasion of The Body Snatchers (1978)


Strange things are happening in San Francisco. People change their behavior and appear as if they were completely different. Dr. Matthew Bennel (Donald Sutherland) investigates for a friend what the strange events are all about. A race against time begins. Because more and more people change, and soon Bennel does not know who he can still trust.

For its time, the film has impressive effects to show for itself. Without a lot of blood, the film creates a feeling of unease so that even as a viewer, you are occasionally in doubt about what is real and what is not.

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5. Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)


One, two, Freddy comes along. Death is on the loose on Elm Street. Young people die in their sleep, and sometimes gruesome finds are left behind. Young Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) and her boyfriend Glen (Johnny Depp) want to get to the bottom of strange deaths. In the process, they come across a story about a killer named Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund) who can murder his victims in their dreams.

Nightmare on Elm Street is a timeless classic and the beginning of the Freddy Kruger film series. The film lives on the unique performance of Robert Englund as one of the best nightmare monsters.

6. The Thing (1982)


The routine of an American research station in Antarctica is abruptly interrupted when a helicopter appears chasing after a dog. The helicopter crashes, but the station’s inhabitants take the dog in. They do not suspect that the animal is a creature that can eat and reproduce any living organism. As the bodies pile up in the station, a deadly cat-and-mouse game begins against a monster that fights for its own survival by any means necessary.

John Carpenter’s remake of the horror film from the 50s has scary effects and is not stingy with blood and splatter. However, the film is really exciting because even as a viewer, you never know exactly what appearance the monster is currently wearing. Anyone can be a victim or a killer.

7. Cloverfield (2008)


Actually, it should have been only a farewell party for Rob, who wants to fly to Japan soon. But panic spreads when an earthquake rocks the city of New York, and news of explosions and power outages pile up. The party’s visitors run outside and are almost killed by the head of the Statue of Liberty, which was cut off by an unknown creature. Even though no one knows exactly what is going on, everyone wants only one thing: to survive!

Cloverfield belongs to the genre of found footage films. The entire movie is told through the view of handheld cameras, which makes the scenes feel very realistic. The actual monster is kept hidden for a long time, leaving the audience in the dark like the characters in the film until it’s too late.

8. The Fly (1986)


Scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) is on the verge of a groundbreaking invention. He develops a teleporter that can send inanimate objects from one point to another. When he tries out his invention in a self-experiment, the unthinkable happens. A fly gets into the teleporter together with Seth. Their genetic profiles merge, and the genius scientist gradually mutates into a hideous monstrosity.

The film by David Cronenberg is gripping on the one hand but also shocking on the other hand. Gradually the body of Seth Brundle decays, and the audience witnesses how a human being becomes a hideous creature. Their nightmares are almost pre-programmed.

9. Alien (1979)


The spaceship Nostromo intercepts an SOS signal from a deserted planet. When the crew tries to track down the source of the signal, a member of the crew is attacked and injured by an unknown creature. Immediately the man is brought to the infirmary and appears healthy. However, as he sits at dinner with the other crew members, his chest bursts open, and out pops a creature that grows into an ice-cold killing machine and preys on the people aboard the Nostromo.

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Alien shines as a monster movie because it combines the hopelessness of a spaceship with a killer who is faster, stronger, and more intelligent than anything humans have ever seen. The film is an absolute must for every fan of monsters!

10. Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein (1994)


The young doctor Victor Frankenstein has an exciting goal in mind. He wants to defeat death by building an artificial human being. The experiment succeeds, but the creature (played by Robert DeNiro) is different than the creator would have liked. The monster escapes, and Dr. Frankenstein must fear for his life as long as his creature is still lurking out there somewhere.

Frankenstein’s monster is the forefather of monster movies. Mary Shelly’s novel was first made into a film back in 1910. The remake convinces with strong actors, the best effects, and a story unlike any other.

11. Godzilla (1954)


Strange things are happening off the coast of the Japanese island of Odo. Ships seem to run aground and burn out just like that. The island inhabitants tell stories about a creature that goes by the name of Godzilla and destroys everything in its path. Even if it seems hopeless, the people want to take up the fight against the monster from the stories to finally find peace.

If Frankenstein is the father of monsters, then Godzilla is without question the sole king. The film series from Japan is popular worldwide; viewers everywhere watch the creature as it brings a swath of chaos and devastation across the earth. Other monsters like Mothra and Ghidorah also look pale against the giant from the sea, but the massive battles are always breathtaking.

12. Cabin in the Woods (2012)


Five young people want to spend a few days in a remote cabin to switch off and party. But all plans are quickly thrown out of the window when zombies, mass murderers, and ghosts suddenly chase the teenagers. Yet they have no idea what secrets are actually behind the deadly events.

The film starring Chris Hemsworth is not a blood-curdling horror movie but parodies many typical clichés of horror and monster movies without neglecting the splatter factor.

13. Jeepers Creepers (2001)


Siblings Trish and Darry want to go home for a vacation. As they travel down a country road, they are beset by a crazed truck driver. By chance, the siblings observe the driver stop at a chapel a few miles away and dispose of what looks like a human body in a pipe. Curious, Trish and Darry investigate the hole and stumble upon a secret storage room. Too bad that there lives a monster that plunders people’s organs to incorporate them into his own body.

The film has an exciting idea and a few nice scenes that should delight not only horror movie fans.

14. IT ( Stephen King – 1990 )


In the small town of Derry, children and teenagers regularly disappear. Seven friends join forces to follow in the footsteps of the disappeared. In the process, they stumble upon a dark secret. Because in the small town, an ancient monster goes around. It takes the form of the worst nightmares and eats frightened children. The seven agree that they are the only ones who can stop the monster called It.

The film is based on the novel by Stephen King and is in two parts. The story lives, among other things, by the brilliant acting performance of Tim Curry, who plays the horror clown Pennywise. But also, thanks to good scary effects, It becomes a horror movie with a monster that stays in the memory.

15. Slither (2006)


Near the small town of Wheely, a meteoroid crashes to earth. Grant, who is out in the woods simultaneously, passes the crash site and is attacked by an unknown organism. The thing transforms Grant and turns him into a creature that gradually brings Wheesly under its slimy control.

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The film does not take itself completely seriously but presents itself as a mixture of comedy and splatter film. But even if Slither is not the bloodiest monster movie of all time, its idea and monsters make it stand out from the masses of other horror movies.

16. The Bay (2012)


Claridge is a small harbor town that lives from tourism and fishing. But one day, heaps of dead fish are suddenly washed up. Birds fall from the sky, and people become aggressive or insane. It’s almost as if a plague has infested the town. Every person in the city could be next to be struck by madness. No one suspects that the cause of Claridge’s deadly events is much more inconspicuous and has taken root in almost every resident.

The Bay is an oppressive film, which not only puts the audience’s nerves to the test. The nature of the movie monsters is also perfectly matched to panic before the next hit of water.

17. The Host (2006)


The Han River is a body of water flowing through Seoul, a South Korean city. Actually, the promenade along the river is picturesque. However, lizard-like creatures suddenly emerge from the water and either eat or carry off the humans.

The government decides to close off the boardwalk and quarantine everyone who has come in contact with the creatures. When the monsters take young Hyun-Seo, her father, Song Kang-ho, does everything he can to free his girl from the clutches of the beasts.

The Host proves that Koreans also have a knack for making really good monster movies. Not only the look of the creatures but also the atmosphere is literally breathtaking and gives you goosebumps while watching it.

18. Mimic (1997)


A strange disease is sweeping the streets of New York City. People and animals die suddenly, and on their bodies are found lots of cockroaches and cockroaches. Enlightened scientist Susan Tyler (played by Mira Sorvino) descends into the sewers of New York with a few colleagues to solve the mystery of the disease. What the group doesn’t know, however, is that they suddenly become prey for the hunters.

If you can’t or don’t want to believe that a movie about cockroaches can be scary, you haven’t seen Mimic yet. This very early horror film by Guillermo del Toro features disgusting creatures that no one would want to find under their refrigerator.

19. Species (1995)


SETI scientists send a message into space, hoping for a response that would prove the existence of extraterrestrial beings. When one day there is actually a response to the signal, the scientists are gobsmacked. Because instead of a message put into words, they receive a sequence that can be used to change the DNA structure of a living being. The researchers insert the altered DNA into human eggs, which grow into monstrous creatures. One of these creatures is little Sil, who grows into a woman faster than a normal human and has an insatiable desire to reproduce and create more specimens.

The film lives not only from actors such as Ben Kingsley and Natasha Henstridge. Especially the design of the alien and mixed creatures is impressive and creepy at the same time.

20. The Blob (1958)


Actually, Steve Andrews (played by Steve McQueen) just wanted to have a romantic picnic with his girlfriend, Jane Martin (Aneta Corsaut). But when a shooting star hits nearby, the magic of romance is gone. A gooey measure leaks from the shooting star, devouring everything and everyone it comes into contact with. All the while, the creature continues to grow unceasingly, threatening not only to bury the city beneath it but to consume everything that has ever existed in the world.

While The Blob may not boast the most expensive special effects of all time, the film still ensures that viewers will fear the indefinable mass that ceaselessly eats a swath through a small American town.

21. King Kong (2005)

22. Jaws (1975)

23. Jurassic Park (1993)

24. Predator (1987)

25. Monsters (2010)

26. Pacific Rim (2013)

27. Trollhunter (2010)

28. Spring (2014)

29. Hellraiser (1987)

30. Hellboy (2004)

31. Pitch Black (2000)

32. Under the Skin (2014)

33. The Village (2004)

34. Godzilla (2014)

35. Gremlins (1984)

36. Colossal (2017)

37. The Babadook (2014)

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