10. Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)
Dreamworks delivered one of their best movies withMonsters vs. Aliens, which does exactly what it says on the tin.
When Susan suddenly becomes a 50-foot woman, she’s hurried off to a secret base and kept in a monster facility. There she meets other famous monsters, all of whom are references to 1950s movie monsters.
It’s a clever and funny monster movie in which the creators pay homage to the giants on whose shoulders they stand.
Related:The Best Monster Movies Featuring Smart and Clever Creatures
9. The Mist (2007)
Stephen King adaptations have always made for great blockbuster material, especially the ones based on his horror stories.
AlthoughThe Mistnever garnered as much legendary acclaim as films likeThe ShiningorThe Shawshank Redemption, it’s one that you don’t want to miss—especially if you like downer endings.
Director Frank Darabont turns this monster movie into an allegory about faith and religion in the face of adversity, which in this case means giant, man-eating insect-monsters. Yeah, I’d be freaked, too.
Related:The Best Movies About Bugs and Spiders, Ranked
8. The Meg (2018)
The Megfeatures Jason Statham and a giant shark. What more could you ask for? That premise alone is strangely compelling.
A prehistoric beast lurks in the deep ocean and threatens a research team—so Jason Statham must save them.
Despite shamelessly ripping offJaws(1975),The Megis so fun that it’s hard to hold that against it. This is the kind of stuff that makes movie theaters so necessary. Need I say more?
Related:The Best Movies About Sharks and Shark Attacks
7. Tremors (1990)
Kevin Bacon in Nevada killing giant worms—what a pitch meeting that would have been! Sadly,Tremorsis a bit forgotten now.
When two handymen discover that colossal worms are causing earthquakes and eating the locals, they take it upon themselves to do something about it.
Tremorswent on to inspire six sequels. Yes, that’s right:sixmore movies in the same vein. While I can’t vouch for all of those movies to have the same quality as the first, this first one is a fun monster movie.
Related:The Best Horror Movies of the 1990s, Ranked
6. Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Comedy director Frank Oz has had an illustrious career, andLittle Shop of Horrorsis just one great movie on his superbly impressive resume.
The only comedy-musical-monster-movie on our list, the film follows a man who purchases a bloodthirsty plant in the hopes of saving his flower shop. As you might expect, difficulties ensue.
Featuring Rick Moranis and Steve Martin at the peak of their comedic abilities,Little Shop of Horrorsis a winner—and one of the rare movies to feature giant carnivorous plants of any kind.
Related:The Strangest and Most Horrifying Plants in Sci-Fi and Fantasy
5. Pacific Rim (2013)
Leave it to Guillermo del Toro to make one of the most colorful giant monster romps in cinema.Pacific Rimshines like no other.
While on a break from making Oscar-winning films, del Toro decided to make a movie about giant robots going around and punching giant kaijus in the face. And you know what? The world thanks him for it.
Pacific Rimis far from the best movie of all time, but it’s absolutely one of the most fun blockbuster adventures of our time.
Complete with training sequences, sword-wielding cyborgs, and colossal beasts that emerge from the Pacific Ocean, it’s a crowd pleaser.
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4. Trollhunter (2010)
Trollhunteris an indie dark fantasy film with a very niche approach that won’t be to everyone’s tastes. However, it was a huge step in the right direction for monster movies of the found footage type.
The story follows a group of students who stumble across a man that hunts trolls for the Norwegian government. Sounds interesting, yeah?
Despite a surprisingly small budget of only $3.5 million,Trollhunterdelivers a compelling movie about giant trolls full of meaningful scares. IfCloverfield(2005) is theBlair Witch Project(1999) of monster movies, thenTrollhunteris a close second.
Related:The Best Folk Horror Movies (What Is Folk Horror? Explained)
3. King Kong (2005)
While the originalKing Kong(1933) absolutely deserves every ounce of respect, Peter Jackson’sKing Kongis simply spectacular.
Building on the lore of Skull Island, Jackson ends up delivering a horrifying flick that transcends even the original.
Sure, it suffers sometimes from bad CGI as well as some scenes going on a bit too long—especially the dinosaur chases—but the end product is just as tragic as the original while being doubly thrilling.
Related:The Best Man vs. Animal Movies, Ranked
2. The Iron Giant (1999)
Hold back the tears…The Iron Giantis one of the saddest movies you’ll ever watch, which is a testament to how strong its characters are.
When a young boy discovers a giant alien robot, he decides to hide him in his garage. Soon, they develop a great friendship.
The Iron Giantis a film that teaches us about love, forgiveness, and understanding. It looks at how we should never judge a book by its cover, how we can always strive to be good.
Just because you’ve been turned into a tool for violence doesn’t mean you have to be that way.
The Iron Giantis technically a children’s film, but it’s also a film that transcends genre and target audience. This is the kind of movie thateveryoneshould watch—and not just one time, either.
Related:The Best Movies About Robots and Artificial Intelligence
1. Godzilla (1954)
At the very top of our list, there’sGodzilla. This is the iconic film that pretty much invented the kaiju genre and reinvigorated the possibilities of what a monster movie could be.
Directed by now-legendary filmmaker Ishirō Honda,Godzillafollows a group of scientists and researchers who are alerted to the awakening of Godzilla, a giant reptilian monster that breathes atomic fire.
This giant beast was created as a byproduct of America’s use of nuclear weapons, leading many to interpret the character of Godzilla as an metaphor for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
So many Godzilla-related movies and TV shows have come out over the decades, but this was the one that started it all.
While the 2014 reboot is a compelling monster flick with much better special effects, the effective message that underpins the originalGodzillais too important for it to be forgotten.
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