These creature features have left a beastly dent on the big screen.
Most horror movies have a monster of some kind, even if that monster happens to be human.
In fact, part of the fun of creature features is their grab-bag nature.
Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster in ‘Frankenstein’; Doug Jones as the Pale Man in ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’; Bruce the Shark in ‘Jaws’.Credit: Silver Screen Collection/Getty; Everett Collection; Warner Bros/courtesy Everett Collection
Here are EW’s picks for the 25 best monster movies of all time, ranked.
Once thawed, the beast makes its way down the Atlantic coast, eventually coming ashore in Manhattan.
The scientific jargon is silly, and the acting is merely passable.
Lance Henriksen in ‘Pumpkinhead’.Everett Collection
But it became a cult hit on home video, spawning six direct-to-video sequels and a TV series.
Clever and suspenseful, it’s escapist entertainment at its best.
The FlydirectorDavid Cronenbergcostars in a rare acting role as the sinister psychiatrist who invites destruction onto the community.
Paula Raymond and Paul Hubschmid in ‘The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms’.Mary Evans/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection
The inexplicable nature of the bird attacks Why attack humans?
is essential to the film’s terror.
Watch your hairdos, everyone!
Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward in ‘Tremors’.Everett Collection
In a rarity for such an outrageous film, critics and audiences actually understoodRe-Animatorwhen it hit theaters in 1985.
And what a creation it is.
The violence, when it does appear, is brutal and unsettling.
The Troll in ‘Troll Hunter’.Magnet Releasing/Courtesy Everett Collection
We even see it in daylight, which is a bold move that Bong executes with ease.
But in a good monster movie, it’s about what youdon’tsee as much as what you do.
Where to watchGodzilla: Max
Jeff Daniels in ‘Arachnophobia’.Everett Collection
Katharine Isabelle in ‘Ginger Snaps’.Everett Collection
Christine McCorkindale as Shuna Sassi in ‘Nightbreed’.Everett Collection
A group of schoolchildren flail about in terror at the avian attack in a publicity still for ‘The Birds’.Archive Photos/Getty
Boris Karloff as the Mummy in ‘The Mummy’.Everett Collection
David Naughton and Griffin Dunne in ‘An American Werewolf in London’.Everett Collection
Shauna Macdonald in ‘The Descent’.Alex Bailey/Lionsgate
Sally Hawkins and Doug Jones as the Amphibian Man in ‘The Shape of Water’.Fox Searchlight
Jeffrey Combs and David Gale in ‘Re-Animator’.Everett Collection
Doug Jones as the Pale Man in ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’.Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
Ricou Browning as Gill-man in ‘Creature From the Black Lagoon’.George Rinhart/Corbis/getty
Elisabeth Moss in ‘The Invisible Man’.Mark Rogers/Universal Pictures
Claude Rains and Gloria Stuart in ‘The Invisible Man’.Everett Collection
Simone Simon and Kent Smith in ‘Cat People’.Courtesy Everett Collection
Jeff Goldblum in ‘The Fly’.20th Century Fox/Everett
(From left to right) Song Kang-ho, Park Hae-il, Byun Hee-bong, and Bae Doo-na in ‘The Host’.Mary Evans/CHUNGEORAHM FILM/SHOWBOX-MEDIAPLEX/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection
Bruce the Shark being attacked in ‘Jaws’.Everett Collection
King Kong atop the Empire State Building in ‘King Kong’.Everett Collection
Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster in ‘Frankenstein’.Silver Screen Collection/Getty
Elsa Lanchester as the bride of Frankenstein and Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster in ‘The Bride of Frankenstein’.Everett Collection
Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla in ‘Godzilla’.Everett Collection
