Monster movies have been around for a long, long time. The earliest days saw the release of classics like King Kong, a film which has continued to influence filmmakers and entrance audience members for nearly 100 years now. Then there was a boom in the ’50s, with American films like The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and Them! attracting box office dollars and accolades, but even combined they didn’t prove to be as influential as Japan’s Gojira, which kickstarted a franchise that continues strong to this day.
What follows are the best giant monsters from movies that aren’t, well, King Kong or Godzilla. We avoided monsters from movies that aren’t specifically monster movies, with apologies to the sandworms from Dune and the Chitauri Leviathans from the Avengers movies. Also, extra-large animals like the Anaconda and dinosaurs were out. Even if they were genetically engineered by man with the help of some ancient mosquitos, they’re still dinosaurs, not monsters.
What’s your favorite movie monster? Do you go for scariness or cool design? Either way, they’re probably listed below.
1) “Clover” in Cloverfield
Cloverfield is one of the best found footage movies to date, and what works about its monster, unofficially dubbed “Clover,” is that we don’t see much of it. The found footage angle doesn’t really allow for that.
The 25-story tall creature has a thick hide that allows it to withstand military attacks and, while it doesn’t come equipped with laser breath or anything, it’s fairly agile for a creature of its size. It also has a bunch of parasites that break off it and terrorize anyone unlucky enough to be in the vicinity.
Stream Cloverfield on Paramount+.
2) The Octalus in Deep Rising
The Kraken in director Stephen Sommers’ underrated Deep Rising, officially named Octalus, manages to be a genuinely frightening CGI monstrosity. It spends the film devouring the cast and crew of luxury cruise ship Argonautica, and with its seemingly unlimited number of teeth we believe it can do so.
The Octalus also comes equipped with tentacles that partially function independently of their host. Each one has teeth of its own and doesn’t hesitate to use them. Sometimes it spits people out, too, which results in the hideous sight of them being melted by the acid sloshing around within it.
Stream Deep Rising on fuboTV.
3) Gamera in the Gamera Movies
It may not be quite as long running or critically revered, but the Gamera franchise has done well for itself. Gamera started out just like Godzilla: a big monster that spews fire and does a lot of damage. But, even in the beginning, he was somewhat more benevolent than Godzilla, at least with kids.
As the franchise wore on, Gamera became even more of a friendly presence until he was outright called the guardian of the universe. Are most of the movies particularly good? Not really, but Gamera has almost as solid a design as Godzilla’s. Sure, it’s a little silly seeing a turtle spew fire out of its mouth and fly through the air, but the movies actually make him work.
Stream Gamera, the Giant Monster on Prime Video.
4) Gorgo in Gorgo
Gorgo was England’s answer to Toho’s Gojira, and like every other Godzilla rip-off, it’s not nearly as good. But it is fairly well-made, and the design of the title monster is more impressive than what was seen in similar fare like Yongary, Monster from the Deep and Gappa: The Triphibian Monster.
Gorgo is a massive amphibian that, like many other kaiju, seems to be almost entirely impervious to military intervention. He doesn’t breathe fire, but his perky ears to allow him acute hearing. Not to mention, the movie also pulls a Jaws 3 and has Gorgo be the child of an even larger, more ferocious mother monster. Together, they’re able to tear apart London before slinking back to the sea (the area where they’re most comfortable) for a hopefully more peaceful life.
5) The Megalodon in The Meg
It’s no Jaws, but The Meg is a fun shark movie with a quick pace and a perfect lead role for Jason Statham. But, while Statham is a huge star and displays a certain magnetism in all of his movies, this is really the titular megalodon’s movie all the way through.
Given the constraints of the PG-13 rating (which allowed the film to become something of a blockbuster back in 2018), those behind The Meg manage to make the beast pretty intimidating. There’s no blood, be we certainly see it gobble up a ton of people.
6) The Various Kaiju in Pacific Rim
One of the best mainstream kaiju movies out there, Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim is an extremely ambitious blockbuster. And, even with a scenery-chewing performance from Ron Perlman, it’s pure spectacle all the way through.
The world has been thrown into a new type of war. Instead of two countries going head-to-head, it’s now humanity trying to survive the Kaiju, and del Toro and others behind the film went to great lengths to give each one of the monsters unique physical appearances. They come in different sizes too, with “smaller” Category II ones like Onibaba absolutely dwarfed by Category IV kaiju like Leatherback.
7) Quetzalcoatl in Q: The Winged Serpent
Larry Cohen’s Q is like It’s Alive and The Stuff in that it’s a monster movie that doesn’t mind hopping around genres. In this case, it’s a kaiju movie, a mystery, a horror movie, and a police procedural all wrapped up in one.
The title monster is Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, which is essentially a big, winged dragon (minus the fire breathing) that has been swooping down on unsuspecting New York civilians. It grabs them from their rooftops, devours them, and leaves a lot of blood in its wake. And she does leave a lot of blood. Unlike most of the other entries on this list, Q is a blood-soaked movie that earns its R rating. The only one that’s more intense is the aforementioned Deep Rising.
Stream Q on Prime Video.
8) Graboids in Tremors
A movie that helped shape many ’90s kids’ youths, Tremors is one of the absolute best monster movies ever made. All six sequels combined don’t even match half of its power (though Tremors 2: Aftershocks is pretty fun).
It’s only in the first movie where the subterranean Graboid is truly fearsome. It’s reveal is perfectly built up in a gradual way. And, once we do see it, we see a masterful creation that only practical effects can bring to life. With an overall length of about 30 feet and the ability to detect vibrations and swiftly reach its target, it’s a killing machine. And with snakelike tentacles that come from its mouth, it’s an ugly sucker, too.
9) Reptilicus in Reptilicus
While Danish-American kaiju movie Reptilicus is one of the lamest rip-offs to come out in the wake of Gojira‘s success, that’s more due to threadbare production values than the actual design of the title antagonist. Reptilicus is basically a scaled snake that spits acid, and while his effectiveness is held back by the restraints of the budget, he’s still a pretty neat looking beastie.
Reptilicus is actually pretty well-equipped for a kaiju. On top of his ability to spit acid, he also is strong enough to basically just push his way through buildings. And, thanks to his scale, he’s able to take any number of tank shells and flamethrower flame bursts. Not to mention, while his wings are small as can be, he can still fly.
Stream Reptilicus on Prime Video.
10) The Kaiju in Colossal
It may be on the poster, but really the kaiju of Colossal is just a small part of Colossal. What the film really excels at being is a study on alcoholism and abusive, manipulative people. But the kaiju is pretty unique looking, too.
The monster is brought to life by frequently drunk unemployed writer Gloria. It only attacks Seoul even though she lives on the other side of the planet. It’s a manifestation of her own dependency issues, and it only comes to be when she is standing on a particular sandbox in a particular playground. But, given how Gloria doesn’t want to harm people, it’s a benevolent monster. The massive robot that is a manifestation of Jason Sudeikis’ Oscar, however, is far from benevolent, because despite first appearances, he is far from benevolent.
Stream Colossal for free on Kanopy.
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