In order to keep the list from being completely dominated by entries from specific franchises such as the Godzilla series, we will hold ourselves to a maximum of only two entries per franchise. Disqualifying “undead” in general also keeps vampires off this particular list, but don’t fret: You can visit our list of the 100 best vampire films of all time, or the 50 best zombie movies of all time. Neither is a zombie, as they’re undead and not a flesh-and-blood creature. The monsters shouldn’t be supernatural in origin. The ray gun-wielding, chattering martians of Mars Attacks? Not monsters. Alien creatures, likewise, are also capable of being monsters, but they’re far more likely to qualify if they kill by physically attacking you with tooth and claw. ![]() A human can also transform into a monster, as in the case of a werewolf. ![]() By that token, an earthly animal (like the shark in Jaws, or the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park) can be “monsters,” per se, especially if they’re presented in unrealistically heightened ways, such as being bigger than normal, or operating with unnatural malevolence. Human behavior can of course be “monstrous,” but a monster as we’re defining it here isn’t a human, unless that human has physically transformed somehow. The threat or focus of a monster movie has to be something inhuman. Here are the 50 best monster movies of all time, but first let’s discuss which movies you will and won’t see on this list. Some are unabashed villains, while others are actually the protagonists of their films. There are beasts aplenty here, and a smattering of snarling aliens, but also lovable monsters and misunderstood creatures that never wanted to do any harm. Lovecraft and Carmine Falcone have memorably opined.Ī “monster movie,” then, is a bit wider term than one might initially realize, composed of everything from man’s battles against the natural world (as in Jaws) to struggles with the repressed self, as seen in almost any werewolf feature. We always fear what we don’t understand, as the likes of H.P. A “monster” is simply that which we find exotic, frightening and difficult to categorize-it’s an aberration in the natural order, and with that realization the fear comes naturally. The connotation of “monster” is a negative one, after all, but it’s also a term that reveals the inherent prejudice of those who use it. A giant, irradiated bug stomping all over a modern metropolis, perhaps, or an inhuman beast stalking a group of campers foolish enough to blunder into its territory. ![]() When you hear the term “monster movies,” you might think you know what to expect.
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