Nothing scares us more than the unknown; it is one of the most basic, universal, and genetically hardwired fears. And filmmakers know exactly how to exploit this fear — turning it into heart-pounding monster movies. Beginning all the way back in the early 90s with the success of The Golem and Nosferatu, and later with Jaws becoming the first-ever blockbuster film, it’s clear that audiences have a deep-rooted love for monsters on the big screen.
Some of these monsters are so iconic that they have become part of our pop culture, going on to inspire countless more filmmakers. While others, though more obscure, are equally memorable. In this article, we will be listing the top six monsters in film history (in no particular order) based on their powers, story impact, and scare factor.
1. The Clover
First appearing in Cloverfield, the Clover is a gargantuan creature that emerges from the sea and wreaks havoc on New York City in a single night. The exact nature of the Clover remains a subject of debate. Some theories suggest it’s an ancient sea creature reawakened by the events of the first film. Others, drawing connections to the third film in the franchise, The Cloverfield Paradox, argue it’s an extraterrestrial organism transported to Earth through a dimensional rift.
Whatever the monster’s origins, the found-footage style of Cloverfield masterfully grounds the Clover in realism. All we see is the death and destruction left behind by the monster, with just a few terrifying glimpses of the Clover from the perspective of the survivors. And if the giant scale wasn’t scary enough, the Clover also sheds smaller parasitic creatures known as Human Scale Parasites (HSPs) that can kill you with a single bite!
2. Pennywise
Pennywise the Dancing Clown, from Stephen King’s IT, embodies fear in its most sinister form. Clowns are already pure nightmare fuel, but Pennywise is much more than that. He is an ancient, shapeshifting, trans-dimensional entity who comes back every 27 years to haunt the children of Derry. He can embody your deepest, darkest fears or take the form of your loved ones. He also has a sort of impulsive, sadistic energy where you can never expect what he’ll do next. He’s wildly erratic and unpredictable.
Throughout the movies, Pennywise will also subtly appear as background characters, silently observing and stalking his victims. The film doesn’t announce these appearances with loud music or jump scares. It’ll just be an out-of-focus librarian in the distance staring at a child reading his book, but if you catch on, it is deeply unsettling.
3. The Thing
The monster from John Carpenter’s The Thing stands as one of the most iconic pop culture creatures to have ever existed. The things it can do are mind-bogglingly terrifying. It infiltrates your group and disguises itself as your friends and coworkers. Then, it operates with methodical precision and picks off the rest of the group one by one, leaving the remaining survivors in a perpetual state of paranoia and fear.
But the monster doesn’t just psychologically haunt you; its grotesque transformations are the stuff of nightmares. We all remember the horrifying chest compression scene, right? And the spider-head was so imaginatively scary that it has even appeared in other horror films like It: Chapter 2. Plus, coupled with all the paranoia and body horror, there’s also the threat that if you fail to defeat it and the Thing reaches the mainland, humanity is pretty much doomed.
4. The Mutant Bear
In Alex Garland’s Annihilation, the Shimmer is an ecological disaster zone where life mutates into grotesque and beautiful forms. One of these aberrations is the mutant bear that appears multiple times throughout the movie. We first see the bear as it stalks the humans before snatching one of them and dragging her off to be eaten. Days later, it reappears, and we see that the bear has sort of “absorbed” the woman. The bear has a human skull embedded in its face and has a secondary set of human-like teeth. When it growls, you hear a combination of the bear and the woman saying, “Help me,” and it is more and more unsettling each time it happens.
The bear is also blind, but it is incredibly smart. It stalks around the room, trying different tactics, including nudging the team with its nozzle, getting right into their faces to roar, and even biting them in hopes of getting them to make a sound. In the end, it’s a weirdly fascinating creature that’s evolved to use your human compassion against you.
Watch Annihilation on Prime Video
5. The Xenomorph
The Xenomorphs are the antagonist species of the Alien franchise. They originate from a parasitic organism called the Facehugger, which latches onto a living host and implants an embryo inside. The host’s condition begins to deteriorate, and they soon suffer a fatal “chestburster,” which gives birth to a Xenomorph. The newborn is fast, sharp, and very aggressive. As the Xenomorph matures, it undergoes molting, transforming into various iterations influenced by the host and environmental conditions.
It has acidic blood, wall-climbing abilities, and exceptional night vision. It can also learn from its surroundings, communicate with its hive, and use tools and weapons to its advantage. It has no fear or mercy, and it will stop at nothing to protect its queen and its species, even if it means destroying itself or everything else.
6. Godzilla
Of course, we had to include everyone’s favorite kaiju on this list. Godzilla isn’t just a monster. He’s a true force of nature. Every time he shows up, he lays entire cities to waste. But he isn’t just a mindless brute either; he observes, strategizes, and adapts his tactics based on his opponent.
Godzilla’s signature weapon is the atomic breath, where he shoots a radioactive 500,000 °C beam at his enemies. He can also unleash atomic rays from the spikes on his back or emit an omnidirectional nuclear pulse. Since his debut in 1954, Godzilla has appeared in more than 30 films. And while the recent MonsterVerse movies depict Godzilla as an anti-hero aligned with humanity, Godzilla: Minus One just showed us the truly horrific scale of destruction and carnage that Godzilla is capable of.
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