The monster movie can come in many forms. It can be horror, fantasy, comedy, science fiction, or drama. The best ones, though, are usually some unique combination of different genres. Everyone loves a good movie monster, but oftentimes the creature itself has a longer lifespan than the movies that birthed them.
Which brings us to this list of the best monster movies of all time. Some are introductions to iconic movie monsters, some are sequels, and some are homages or remakes. What every film on this list shares, however, are the thrills that come along with seeing some sort of fantastic beast on the big screen.
With a hundred years of cinema to explore, we've attempted to spread the wealth, from black and white classics to new on-screen terrors, trying not to bunch up too many similar creatures (or directors, for that matter). Selected by a group of IGN editors, this list includes monster movies that were influential on the art form of cinema when they were released, feature a unique and memorable monster (or monsters), and still pack a punch today.
Are the real monsters usually us? Absolutely. But also... these guys. Here are the 25 best monster movies ever!
25. A Quiet Place (2018)
Where to Watch: Paramount+, Fubo
John Krasinski proved himself to be a incredibly adept creature feature director (while also making use of Jim Halpert's ability to act with his face) with the harrowing dystopian monster flick A Quiet Place, which takes place in a world where alien beasts now roam Earth mutilating anything that makes a noise. A family tucked away on a remote farm does their best to survive this hush-pocalpyse in a nail-biter of a survive-the-night tale.
More Like This: The Descent (2005), Us (2019)
24. Little Shop of Horrors (1985)
Where to Watch: Max
Deviating slightly from this list's (mostly) full-tilt horror, Little Shop of Horrors is a delightfully macabre murder-comedy about an alien plant, the blood-craving mutant Venus flytrap Audrey II, who promises the good life (and the love of his life) to a flower shop schlub (Rick Moranis, at his Moranis heights) as long as she gets fed fresh bodies. A musical adaptation of a 1960 Roger Corman film, Little Shop features maliciously catchy songs by Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman.
More Like This: Little Shop of Horrors (1960), Anna and the Apocalypse (2017), Tremors (1990)
23. Dracula (1931)
Where to Watch: Prime Video
Based on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel (and the stage play from 1924), Dracula kicked off Universal's monster mania, altering the very course of movie history. The story of an ancient, seductive vampire's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to London, Dracula is pivotal to the entire horror genre and a touchstone for countless monsters going forward. Bela Lugosi's commanding Count is an icon of scary cinema as Dracula became one of the most adapted and explored creepy characters of all time.
More Like This: Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932), Horror of Dracula (1958)
22. Let the Right One In (2008)
Where to Watch: Prime Video, Peacock, Fubo
Nearly a century after F. W. Murnau's silent masterwork Nosferatu, movies were still finding new ways to craft the vampire story and delve into undead lore. 2008's Swedish haunter Let the Right One In follows a bullied, lonely schoolboy who befriends a young, isolated girl in his apartment complex -- only to discover she's a vampire with an elderly caretaker. Young love blooms in this mesmerizing look at lost souls and found family.
More Like This: Let Me In (2010), A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014), Interview With the Vampire (1994)
21. The Wolf Man (1941)
Where to Watch: Prime Video
A decade after Dracula -- which carved space for The Mummy, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and more -- and Universal's monster tank had not yet run dry. The Wolf Man, starring Lon Chaney Jr. as a man who returns home to Wales and gets afflicted by a crazed curse, terrified viewers with an all-new nightmare (and game-changing transformation effects for the time). The Wolf Man wasn't the first werewolf movie but it was the one to put frightening lycans on the map in a big way, adding them to the rogues gallery of famous monsters.
More Like This: Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954), The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
20. The Mummy (1999)
Where to Watch: Peacock, Fubo
Stephen Sommers' rollicking desert adventure, The Mummy, was a swashbuckling update on Universal's original Mummy movie from 1932. Starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, The Mummy was part Indiana Jones, part rom-com, as man of action Rick and Egyptologist Evy attempt to thwart the supernatural plot of high priest Imhotep to return to the land of the living. While classic takes on mummies will always be integral to the genre, 1999's The Mummy showed us how fun can mix with frightening and forge a bit of light in the darkness.
More Like This: Deep Rising (1998), The Mummy Returns (2001), Jungle Cruise (2021)
19. Slither (2006)
Where to Watch: Peacock
James Gunn's good-natured alien invasion horror-comedy Slither was designed to get under your skin. At some points a brutal body horror hoedown, Slither stars Nathan Fillion as a small-town police chief trying to keep people safe while his sleepy burg is tormented by hive-minded cosmic slugs with a penchant for body snatching. It's a gross-out trip that borrows from the best while also paving new roads. Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, and Jenna Fischer also star.
More Like This: The Stuff (1985), Night of the Creeps (1986), Braindead (1992)
18. The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
Where to Watch: Max
The magic of The Cabin in the Woods is the potential debate over who/what the monster actually is in the movie. There are the literal monsters from the menagerie, of course, but then there are the Ancient Ones as well as the humans who have crafted this whole horrific display in order to please their masters.
Either way, Cabin in the Woods provides a unique spin and analysis of the horror and monster movie tropes, flipping them all on their head and providing a context that reminds us why these kind of movies work so well even when they are campy or absurd.
More Like This: Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010), Ready or Not (2019)
17. Gremlins (1984)
Where to Watch: Pluto TV (w/ ads)
Keep them away from bright lights. Don’t get them wet. And, whatever you do, never feed them after midnight. The three rules of caring for Magwai have since penetrated pop culture so completely, almost as much as Gizmo’s adorable face. But more importantly, Joe Dante’s Gemlins is a hilariously clever spin on the monster movie, balancing the line between true terror and absolute camp. It’s got some great puppet work and truly memorable characters, some of them human but most of them not even close.
And setting the whole thing around Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year? Utter genius.
More Like This: Ghoulies (1984), Critters (1986), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
16. The Blob (1958)
Where to Watch: Max
The Blob is a pinnacle of the 1950s monster movie, with a young Steve McQueen making his film debut in the story of an alien glop that lands in Pennsylvania and just starts consuming everyone around it (and continuously growing larger as a consequence). B-movie royalty, The Blob taps into our fears of "something, anything from outer space" destroying us, even if that entity has no specific form. The special effects may be dated but the terror is still real.
More Like This: The Swarm (1978), The Blob (1988)
15. Candyman (1992)
Where to Watch: Peacock
The mutilated-yet-seductive Candyman, played by Tony Todd, was a Dracula for the late-part of the 20th century. Adapted from a Clive Barker story, the film, which moved the setting from the U.K. to Chicago, coated Candyman with more than just honey. It gave him a tragic socio-political backstory that connected this "monster" to America's rampant, ongoing racism and elevated him to mythical status -- or an urban legend within the once-real Cabrini Green housing projects. 2021's Candyman re-quel even explored more of the idea that there were several Candymen (Candymans?), each birthed from a different local atrocity.
More Like This: Hellraiser (1987), Nightbreed (1990), Candyman (2021)
14. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Where to Watch: Pluto TV (w/ ads)
In the early '90s, "prestige horror" was big business as the genre started attracting A-list directors and stars (The Silence of the Lambs, Misery, Interview With the Vampire, etc.), and a prime example of this was Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula, a lavish updating of the Bram Stoker book with more of an emphasis on the romance between the Count (Gary Oldman) and Mina Harker (Winona Ryder), the woman he believes is the reincarnation of his long dead love. An eye-popping production that creates some surreal moments at times, Dracula is awesome to watch as an example of how the monster movie can transform and branch out.
More Like This: Crimson Peak (2015), Dracula Untold (2014)
13. King Kong (1933)
Where to Watch: Only available for rental or purchase
If Godzilla set the template for the giant monster movie, it was King Kong that birthed it. A crowning achievement for special effects in Hollywood, the original King Kong blew minds upon release and subsequently became one of the most beloved films of all time, monster movie or not.
It’s chock-full of iconic shot after iconic shot, and ends with the heartbreaking death of the titular beast after we terrible humans try to use him for our amusement. King Kong originated the giant movie monster, both in technological achievements and in the idea that perhaps humanity’s tampering with nature would come back to bite them. (Literally.)
More Like This: Mighty Joe Young (1949), King Kong (2005), Kong: Skull Island (2017)
12. Cloverfield (2008)
Where to Watch: Paramount+, Fubo
Cloverfield is the kind of monster movie where the less you know, the better. And by better, we mean scarier. Thanks to the found footage style of the movie, the Cloverfield monster is only seen in rare (and terrifying) glimpses, and the nature of the beast is never explained. Because really, it doesn’t matter.
Taking the position of what it would be like to be on the streets of Tokyo when Godzilla attacked, Cloverfield is an exploration of the genre from the point of view of the average citizen. And man, being in their shoes is much scarier than getting an omniscient view of it all. Not only is Cloverfield one of the best "found footage" films ever, but it's also a prime example of post-9/11 paranoid monsterpocalyse cinema (like War of the Worlds, The Mist, Skyline, Pacific Rim, etc.).
More Like This: War of the Worlds (2005), The Mist (2007), Monsters (2010), 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
11. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Where to Watch: Max, Peacock, Fubo, MGM+
Put simply, the zombie genre as we know it would not exist without George Romero’s original Living Dead movie. It introduced flesh-eating zombies as we know (and love) them today, and it showed us that a movie full of blood and guts can still have a conscience. Romero’s zombies were terrifying in black and white, but one could even argue who the true monster was in the movie: the undead or the living?
It’s hard to undersell the importance of this movie, but consider the things we wouldn’t have had if it never existed... some of which appear on this very list.
More Like This: Dawn of the Dead (1978), The Return of the Living Dead (1985), Dawn of the Dead (2004)
10. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Where to Watch: Only available for rental or purchase
It's quite possible that no one loves monsters more than Guillermo del Toro, who not only loves to portray them but also sympathizes with them, most often taking their side over that of humans in the stories he crafts. He also loves exploring tragedy through the eyes of children, and the superb Pan's Labyrinth feels like everything the director adores converging on screen. Influenced by fairy tales, the film traverses the realms of man and monster, told from the viewpoint of a 10-year-old girl, Ofelia, as she lives within the hell of Francoist Spain. The makeup used here, and the dependably spindly performance from Doug Jones as both the Faun and the Pale Man, delivered instantly memorable monsters.
More Like This: Hellboy (2004), The Shape of Water (2017), Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017)
9. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Where to Watch: Peacock
Universal’s 1931 Frankenstein was a huge hit that sent Boris Karloff into superstardom, but it was Bride of Frankenstein that proved the true potential of the character beyond the basics of the Mary Shelley novel. The sequel finds Dr. Frankenstein coerced into making a mate for the Monster, and the result is one of the most heartbreaking stories in movie monster history.
The Monster, struggling for two films for love and acceptance from others -- through no fault of his own -- recognizes the futility of his plight and in the end decides that both he and his Bride belong among the dead. Bride of Frankenstein is one of the most insightful looks at the inner workings of these so-called “monsters” that will make you feel guilty for even considering Karloff's character to be one.
More Like This: Son of Frankenstein (1939), The Bride (1985)
8. Predator (1987)
Where to Watch: Max
The Monster Movie met '80s Action Movie (and arguably the '80's biggest action star in Arnold Schwarzenegger) in 1987's Predator, in which a towering alien hunter visits Earth to face-off against elite soldiers and collect trophies. Right before Die Hard, director John McTiernan helmed this absolutely kickass showdown between our toughest hero and the galaxy's crowning killing machine. The look of the Predator -- or the "Yautja," as the extra-terrestrial species is known -- is famous both with and without the mask, the mark of makeup master Stan Winston.
More Like This: Predator 2 (1990), The Monster (2021), Prey (2022)
7. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Where to Watch: The Roku Channel (w/ ads)
This film has one of the most unique tones of any on this list, toeing the line between outright horror, black comedy, and intense drama. When he becomes a werewolf during a backpacking trip in England and his friend is killed, David Kessler has to deal with the consequences of becoming a monster and confront the beast inside of him. It’s more complex than that, really, but that’s what’s so special about this movie. It has a dimension to it that is almost indescribable; it needs to be ingested to be fully appreciated. And that transformation sequence? Wow.
It was the standout of the other werewolf movies of 1981 (those being The Howling and Wolfen) and spawned a sequel 16 years later… but we don’t talk about that.
More Like This: The Howling (1981), Ginger Snaps (2000), Dog Soldiers (2002), Werewolves Within (2021)
6. Jurassic Park (1993)
Where to Watch: The Roku Channel (w/ ads), Freevee (w/ ads)
A monster movie updated for the 1990s, in the burgeoning era of CGI, Jurassic Park is to modern movie-making what King Kong was to the early 20th century. Steven Spielberg had already achieved success with the monster flick back in Jaws, but Jurassic Park and the miracle of computer technology let him do something truly groundbreaking. Gone was the clunky stop motion of previous movie dinosaurs and present were wholly believable Jurassic monstrosities.
Equal parts adventure, horror, and sci-fi thriller, Jurassic Park proved that audiences hadn’t given up on the traditional monster movie, not by a long shot. While modern cinema has since struggled to follow-up on the endearing Jurassic Park (even Spielberg’s own sequel couldn’t manage it), the movie is just as powerful today as it was 30 years ago.
More Like This: Westworld (1973), The five other Jurassic Park/World films, 65 (2022)
5. The Fly (1986)
Where to Watch: Max
It’s not often that a remake of a monster movie classic can top its predecessor (though it does happen, as this list proves), but David Cronenberg’s The Fly is more successful than the original every step of the way. Its visual imagery is grotesque and innovative, and the performances by the lead cast members are truly exceptional.
But it’s the tragic decline of Seth Brundle into the monstrous fly creature that makes the movie work. When you think about it, it’s equally rare that a monster movie has its star actually become the monster in question (though plenty will have you rooting for the monster over the human protagonist), but The Fly manages to do so and is all the more successful because of it.
More Like This: The Fly (1958), From Beyond (1986), The Invisible Man (2020)
4. Godzilla (1954)
Where to Watch: Max
For many, Godzilla is the quintessential monster movie. Launching the kaiju genre in Japan and inspiring loads upon loads of filmmakers, artists, and other creative types, Godzilla set the genre on fire with its social commentary and utter destruction. It was a response to the atomic holocaust in Japan, a suggestion that maybe nature was ready to fight back. Godzilla is still thriving today, with not only reboots from Japan (Shin Godzilla and Godzilla Minus One) but also Legendary's MonsterVerse.
More Like This: Destroy All Monsters (1968), Godzilla (2014), Shin Godzilla (2016)
3. The Thing (1982)
Where to Watch: Peacock
John Carpenter’s adaptation of Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell (previously adapted by Howard Hawkes in 1951 as The Thing From Another World) is one of the greatest, most effective monster movies of the last 50 years; an oft-referenced horror film that is as psychologically terrifying as it is horrific to watch.
Another example of where the monster in question is felt more often than it’s seen, the claustrophobic setting and the exceptional performances propel the terror forward until such time that the titular Thing is indeed revealed. The Thing still stands as a go-to for gold medal practical effects. The grotesque imagination involved for the alien Thing's ability to become an abominable amalgam of body parts is astonishing.
More Like This: The Thing from Another World (1951), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Color Out of Space (2019)
2. Jaws (1975)
Where to Watch: Netflix
Steven Spielberg’s breakthrough blockbuster proved that monster movies still had a calling at the box office, and in fact was the highest-grossing movie of all time -- until Star Wars came out two years later. The tale of a great white shark terrifying a New England beach town takes the less-is-more approach -- due mostly to production problems with the mechanical shark -- but as a result the film’s portrayal of the shark as a bona fide movie monster is much stronger.
Coupled with John Williams’ unforgettable score, terrific performances, and a severed appendage here or there, and Jaws cemented its place as one of the best monster movies ever.
More Like This: Open Water (2003), The Shallows (2016), Crawl (2019), Nope (2022)
1. Alien (1979)
Where to Watch: Hulu, Fubo
Following up on the success of Jaws, Hollywood brought us another predatory monster movie, this time set in the dead of space. Alien reinvented the idea of aliens in Hollywood, delivering the Xenomorph -- a design that would stretch our imagination as to what extraterrestrials could be and penetrate our innermost fears when we learned that they could, ahem, “impregnate” us.
Alien managed to launch a whole franchise that expanded with even more creatures and even faced-off against other popular monsters in various mediums. But it’s this original film, which puts the focus on the terror of the Xenomorph, that stands as the greatest monster flick ever.
More Like This: Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), Life (2017), Underwater (2020)
What's your favorite monster movie? What's missing from our list? Let's discuss in the comments!
