The word “monster” conjures up a variety of images when one hears the word. Perhaps it’s a 50-foot beast, tearing through the great cities of the world, leaving devastation in its wake. Or maybe it’s something more intimate, like a vampire or an alien (or an alien vampire? Maybe!). Maybe it’s just someone who played for the 1985 Chicago Bears.
Whatever your definition of “monster” is, we’ve found 10 films that are available on Netflix or other streaming services that will help you get your creature-feature fix.
Godzilla: King of Monsters (Netflix, Hulu)
Godzilla didn’t start out as just a monster. He was a metaphor. In 1954, Godzilla: King of Monsters was made to represent what the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki meant to the people of Japan. As one could guess, Raymond Burr wasn’t actually in the original Japanese version of the film — his scenes were filmed specifically for the American release.
Gareth Edwards had a good idea and a small budget. He turned that into Monsters, a clever sci-fi monster movie in which Mexico turned into an extra-terrestrial jungle. Edwards has gone on to direct the newest Godzilla film and is scheduled to direct one of the upcoming Star Wars spin-offs.
Trollhunter (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu)
Sadly, it’s not about a vigilante who tracks down people who post comments on YouTube videos. Instead, what we have here is a 2010 Norwegian found-footage movie about students making a film in the woods before everything gets all crazy. Wait, that sounds awfully familiar.
The Host (Netflix)
In the movies, when a young girl is kidnapped, it usually means Liam Neeson is about to beat the crap out of half of Europe. But what happens when your daughter (or granddaughter) is kidnapped by a friggin’ sea monster? That’s what this kick-ass 2006 Korean film attempts to answer (not to be confused with that movie based on that book written by the Twilight lady.)
Destroy All Monsters (Hulu)
The Avengers of monster movies, this film was Toho Picture’s 20th monster (kaiju) flick and originally intended to be Godzilla’s last. Eleven monsters total, including Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah and, of course, Godzilla, are all involved in an epic all-out monster brawl at the end — but not before nearly all of them head out to terrorize a major city on their own.
I, Frankenstein (Netflix)
“You know what the Frankenstein story needs? A convoluted plot involving demons and stuff.” This was actually the second feature film from director Stuart Beattie, screenwriter of both the first Pirates of the Caribbean and G.I. Joe films.
Mimic (Netflix)
Mimic was the first English-language film to be directed by Guillermo del Toro, and it only hinted at the craziness that would come from him later on. When a disease carried by roaches is killing New York City’s kids, scientists genetically engineer an insect predator to wipe them out. It was designed to only survive one generation but we all know how things like that turn out.
Hellboy (Netflix)
After del Toro made a boatload of money with Blade II, he finally had the clout to make one of his dream projects: a film adaptation of Mike Mignola’s comic, Hellboy. Ron Perlman is simply awesome as a big, red, cigar-chomping monster who fights other monsters.
War of the Gargantuas (Hulu)
“You know what the Frankenstein story needs? It needs two of them! And they need to be giant! And knock over cities! And let’s make it Japanese for some reason!” “We can probably pitch this as a co-production with the studio that makes the Godzilla movies!” “Godzilla? I don’t know what that is.”
The Giant Gila Monster (MST3K)
In the 1950’s and 60’s, you couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting a movie about animals grown to giant size that terrorize humanity. This is just one of the many — as well as a classic Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode to boot.
