The Best Monster Movies
The best monster movies are sure to give you a good scare, so if you’re looking for a good monster flick to watch next, this list has got you covered -- and many of these titles are streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime, so you won’t have to leave the comfort of your own home for a fright night.
Films in the monster movies genre always involve a monster (obviously!) of some sort -- be it a science experiment gone awry, aliens from another universe, dinosaurs, or some other scary creature, these movies are sure to make you jump outta your seat.
This monster movie list contains titles with tons of action, like Alien, Predator, and Jurrasic Park, and is sorted from best to worst, but you don’t have to take our word for it, because fans of the monster film genre have voted on these titles, and you can cast your vote too! Vote your favorite movies to the top of the list, and if there are movies you hated, vote them down, to move them to the bottom! If we missed any of the best monster movies, then feel free to add them to the list.
So if you’re looking for a frightfully fun time, this list of the best monster movies is a great place to start.
Bernard Louis Kowalski and Larry Cohen have both directed Monster movies, as have many other great directors.
- Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt
- Released: 1979
- Directed by: Ridley Scott
In deep space, the crew of the commercial starship Nostromo is awakened from their cryo-sleep capsules halfway through their journey home to investigate a distress call from an alien vessel. The ...more - Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn
- Released: 1986
- Directed by: James Cameron
After floating in space for 57 years, Lt. Ripley's (Sigourney Weaver) shuttle is found by a deep space salvage team. Upon arriving at LV-426, the marines find only one survivor, a nine year old girl ...more - Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, T.K. Carter
- Released: 1982
- Directed by: John Carpenter
In remote Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter shooting at a sled dog. When they take in the dog, it brutally attacks both human beings ...more - Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura
- Released: 1987
- Directed by: John McTiernan
Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a soldier of fortune, is hired by the U.S. government to secretly rescue a group of politicians trapped in Guatemala. But when Dutch and his team, which includes ...more - Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata
- Released: 1956
- Directed by: Terry O. Morse, Ishirō Honda
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! is a 1956 Japanese American science fiction kaiju film co-directed by Terry O. Morse and Ishirō Honda. The film is a heavily re-edited American adaptation, commonly ...more - Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum
- Released: 1993
- Directed by: Steven Spielberg
In Steven Spielberg's massive blockbuster, paleontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) are among a select group chosen to tour ...more - Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning
- Released: 1954
- Directed by: Jack Arnold
Remnants of a mysterious animal have come to light in a remote jungle, and a group of scientists intends to determine if the find is an anomaly or evidence of an undiscovered beast. To accomplish ...more - Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter
- Released: 1990
- Directed by: Ron Underwood
Repairmen Val McKee (Kevin Bacon) and Earl Bassett (Fred Ward) are tired of their dull lives in the small desert town of Perfection, Nev. But just as the two try to skip town, they happen upon a ...more - James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon
- Released: 1954
- Directed by: Gordon Douglas
While investigating a series of mysterious deaths, Sergeant Ben Peterson (James Whitmore) finds a young girl (Sandy Descher) who is unable to speak. As Peterson joins forces with FBI agent Robert ...more - Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Mae Clarke
- Released: 1931
- Directed by: James Whale
This iconic horror film follows the obsessed scientist Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) as he attempts to create life by assembling a creature from body parts of the deceased. Aided by his loyal ...more - Lon Chaney, Claude Rains, Ralph Bellamy
- Released: 1941
- Directed by: George Waggner
When his brother dies, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney) returns to Wales and reconciles with his father (Claude Rains). While there, he visits an antique shop and, hoping to impress Gwen (Evelyn Ankers), ...more - Steve McQueen, Aneta Corsaut, Earl Rowe
- Released: 1958
- Directed by: Irvin S. Yeaworth
A drive-in favorite, this sci-fi classic follows teenagers Steve (Steven McQueen) and his best girl, Jane (Aneta Corseaut), as they try to protect their hometown from a gelatinous alien life form ...more - Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz
- Released: 1986
- Directed by: David Cronenberg
When scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) completes his teleportation device, he decides to test its abilities on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a housefly slips in during the process, leading to a ...more - Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman
- Released: 2017
- Directed by: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Kong: Skull Island is a 2017 American monster film directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts. The film is a reboot of the King Kong franchise and will serve as the second film in Legendary's GodzillaKong film ...more - Paul Hubschmid, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway
- Released: 1953
- Directed by: Eugène Lourié
Near the Arctic Circle researchers detonate a nuclear device and unwittingly thaw a prehistoric beast frozen for millions of years. The monster leaves a path of destruction across eastern North ...more - Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, Oliver Platt
- Released: 1999
- Directed by: Steve Miner
When a mysterious creature violently kills a man in a Maine lake, Jack Wells (Bill Pullman), the local game warden, looks into the bizarre case, along with Sheriff Hank Keough (Brendan Gleeson) and ...more - Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Felix Aylmer
- Released: 1959
- Directed by: Terence Fisher
The Mummy is a 1959 British horror film, directed by Terence Fisher and starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. It was written by Jimmy Sangster and produced by Michael Carreras and Anthony ...more - Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, Donald Curtis
- Released: 1955
- Directed by: Robert Gordon
While on a routine mission, Cmdr. Pete Mathews (Kenneth Tobey) runs into trouble when his submarine is nearly sunk by an unknown creature. Back at base in Pearl Harbor, Dr. John Carter (Donald ...more - William Hopper, Joan Taylor, Frank Puglia
- Released: 1957
- Directed by: Nathan Juran
A manned space flight from Venus crash lands in the Mediterranean, losing its most precious cargo: reptilian eggs from the planet's surface. They come into the possession of an Italian zoologist ...more - Shawnee Smith, Kevin Dillon, Donovan Leitch
- Released: 1988
- Directed by: Chuck Russell
In a tiny California town, high school students Brian (Kevin Dillon), Meg (Shawnee Smith) and Paul (Donovan Leitch) discover a strange, gelatinous substance that melts the flesh of any living ...more - Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown
- Released: 2019
- Directed by: Michael Dougherty
Members of the crypto-zoological agency Monarch face off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the ...more - Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Irrfan Khan
- Released: 2015
- Directed by: Colin Trevorrow
Located off the coast of Costa Rica, the Jurassic World luxury resort provides a habitat for an array of genetically engineered dinosaurs, including the vicious and intelligent Indominus rex. When ...more - Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Kyes
- Released: 1978
- Directed by: John Carpenter
On a cold Halloween night in 1963, six year old Michael Myers brutally murdered his 17-year-old sister, Judith. He was sentenced and locked away for 15 years. But on October 30, 1978, while being ...more - Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, Ilona Massey
- Released: 1943
- Directed by: Roy William Neill
Lawrence Stewart Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) is plagued by a physical oddity that turns him into a crazed werewolf after sundown. His desire to rid himself of this ailment leads him to the castle owned ...more - Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners
- Released: 1932
- Directed by: Karl Freund
A team of British archaeologists led by Sir Joseph Whemple (Arthur Byron) discover the mummified remains of the ancient Egyptian prince Imhotep (Boris Karloff), along with the legendary scroll of ...more