# Best Monster Movies evah!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 6, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905 "2010-02-06T04:33:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/41 "2010-02-07T03:31:56Z")
> [@valleyofthedolls](#): > > I can’t believe I forgot The Thing. > > The original is terrific but IMHO, John Carpenter’s remake is a masterpiece. John Carpenter’s version is what I opened up the thread to mention. I found it much better than the original film ( and much closer to the story ). A great atmosphere of paranoia, and a monster that doesn’t require an idiot plot or immunity to nukes to be a genuine threat to humanity. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/42 "2010-02-07T03:47:34Z")
Horror may be just about my least favorite genre of movies types, (I haven’t seen any of the movies listed so far in the thread except for Alien, The Terminator, Jaws and Young Frankenstein) but for some reason (probably the use of great music and humor throughout the film) “An American Werewolf In London” is in my top 10 favorite movies of all time, and for those who have never seen it, I can’t recommend it highly enough. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/43 "2010-02-07T04:30:13Z")
Another vote for Alien. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/44 "2010-02-07T04:50:07Z")
_Return of the Living Dead_ deserves a mention. If only for one word, one single element it added to a mythos… _…“BRAINS!”_ ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/45 "2010-02-07T06:21:41Z")
+X for **Tremors** , the Bacon/Ward chemistry is spot on Ward-You’re not gonna bring that vacuum Bacon-I like this vacuum Ward-hell, you never use it Bacon-Well it’s good fer parts pure gold. I’ll add **Wolf** , with Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer as an underated werewolf flick. Good cast, Mike Nichols directing, Pfieffer was never hotter ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/46 "2010-02-08T19:04:42Z")
**Matango**. Please ignore the subtitle (“Fungus of Terror”) and the alternate title (“Attack of the Mushroom People”) which both make it look like schlock. It’s not; it’s wonderfully creepy and atmospheric and includes some great model work. Oh, and count me among the **Tremors** fans. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/47 "2010-02-08T20:16:05Z")
+++ **Tremors** The thing I liked best about this movie was that it was the thinking man’s monster movie. Unlike most monster movies where the humans act completely irrational and stupid (panic, scream, run, die):rolleyes:, the characters acted sanely and intelligently. They knew how to be safe from the monsters and spent time thinking of ways to outwit them. And came up with ideas to actually battle and escape them. It never had any of those “yeah right, who would do something stupid like that” moments. ---
**Author:** ![ElectricZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58f4c7/32.png) [@ElectricZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElectricZ)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/48 "2010-02-08T21:33:35Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > +++ **Tremors** > > The thing I liked best about this movie was that it was the thinking man’s monster movie. Unlike most monster movies where the humans act completely irrational and stupid (panic, scream, run, die):rolleyes:, the characters acted sanely and intelligently. They knew how to be safe from the monsters and spent time thinking of ways to outwit them. And came up with ideas to actually battle and escape them. > It never had any of those “yeah right, who would do something stupid like that” moments. More big ups for Tremors. The characters, in spite of being presented as local hicks were smart… They were also scared, showed resentment toward each other, showed great concern for each other, were confused, heroic, sympathetic – in other words all the things normal people would be if they were caught in that situation. They were all likable people that you didn’t want to see die, and cheered each time they found a way to outwit the giant worms. The characters were also funny as hell without them knowing they were being funny. That’s hard to pull off. It also had one of the sweetest trauma-bonding romances, with Earl nudging Val towards the homely grad student scientist instead of his usual blonde bimbos… only to find that Val was secretly insecure about a woman like that being remotely interested in a blue collar handyman. Again, all played straight without a hint of sap or insincerity. And the byplay was just fantastic. “See, we plan ahead. That way we don’t ever to anything right now. Earl explained it to me.” ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/49 "2010-02-08T21:33:49Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > +++ **Tremors** > > The thing I liked best about this movie was that it was the thinking man’s monster movie. Unlike most monster movies where the humans act completely irrational and stupid (panic, scream, run, die):rolleyes:, the characters acted sanely and intelligently. They knew how to be safe from the monsters and spent time thinking of ways to outwit them. And came up with ideas to actually battle and escape them. > It never had any of those “yeah right, who would do something stupid like that” moments. Amen, Brother. Random fave quote- “…I know, I know, he thinks he knows everything…” . ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/50 "2010-02-08T22:05:42Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > [Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109836/) (1994), directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh as the good Doctor. > > […] > > It’s a bit longish at 123 minutes, but if you have read the novel, you will appreciate the faithfulness of this film to the original source. It is worth watching just for De Niro’s performance as the creature. I hesitate at calling him a monster. I found myself developing great sympathy for him as a creature who tried at first to be decent and kind but is warped by people’s treatment of him due to his shocking appearance. For some reason I always thought it was Harvey Keitel as the doctor. Anyway, some of the scenes with DeNiro were pretty good and I liked the inclusion of the arctic frame setting - I don’t think there’s any Frankenstein movie that used that - but the adherence to the book’s script had its downsides too, especially w/r/t the doctor’s complete stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/51 "2010-02-08T22:18:01Z")
> [@](#): > > For some reason I always thought it was Harvey Keitel as the doctor. Anyway, some of the scenes with DeNiro were pretty good and I liked the inclusion of the arctic frame setting - I don’t think there’s any Frankenstein movie that used that - but the adherence to the book’s script had its downsides too, especially w/r/t the doctor’s complete stupidity. > Reply With Quote _au contrair_. Long before Branaugh’s version there was another, lower budget version that was extremely faithful to the original – more faithful than Branaugh’s , even. But it starred no one famous and didn’t have great distribution. It goes by **Victor Frankenstein** and **Terror of Frankenstein** (not to be confused with any Hammer film), and I love it. It opens with the arctic scenes: > **[Terror of Frankenstein (1977) ⭐ 5.8 | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076881/)** > > 1h 32m | Not Rated > **[Film Review - Terror of Frankenstein, directed by Calvin Floyd](http://www.communistvampires.com/horror/Terror%20of%20Frankenstein.htm)** > **[Handy - Festnetz - Internet - Mobiles Internet - TV](https://www.a1.net)** > > Alles aus einer Hand. Internet, TV, Mobil- & Festnetztelefonie, unbegrenztes Festnetz-Internet für zuhause und kostenloses WLAN-Modem. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/52 "2010-02-08T22:21:51Z")
Oh, here’s one that hasn’t been mentioned yet: [War of the Gargantuas](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060440/). (Some may remember it by it’s original title, _Furankenshutain no kaijû: Sanda tai Gaira_😛 ) It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, but the scene where one of the monsters chews up a victim and spits out her clothes is classic. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/53 "2010-02-08T22:29:58Z")
I also love Tremors, I never get sick of it! One I haven’t seen in the thread yet is [Slither](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slither_(2006_film)). Great cast, it’s funny, it’s gross, the special effects are good, and you actually care about the story. Also, the DVD has great special features, I’m a sucker for good special features. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/54 "2010-02-08T22:50:44Z")
> [@badbadrubberpiggy](#): > > I also love Tremors, I never get sick of it! > > One I haven’t seen in the thread yet is [Slither](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slither_(2006_film)). Great cast, it’s funny, it’s gross, the special effects are good, and you actually care about the story. Also, the DVD has great special features, I’m a sucker for good special features. I’ll try and catch a copy of Slither. That poster looks like it’s a “remake” of Cronenberg’s **Shivers** which I mentioned above. If you haven’t seen that, I recommend it (warning: it’s not funny at all). > [@CalMeacham](#): > > _au contrair_. Long before Branaugh’s version there was another, lower budget version that was extremely faithful to the original – more faithful than Branaugh’s , even. But it starred no one famous and didn’t have great distribution. It goes by **Victor Frankenstein** and **Terror of Frankenstein** (not to be confused with any Hammer film), and I love it. It opens with the arctic scenes: I never even heard of that version. Sounds interesting, I’ll try and find it. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/55 "2010-02-08T23:24:46Z")
“In space, no one can hear you scream” _Alien_ ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/56 "2010-02-09T00:57:24Z")
> [@badbadrubberpiggy](#): > > I also love Tremors, I never get sick of it! > > One I haven’t seen in the thread yet is [Slither](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slither_%282006_film%29). Great cast, it’s funny, it’s gross, the special effects are good, and you actually care about the story. Also, the DVD has great special features, I’m a sucker for good special features. This is off topic, but what the hell… Your reference to Slither reminded me of MST3K’s take on [Squirm](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075261/). The movie opens with the title card. Mike and the bots look at it for a moment, say, “OK”… and start squirming in their seats. ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905/57 "2010-02-09T01:39:25Z")
The remake of the Mummy with Brandan Fraser is pretty good, with some genuine scares in among the comedy and action. Does Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness count as a monster movie? I would say yes. Despite not getting the same kind of attention that other Carpenter movies get, it has an engaging story, incredibly creepy atmospherics, and at least one genuine moment of sheer terror. And Alice Cooper! What about the Exorcist? I consider that a monster movie, too, though others may disagree. My wife has never seen and and will not watch it. I, on the other hand, have seen it multiple times and it still scares me every time. [shivers]. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monster-movies-evah/527905.md?page=2)