Best Top Ten All-Time Great Monster Movies: Some Oldies, But All Goodies

Ask anyone you know to name a famous monster, and I guarantee they can come up with at least one name - Godzilla, The Thing, Freddy Krueger, and the venerable Count Dracula. There's just no two ways about it: we have a fascination with monsters. Oh, not real monsters, though we seem to enjoy a never-ending stream of series about human monsters in shows such as Criminal Minds , Dexter and their like. No - I am referring to our, and Hollywood's, long-time love affair with creature-features .

We seem to adore being scared. Why else would we, a bunch of otherwise-savvy kids, shell out our allowance, or our hard-earned baby-sitting money, to sit in a darkened theater munching popcorn, pulses pounding, dry-mouthed in anticipation, waiting for that big, scary thing to jump out.

When it finally does jump out, we leap as if galvanized by an electric shock; we clutch the arms of our chair and scream as if all the hounds of Hell were chasing us; we may even drop some popcorn or spill some of our cold drinks...we grab onto our boyfriend or girlfriend...Oh, wait a minute! There could lie part of the attraction...

Long before the girl/boyfriend appeared on the scene though, we were already making the weekly pilgrimage to our local theater to enjoy a "good fright'. By the time an even mildly-significant other gained our attention, we were already seasoned veterans - Nay! - connoisseurs of scary monsters.

One of the very first monsters I met was not on a screen, but in a full length novel. Count Dracula was just about the scariest creature I had ever contemplated, and not one I cared to think about while walking home at night from a babysitting job - alone, and in the dark. I would walk determinedly down the middle of the street, whistling loudly, while staying well clear of darkened houses and rustling shrubbery.

When I finally met the Count on film, he was a bit of a let-down, until I came across this very old, silent version. The film leaves much to be desired in many ways, but the Count, himself, is dark, demented, demonic, and disturbing.

Dracula, in all his vampiric versions, has been portrayed by a wide variety of actors, including the  inimitable Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Frank Langella, Rutger Hauer, Gary Oldman, and Richard Roxburg.

Movie vampires have been granted wide, and varying, powers and abilities. Dracula and his "children" continue to hold us in a thrall throughout his many incarnations, including such entries ito the field as Anna Rice's novel 'Interview With a Vampire', the rather fun Canadian television series about a vampire cop, "Forever Knight ', and a recent entry into the television genre, "The Vampire Diaries" .

Another favorite movie monster, and one for whom we can all thank Mary Shelley, Frankenstein's monster, from her world famous novel "Frankenstein: A Modern Prometheus ". Often referred to in error as "Frankenstein", the monster in her novel was given no name. I find myself grateful that Prometheus' gift of fire to us mere mortals did not come to us via the same cast of characters as in Mary Shelley's imaginings.

...and yet another of the "terrifying trio" from the vaults - The Werewolf . In the early days of Hollywood horror movies, these three monsters reigned supreme - for a while, at least. Werewolves have been played by a long list of movie great, some before they were famous, but many took on the mantle, or furry paws, if you will, long after they were established stars.

Some werevolves have been redeemed, like a very young and beautiful Michael Landon in "I Was Teenage Werewolf. " Some didn't need redeeming, but gained glory just "letting it all hang out" as young Michael J. Fox did in "Teen Wolf ". Some were downright mean and scary, like the "American Werewolf in London", and Jack Nicholson in "Wolfen ". Well, Jack Nicholson can be pretty scary anyway...

What would a monster tribute be without at least one of the great Japanese "creature features"? Our all-time favorite, Tokyo-stomping, death-ray breathing, Mothra-bashing, robot and dragon killing, bad-guy turned hero - Godzilla - is back, and bigger and meaner than ever.

Never one to leave himself no options, apparently, Godzilla is sending his progeny in 3-D format sometime in 2012... Too cool!

When it comes to Hollywood monkey shines, the special effect crews certainly pulled a few new and dandy tricks out of their bags when Fay Wray and "the big guy" had a date atop the Empire State Building. For an island boy, King Kong sure made his way up the society ladder - or, rather, up the side of a tower. He certainly looked ferocious swatting down all those fighter planes.

The next five monsters are slightly more modern, but nonetheless monstrous, and certainly owe a debt of gratitude to those of their ilk who went before them, to shape our notions of what constitutes a true "monster".

This first is a creature of our nightmares, and was first introduced in a movie about our blackest, most frightening imaginings - Freddy Krueger from "A Nightmare on Elm Street ".

There's nothing like a bunch of ugly, scary, ferocious, gut-infesting, stomach-bursting, people-eating outer space creature - especially one that can sneak through the ventilation system unseen, or under the floor grids...and wait 'til you meet their mommy.

This guy was very scary when he first appeared way back in the black and white movie matinees. His three modern reincarnations (pun intended) were even more frightful. "The Mummy " did very well for his early creators, and even better for his later re-creators, as well as co-stars, Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz.

Earthworms aren't scary - right? They wriggle around in your garden, helping to break up the soil, and making free fertilizer for you. You can even dig them up and go fishing with them, putting them on the end of your hook as bait.

Well, brace yourself for the "revenge of the fishing bait". These desert-dwelling worms are big, mean, and they're out for blood - or Kevin Bacon, Reba MacIntire, Fred Ward and Michael Gross, whoever they find first.

This was a genuinely scary movie, and the worms were gross and frightful, as all good movie monsters are. As well, though, somebody involved had a great sense of humor, and my still-favorite scene features Reba MacIntire and Michael Gross defending their 'Alamo' (basement gun room) with ever-larger weaponry as they quite literally blow the guts out of the besieging worms.

The monster in this movie may not make most Top-Ten Monster Lists, but this show is one of my personal favorites. In my opinion, this movie ranks right up there with Steven King's "It " for sheer scariness and great acting throughout, while both films feature strong, dynamic, ensemble casts.

I must admit the final confrontation with the monster in "It " was a bit of a let-down. The monster in "Split Second " does, however meet all the criteria for a fearsome opponent - cunning, deadly, blood-thirsty, and, most important of all, only half-seen until the final face-off with the hero in the partially flooded London Metro (underground railway system).

Rutger Hauer's first major splash on the North American movie screens came with his role as the beautiful and articulate, but deadly replicant , opposite Harrison Ford's cop , in Blade Runner. In "Split Second", Hauer plays the cop to an inner-space serial-killer demon in a partly-flooded, and dankly-dark mega-tropolis, alongside movie love-interest, the ever-sexy Kim Cattrall.

Our bonus monster is even scarier than the monsters from the deep, or from outer space, because these monsters can appear so normal as to escape undetected until they strike. Chillingly portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, this monster reminds of us the real, human monsters who walk among us.

The research for this article was carried out over many years of a youth misspent watching the Late, Late Show on television - usually while babysitting. Most monster/horror/science fiction movies would eventually pop up there, along with some great and not-so-great offerings.

Many note-worthy monsters were not included in this particular article, but are certainly truly great and frightful. Two of them - Jason of goalie-mask fame, and Chucky , the demonic marionette were mentioned by all those I polled for their top-ten monsters. I chose to include two of my favorites in their place, an slight for which I am sure to pay in my next nightmare (just kidding - besides, I included Freddy...).

© 2010 Text by Elle Fredine, All rights reserved