10 Monster Movies No One Was Ready For
Who could have predicted that arguably the best Godzilla movie of all time would have come in 2023?
Out of the ever-growing number of subgenres under the horror umbrella, you could argue that creating a great monster movie is one of the most difficult balances to strike. There are too many things that could go wrong.
Poor CGI, whether bad at the time or the kind that will not age well, has hamstrung too many to count, and even if the aesthetic of the beast typically at the centre of things is spot on, it can still fall flat if not enough effort is put into the surrounding story.
There are too many Sharknado-type projects that have devalued the monster movie on the whole, but when done right, it can be something glorious. Even if expectations are low, which in some cases can actually help, these kinds of films can spring great surprises on audiences at large.
Zombie flicks have gone beyond anything the decades-old genre has put out before, thought-to-be-dead franchises have been revived, incredibly low-budget efforts have impressed, and even unexpected marketing tactics have led to certain creature features coming completely out of the blue.
10. The Host
One of the biggest issues that many monster movies face, and ultimately struggle to deal with, is that so much attention and concentration is put into the monster aspect, leaving too many other facets to fall flat. Of course, such outings need a compelling creature to boast, but they often could do with a lot more than that.
In 2006 came something that transcended being 'just another' creature feature, something owed in large part to the great Bong Joon Ho sitting in the director's chair. Long before the likes of Snowpiercer, Parasite, and Mickey 17 came The Host.
Part of what allowed the story to go deeper than a monster destroying cities was that it was inspired by true events in which hazardous substances were dumped into a river, with the idea of a monster's birth being a direct consequence of this coming afterwards. Immediately, this felt real and was grounded by a story that was more than believable.
Anyone quite understandably going into things expecting to see little more than a generic monster movie would have been surprised not only by the depth in the story, but by how it was told. Different tones, from fear to tension and even a dabble in comedy, were masterfully woven together to produce something exceptional.