10 Best Monster Horror Movies Of The 2020s (So Far)
The past five years has seen some excellent monster movies. But why did 2022 go so hard?
Horror movies come in many guises these days, with psychological affairs, absurdist statements, and slashers aplenty, but some of us are still happy to settle down with a good ol' fashioned monster movie. You know the kind: characters are stalked by and have to fight something scary and real, something that doesn't come from within, but launches an offensive from the outside. The thing is, monster movies are not the same as they used to be - but maybe that's a good thing.
Monster movies are a little unfashionable of late, suffering the same fate as pirates, cowboys, and melodramas. Thus, every monster feature appearing on our screens this decade has had to go the extra mile in order to be noticed, never mind loved, adored, Oscar-nominated...
For the past five years, monster-lovin' filmmakers have been doing just that: taking what they love and reshaping it, working to confirm, deny, subvert, and upgrade the genre in the hopes of nabbing a dedicated audience and remaining relevant. And, for the most part, it has worked; the few monster films on offer have wowed us with fledgling doppelgangers, feral predators, and River-dancing creatures of the night.
Now, let's cast a critical eye over the past five years and decide what really are the best monster movies of the 2020s (so far).
10. Significant Other (2022)
Similar in subject matter and scope to Leigh Janiak's Honeymoon, Dan Berk and Robert Olsen's Significant Other nonetheless stands apart, thanks to its deft narrative turns and another dependable horror performance from alt scream queen Maika Monroe.
Monroe and Jake Lacy star as Ruth and Harry, a couple who are off on their jollies, hoping to enjoy a hiking weekend out in the vast woodlands of America’s Pacific Northwest. But, unbeknownst to them, a red meteor has recently crashed, and its inhabitant, who has caused biological havoc to the flora and fauna, is on the warpath, hoping to come between the kind-of-happy couple.
Significant Other turns on a rift of awkwardness and suspicion between the couple and the viewer that uses a failed marriage proposal and an off-screen secret to mask its mid-film twist - one that's genuinely unexpected and wholeheartedly justifies itself. But the film really comes into its own when the shape-shifting monster from another planet emerges proper, managing a comic tone that balances out the bleakness, elevating what begins as a slow-moving and rather depressive couple horror to a different breed of monster movie.
The ending might not be for everyone - and, for many of us, feels like it invites a sequel - but the legwork leading up to it is admirable.