10 Essential Monster Movies You Need To See Before Godzilla

5. Cloverfield (2008)

Movie Monster: Unidentified Before the furore surrounding J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot and his appointment as Star Wars director, he produced the found-footage film, Cloverfield - which has a number of similarities with the original Godzilla flick, and also with what we were shown in the new trailer. The monster comes from the sea and proceeds to destroy civilisation, and the city in question is New York (as usual). Before the Fukushima power-plant disaster, Edwards had hoped to set Godzilla primarily in Japan. Out of respect and sensitivity for all those affected, he altered the narrative. Instead, we get glimpses of a battered Statue of Liberty, maimed and disgraced by the lizard. In Cloverfield, the characters are nearly crushed by the statue's head following her decapitation. It may have received a lukewarm critical reaction, but Cloverfield is better than your average monster movie. It has some creepy imagery and set-pieces - one involving critters in an underground tunnel - and refrains from showing its big bad until the final minutes. Whether this adds or detracts to the experience is down to the type of film you like, but give it a try anyway: you might be surprised.