10 Great Monster Movies You've Never Seen

The subgenre of monster movies is arguably one of the most versatile in all of film. A monster can mean, or for that matter, be anything. A giant lizard as a metaphor for the atomic bomb? Murderous cave-dwelling creatures as an allegory for the hardships of grief ? A shapeshifting alien used to represent man's inherent distrust of one another? Monsters can be used as a stand in for just about anything and everything.

When it comes to monster movies though, far too many go undiscovered by a majority of the public. It's an unfortunate side effect of being such a niche corner of cinema. The same goes with the monsters themselves. Creatures like Godzilla, King Kong, the Xenomorph and the Babadook have become part of our collective cultural lexicon, and rightfully so, as they're all fantastic creations. Yet, there are so many other great monsters that don't get nearly as much time to shine with audiences.

Whether they be kaiju, cryptids, sea beasts, or remixes of more classical creatures, the intent of this list is to celebrate the little guys of the monster movie world. Without any further delay, let's get to it.

Starting thing off, it's an entry in which both the monster and the movie itself are so terrible that they ascend into greatness.

In Beneath, what was supposed to be a fun outing on a lake turns into a nightmare when a group of friends find themselves at the mercy of a malicious, mystical giant catfish.

The movie wants so badly to be scary, but ends up becoming a laugh-out-loud comedy. While the monstrous catfish is bloodthirsty and vicious, it only really ever comes across as a threat because the characters are absurdly selfish and stupid. Their collective fear toward what might be one of the silliest movie monsters of all time leads to so much ridiculous character conflict and straight up pettiness that it feels like an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It'd be remarkable, if it weren't for the fact that the performances make Tommy Wiseau look like an academy award winning actor.

Despite trying so hard to be genuine, Beneath somehow manages to tell a story in which every aspect comes across as being so dumb that it's comical. It truly is something you have to see to believe, and even then you may find it impossible to comprehend its inanity.