10 Hidden Gem Horror Monster Movies

6. Shin Godzilla

Frankenhooker Patty Mullen
Toho

For those in Japan, Shin Godzilla is absolutely not a hidden gem. For those outside of the country, though, this is a film that largely flew under the radar. To highlight this divide, Shin Godzilla's total global box office haul was just shy of $78 million - with nearly $76 million of that coming solely from Japan.

To put into context how strong a return Shin Godzilla made in Japan, that territory's box office number is more than the worldwide figures for 1998's Godzilla, 2014's Godzilla, 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and 2021's Godzilla vs. Kong; all movies which had at least ten times the budget of Shin Godzilla.

So, why haven't more people outside of Japan seen Shin Godzilla? One significant reason is it only received extremely sparse screenings in nations such as the United States and the United Kingdom. Still, those who did catch the feature during its theatrical release or on its subsequent home release, tend to have nothing but praise for Toho's soft reboot of the wider Godzilla franchise.

Part of the charm of Shin Godzilla is in how it very much takes things back to basics, delivering a somewhat minimalist film - well, as minimalist as a movie about a giant city-destroying monster can be - focusing on political power plays and the ground-level people forced to deal with the fallout of Godzilla's destruction across Tokyo and beyond.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.