10 Worst Practical Effects Movie Monsters

Well before the king of killer robots himself would grace our screens in 1984’s The Terminator, another breed of Robot Monster has already made its less auspicious debut at the multiplex. Like so many on this list, the titular Robot Monster of this 1956 B-movie is most famous for being roundly roasted by the MST3K crew.

Unlike anything on this list—or anywhere else in cinema—this robot monster is less android and more man in gorilla suit wearing an inexplicable astronaut helmet kitted out with television antennae. The blame for this one lands squarely on the costume department rather than prosthetics and makeup, mainly because there’s none of either to speak of on-screen.

Despite—or maybe because of—the laughs prompted by its appearance, the monster went on to become an ironic icon of B-movie banality, even inspiring John Landis’ 1973 debut Schlock. Nonetheless, this monster—if indeed it has earned that title—remains a pretty damning indictment of just how ineffective practical effects can prove when the filmmakers’ hearts aren’t in it or the technical ability just isn’t there.