by Josh Fox

[WARNING: Spoilers] Gigantic beasts have shocked and terrified movie audiences
since the early 1930s. These monsters have entertained us in variety of forms; from
the stop-motion work of the legendary Ray Harryhausen, to modern motion capture
technology. The creature feature genre began with the 1925 film, The Lost World,
which featured a brontosaurus rampaging through London. The development of atomic
weaponry in the 1940s gave a whole new kind of popularity to monster movies; some
of which dealt with animals that became horribly mutated due to the effects of
radioactivity. Movie monsters are often created in circumstances beyond their
control, and are enemies of humanity because of their animalistic nature. Overall,
cinema wouldn�t be the same without these terrifying beasts, and this list pays
homage to them.

10
The Rancor
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, 1983

Rancor

The Rancor is a savage and unintelligent animal whose only desire seems to be
killing and devouring anything that has a pulse. In Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
we first see the Rancor as the property of Jabba the Hutt, who feeds his enemies to
it by dropping them through a pitfall trap into a cave where the Rancor lives. In
early concept art, the Rancor resembled a crustacean and had a shell on its back;
however this was later changed with the end result resembling a kind of hideously
disfigured dinosaur. The Rancor was also originally going to be played by a man in
a suit, however the creators were not happy with the results. Instead a small
puppet was used as well as a high-speed camera to slow down its movements and
create an illusion of immense size and power.

Interesting Fact: The Rancor was voiced by a Dachshund breed of dog.

9
Mothra
Mothra, 1961

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A list of giant monster movies cannot be complete without a shout-out to Japanese

cinema. Mothra is a gigantic female insect that has appeared in numerous Kaiju
(Japanese giant monster) films throughout cinematic history, beginning in the early
1960s in a film simply named Mothra. She is described as having a wingspan that
exceeds 150 meters, with wings that are so powerful they allow her to create a
tornado. Mothra is seen as a friendly beast and often works to protect humanity
from other gigantic creatures that are attacking earth. Despite being monstrously
over-sized, Mothra maintains some similarities with the average moth. For example,
Mothra has been shown in movies to lay eggs that hatch into enormous larvae that
then proceed to help her defeat her enemies. She can also shoot poisonous darts
from her abdomen and trap enemies in a silk cocoon.

Interesting Fact: The distinctive shrill chirping sound of Mothra has been reused
numerous times in Japanese cartoons. It has become a kind of a Japanese equivalent
of the Wilhelm Scream.

8
Reptilicus
Reptilicus, 1961
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Reptilicus was the subject of an early Danish 1960s film, which was one of many
monster movies of the era. The film features Reptilicus rampaging through
Copenhagen killing hundreds of civilians and destroying anything in its path. The
gigantic reptile resembles a serpent with wings, and has a power of regeneration
that makes it incredibly difficult to kill. Reptilicus also spits deadly green
slime on enemies that causes agonizing death. Its generic monster movie name is
enough to guarantee a place on the list. Overall, Reptilicus is most memorable for
being one of the first examples of a killer reptile in cinematic history.
Furthermore, Reptilicus stood out and garnered significant popularity and a cult
following, in a time period when cinema was dominated by crude, low-budget horror
movies.

Interesting Fact: A deleted scene in the movie featured Reptilicus flying. This was
cut from the final version as the producers felt it was too unrealistic. Of course,
everything else is totally believable.

7
Ants
Them! 1954

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The idea of ants as the subject of a horror film may seem absurd to some, but
seeing human beings dragged into an enormous anthill to be consumed is nothing
short of terrifying. These ants have been hideously mutated and enlarged due to the
effects of nuclear testing in New Mexico. After significantly growing in size, the
ants developed a taste for human flesh and threatened to become the dominant
species on planet Earth. What makes these ants memorable is that they are the first
example of giant insects in cinema. Them! was originally going to be shot in 3D,
with many 3D scenes cut for the final version, such as characters shooting
flamethrowers directly into the camera, and extreme close ups of the ants chasing
characters. Despite this, Them! has become a cult classic and was one of the
highest grossing films of 1954.

Interesting Fact: When Them! was first released in Sweden, it was strangely named:
�Spindlarna�. This translates to: �The Spiders�.

6
The Rhedosaurus
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, 1953

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The Rhedosaurus is a stop-motion masterpiece created by animation legend Ray

Harryhausen. Like many other famous movie monsters, this 10 meter tall lizard
rampages through the city destroying buildings and eating people wherever it can.
The Rhedosaurus does not have any special abilities such as breathing fire or
spitting acid; it mostly relies on its razor sharp teeth and giant claws as
weapons. In truth, the movie was designed to be extremely realistic, and indeed it
was at the time of its release. The amazing stop-motion beast truly terrified
people during the 1950s. The name Rhedosaurus strongly implies that this beast is a
type of dinosaur, however no such dinosaur ever existed. The creature has qualities
that exclude it from being any type of dinosaur; for instance, the Rhedosaurus has
a forked tongue and dragging tail that no true species of dinosaur possesses.

Interesting Fact: The name: �Rhedosaurus� is thought have been named after the
initials of its creator Ray Harryhausen.
5
Unknown
Cloverfield, 2008

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One of the things that make this monster truly terrifying is that we never find out
what it is, where it came from or why it has suddenly decided to wage war on
humanity. Cloverfield applied a brand new first-person perspective to the monster
movie genre. As the film progresses we see and hear blatant evidence of massive
destruction, yet we only see glimpses of the elusive monster. Throughout the film,
the monster shows great resilience to modern weaponry. It even manages to survive
attacks from stealth bombers and RPG fire. If that doesn�t make it dangerous
enough, the creature also harbors parasites that live on its skin and drop off to
viciously attack anything they see. Did I mention that anyone who gets bitten by
one of parasites ends up exploding?

Interesting Fact: Three images are hidden in Cloverfield that appear for only a
fraction of a second. They are screenshots from monster movies such as King Kong,
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, and Them!.

4
Gamera
Gamera the Invincible, 1965

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Gamera is a tremendously popular Japanese �Kaiju� who has defended the planet in 12
different movies, beginning in 1965. The friendly beast works to protect planet
Earth from other ridiculously creative Japanese monsters that threaten to destroy
humanity. Gamera is effectively a giant turtle with tusks that has all kinds of
crazy abilities. Perhaps the most bizarre example is when he withdraws his legs
into his shell and replaces them with rockets that allow him to fly. He can shoot
fireballs and ice beams from his mouth and his shell is said to be indestructible.
In some movies he is also shown to perform acrobatic feats such as swinging from a
pole and delivering attacks that resemble moves taught in martial arts. Gamera�s
favorite thing in the world is fire, that he eats on a regular basis to recharge
his rockets. Overall if you love seeing a man in a rubber suit, swinging a giant
squid around his head by the tentacle, Gamera is the monster for you.

Interesting Fact: In the western world Gamera is relatively unknown, though in

Japan he is said to be equally as popular as Godzilla.

3
The Kraken
Clash of the Titans, 1981

Monsters Csg263 Clash Of The Titans

The Kraken was the last work of famous stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen (also
notable for The Rhedosaurus in The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms). According to the
plot of Clash of the Titans, the Kraken was the most powerful Titan, created by
Hades to destroy all other Titans and allow the Olympians to rule over humanity. It
differs significantly in appearance from the traditional �giant squid� Kraken we
have seen in Pirates of the Caribbean and other films. For one thing, this Kraken
is humanoid and has a pronounced fish-like head. It has four arms, green scaly skin
and a constantly pissed-off look on its face. Sadly we don�t see much clashing of
Titans in either the original movie or the recent remake, and the Kraken is dead
seconds after its release. Even so, the events leading up to the Kraken�s release
make its eventual appearance thrilling and worthwhile. Despite the remade version
of Clash of the Titans showing an extremely well animated version of the Kraken,
the old version is a timeless masterpiece and the jewel in Harryhausen�s stop-
motion crown.

Interesting Fact: The Kraken is described as being a Titan in Clash of the Titans;
however the Kraken never appeared at all in original Greek Mythology and actually
originated in Norse Mythology.

2
King Kong
King Kong, 1933

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Since the ground-breaking 1933 movie, King Kong has become more than just a giant
monster. Kong is perhaps one of the most famous movie icons of American cinema. He
is described as the last of a breed of prehistoric ape that evolved in the
isolation of Skull Island. Despite being incredibly large, there is nothing
abnormal about King Kong and he displays the basic characteristics of an ape.
Kong�s main assets are his acrobatic skills, which he utilizes during the famous
scene when he climbs up the Empire State Building. Kong also possesses immense
strength, which he demonstrates when breaking the chains that hold him whilst
captive in America. The inspiration behind King Kong and Skull Island came from the
discovery of Komodo Island and the giant lizard, the Komodo dragon. The first Kong
was an 18-inch model, animated using stop-motion techniques. Andy Serkis acted the
part of King Kong in Peter Jackson�s 2005 remake. This was done using motion
capture technology in exactly the same way Serkis portrayed Gollum in the Lord of
the Rings trilogy.

Interesting Fact: The original King Kong model sold in 2009 at auction for over
$200,000. It was covered in rabbit�s fur for the 1933 film, though this cover has
since decomposed, leaving only a metal frame. You can view the model here.

1
Godzilla
Godzilla, 1954

Godzilla-Tokyo

The greatest and most influential movie monster in history is without a doubt, the
king of monsters: Godzilla (Japanese: Gojira). Godzilla did not only kick-start the
Japanese giant monster �Kaiju� craze, but became a pop culture icon, inspiring
dozens of sequels to the original 1954 version, including a big-budget (albeit
terrible) American remake in 1998. Godzilla was conceived as a mutated product of
nuclear detonations, and as a metaphor for nuclear warfare in general. The famous
scene of the devastation of Tokyo in the 1954 film when Godzilla rampages through
the city destroying everything in its path, is commonly cited as an indirect
portrayal of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Physically, Godzilla is over 400ft tall (according to Godzilla: King of the

Monsters) and resembles a dinosaur-like creature with gigantic spines on its back.
Godzilla is widely accepted as the most powerful Kaiju, with numerous unique
abilities and powers. His signature weapon is his distinctive atomic breath.
Godzilla�s dorsal spines glow ominously, and then he lets loose with a concentrated
blast of radiation from his mouth. This power is often mistakenly confused as fire
breathing.
Interesting fact: The Japanese name for Godzilla (Gojira) is a cross between the
Japanese words for a Gorilla and Whale, despite Godzilla resembling neither of
these animals.