Shauna MacDonald as Sarah in bloody water in The Descent
Many of the most iconic antagonists in horror movies are people. The threat of real-world violence is always scary, but great monster movies at their core introduce a unique set of hazards for our heroes to deal with.
Monsters in horror films come in all shapes and sizes. Hulking leviathans are intimidating, but many of the best horror monsters are much smaller, relying on their special abilities or grotesque appearances to frighten audiences. Plenty of enjoyable monster movies have slipped under the radar or failed to generate hype at the box office. Yet, they're certainly worth watching, whether it's for the jump scares, a menancing monster design, or a comibation of both. 10 Life Life is a chilling monster movie set in Earth's orbit. A space station crew discovers a microscopic living organism, proving that life exists elsewhere in the solar system. They bring the lifeform on board, but disaster strikes when the creature rapidly grows, and nobody can fathom what it's capable of. The crew calls the creature 'Calvin,' and the movie unfolds into a sci-fi cat-and-mouse struggle against a rapidly evolving foe. Life is a tense movie because we learn what Calvin can do as the crew does. The all-star cast includes Ryan Reynolds in an entirely different role from what we're used to seeing him play. Naturally, Life wouldn't be a monster movie without the crew making some utterly ridiculous decisions in the heat of the moment. If you can suspend your disbelief, it's a fun film with an unpredictable alien threat. 9 Dog Soldiers Dog Soldiers is an exceptional werewolf movie that elevates humans beyond mere fodder for oversized dogs. A group of elite SAS soldiers is on a training exercise in the Scottish Highlands. Werewolves attack, forcing them to take shelter in an isolated cabin, and the soldiers won't go down without a fight. Dog Soldiers is very much a horror film, complete with gory kills and intimidating monsters. However, the cast makes it an unforgettable watch. Wells leads the group, and the movie is full of hilarious 'lads' banter and bravado. The werewolf threat is believable and scary, and the group's chemistry is superb. The movie is overflowing with quotable one-liners and intense action scenes as the squad desperately tries to survive until sunrise. 8 The Descent The Descent is a terrifying monster movie in which the location is almost as scary as what lurks in the dark. Juno leads her group of friends on a caving expedition. They get stuck and quickly realize they aren't the only living things roaming the pitch-black caverns. Cave-diving is a frightening prospect for many people, and the idea that you're stuck without any help on the way is even worse. The group chemistry is believable, and you feel for them as their fortunes go from bad to worse. Crawlers infest the caves; horrific beasts that hunt by smell and sound, as there's no light underground. They are an ever-present threat alongside rising tensions in the group. The Descent is genuinely scary. It's claustrophobic, gritty, and the story has several great twists. 7 Slither Slither proves that you don't need a big, intimidating creature to make a fantastic monster horror film. Sometimes, less is more, and Slither focuses on an alien parasite that does horrendous things to its unfortunate hosts. Nathan Fillion stars as Bill Pardy, the town sheriff. A meteor crashes nearby, and parasites begin infecting the residents. The movie leans heavily into body horror, with grotesque mutations as the infection escalates. Slither contains many horrific scenes, and director James Gunn ensures nothing is left to the imagination. It's a particularly gross movie, but it also contains plenty of dark comedy. 6 Howl Howl is a great, underrated werewolf movie, set in the UK. The last train of the night abruptly stops in the woodlands, and the driver mysteriously vanishes. It's up to Joe , a train guard, to calm the rowdy passengers and control the situation as the full moon glows outside. The movie does an excellent job introducing viewers to a group of mostly unlikable passengers who undermine Joe at every opportunity. He begrudgingly agrees to let them leave the train before a werewolf chases them back inside. Howl tells a tense survival story, and the creatures are genuinely frightening. The setting is oddly relatable, and the movie presents moral dilemmas, such as how to deal with a loved one who is infected. 5 Troll Hunter Troll Hunter is a Norwegian movie shot in a 'mockumentary' style with a unique take on trolls, which director André Øvredal manages to make believable. The movie follows a group of students investigating what they believe are unexplained bear killings. They meet a hunter, Hans , for answers, and are shocked that he believes that trolls exist, and they are responsible. Many found footage and mockumentary movies shy away from revealing the creature outright. Troll Hunter does the opposite. We see giant trolls in all shapes and sizes as Hans helps the students capture footage. The film explains how these creatures stay hidden, and while the scares are less intense than a typical horror movie, the trolls are dangerous and intimidating. 4 Splinter Splinter is a gross 'body horror' monster film trading large supernatural nasties for something far more sinister that prefers to attack from within. A couple, Polly and Seth , and two convicts end up trapped in a remote gas station. They discover a dead animal outside, covered in strange splinters. The group ultimately locks itself inside the building as events quickly spiral out of control. The splinters are part of a parasitic organism, and we learn what they can do as the survivors discover what they are up against. Conveniently, Seth is a biology student, and the group must learn how to survive the parasites before it's too late. There are plenty of graphic scenes, and the parasites can reanimate detached appendages for some particularly vile scares. Splinter is surprisingly clever at times, so it's an easy recommendation for horror fans, even if it didn't generate much buzz when it released. 3 Deep Rising The events of Deep Rising take place on an elaborate cruise liner at sea. Hijackers led by John Finnegan arrive to pull off a grand heist, but become unwilling antiheroes when they discover a large, tentacled monster onboard. Finnegan and his crew are forced to put their robbery on hold and fight for survival alongside a few of the ship's guests. The CGI hasn't aged well, but Deep Rising also uses plenty of practical effects that still hold up. The movie underperformed at the box office in 1998. It's garnered a cult following since then, with fans adoring the ridiculous spectacle and overacting. 2 The Ritual The Ritual tells a heavy story about a group of friends who go on a hiking trip to honor a friend who died in a robbery that turned violent. It's a somber premise, and things get much worse for the hikers when they become hopelessly lost in the woods. The group stumbles across a cabin in the forest while trying to shelter from the rain. They find an ominous effigy inside, and the movie delves into a story of witchcraft, folklore, and a supernatural creature. The beast in The Ritual is terrifying, and the group's infighting makes the trip remarkably uncomfortable. None of the cast are action heroes, which makes their plight all the more believable. 1 Rogue Rogue is the only movie on this list to feature a real-world threat. However, it's arguably one of the best crocodile films, and it continues to impress audiences long after its premiere. Kate is an experienced tour guide and captains a river cruise in Northern Australia. She unknowingly steers her boat full of tourists into the lair of a giant crocodile, which forces her to stop the vessel on a tiny island made of mud. Rogue is a tense movie with a believable cast and grisly kills. The crocodile is more relatable than a supernatural monster, and the stranded survivors desperately try everything to escape before the night closes in. Greg McLean's crocodile thriller flopped at the box office. It remains an underrated movie, positively received by those who stumble across it.
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