Sociology of Monsters
by the_other_kinsey_institute | created - 27 Apr 2013 | updated - 2 days ago | PublicFilms and television shows that demonstrate how "monsters" are often used symbolically to represent societal tensions or social problems. These movies can be watched and count as homework for the class the Sociology of Monsters (SOC 4910) at the University of Central Oklahoma. These movies will primarily focus on the monsters we are covering in class: aliens, zombies, vampires, Frankenstein's monster and other "things", and Jekyll & Hyde (and other werewolves). There may be exceptional movies that deal with other types of monsters on this list if their merit both as a film and as a symbol of social tension is readily apparent. If you have a suggestion to add to this list, please contact Dr. Copley, or leave a comment on the list!
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1. Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)
Unrated | 83 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Extraterrestrials traveling in high-tech flying saucers contact a scientist as part of a plan to enslave the inhabitants of Earth.
Director: Fred F. Sears | Stars: Hugh Marlowe, Joan Taylor, Donald Curtis, Morris Ankrum
Votes: 9,114
Xenophobia and fears of communism--note especially how the aliens are pure bad guys and they speak through captured humans.
2. The Evil Dead (1981)
NC-17 | 85 min | Horror
Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker
Votes: 232,477 | Gross: $2.40M
3. Carrie (1976)
R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery
Carrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, John Travolta
Votes: 206,757 | Gross: $33.80M
A teen, female Jekyll & Hyde
4. District 9 (2009)
R | 112 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Violence ensues after an extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth finds a kindred spirit in a government agent exposed to their biotechnology.
Director: Neill Blomkamp | Stars: Sharlto Copley, David James, Jason Cope, Vanessa Haywood
Votes: 717,102 | Gross: $115.65M
Racism, xenophobia
5. REC (2007)
R | 78 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.
Directors: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza | Stars: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano, Pablo Rosso
Votes: 196,784
6. The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009)
R | 92 min | Horror
A mad scientist kidnaps and mutilates a trio of tourists in order to reassemble them into a human centipede, created by stitching their mouths to each others' rectums.
Director: Tom Six | Stars: Dieter Laser, Winter Williams, Ashlynn Yennie, Akihiro Kitamura
Votes: 87,305 | Gross: $0.18M
Frankenstein. And a good example of HORROR vs. TERROR
7. Blindness (2008)
R | 121 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A city is ravaged by an epidemic of instant white blindness.
Director: Fernando Meirelles | Stars: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Gael García Bernal, Yûsuke Iseya
Votes: 75,205 | Gross: $3.07M
Technically not a horror movie (more of a drama) and if you want to get really picky, not a monster movie. Oh, there are monsters alright, but they are of the common, human type. Disturbing in a Lord-of-the-Flies-but-they're-adults-so-they-should-know-better kind of way. Also, since this is about the spreading of an epidemic, it has ties to both zombies and vampires.
8. Diary of the Dead (1976)
PG | 93 min | Drama, Thriller
An unemployed man who lives with his wife and overbearing mother-in-law sees an opportunity to relieve himself of the old bat, which tangles him in a maze of deception.
Director: Arvin Brown | Stars: Hector Elizondo, Edward Binns, Joyce Ebert, Geraldine Fitzgerald
Votes: 108
9. Diary of the Dead (2007)
R | 95 min | Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi
A group of young film students run into real-life zombies while filming a horror movie of their own.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Michelle Morgan, Joshua Close, Shawn Roberts, Todd Schroeder
Votes: 49,248 | Gross: $0.96M
10. Quarantine (2008)
R | 89 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A television reporter and her cameraman are trapped inside a building quarantined by the CDC, after the outbreak of a mysterious virus which turns humans into bloodthirsty killers.
Director: John Erick Dowdle | Stars: Jennifer Carpenter, Steve Harris, Columbus Short, Jay Hernandez
Votes: 77,398 | Gross: $31.69M
11. Independence Day (1996)
PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell
Votes: 605,873 | Gross: $306.17M
A return to evil aliens; came out between Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
12. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
PG | 138 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
Roy Neary, an Indiana electric lineman, finds his quiet and ordinary daily life turned upside down after a close encounter with a UFO, spurring him to an obsessed cross-country quest for answers as a momentous event approaches.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon
Votes: 216,968 | Gross: $132.09M
The plot is a bit convoluted and boring by today's standards, but keep in mind that it was a miracle of special effects for its time. Literally, UFOs were being depicted in movies by pie plates dangling from strings a short time before this (maybe twenty years). Even today, its special effects are pretty impressive if you remember this is before CGI. Along with ET, this movie ushered in the newer, "hey, maybe they're good and smarter than us!" aliens.
13. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror
Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
Director: John Landis | Stars: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher, Griffin Dunne
Votes: 120,582 | Gross: $30.57M
14. The Walking Dead (2010–2022)
TV-MA | 45 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
Sheriff Deputy Rick Grimes wakes up from a coma to learn the world is in ruins and must lead a group of survivors to stay alive.
Stars: Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan
Votes: 1,082,679
The current reigning king of zombies on television. Interestingly, this seems to be more about fear of the living than fear of the dead, though.
15. I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
Passed | 69 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A nurse is hired to care for the wife of a sugar plantation owner, who has been acting strangely, on a Caribbean island.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Frances Dee, Tom Conway, James Ellison, Edith Barrett
Votes: 13,667
Old school, pre-Romero's Night of the Living Dead zombies. Creepy, shuffling about, but not cannibals.
Please note that this movie is less-than-sensitive to particular New-World African (eg, Haitians) ethnic groups.
16. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Thriller
A ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the Northeast of the United States.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman
Votes: 139,188 | Gross: $0.09M
Really the beginning of the zombies as cannibals theme. Before this film, zombies were more like the Seabrook creation--corpses just walking around being creepy but otherwise pretty harmless.
Most people see this as a movie about the dangers of conformity.
17. Splice (2009)
R | 104 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Genetic engineers Clive Nicoli and Elsa Kast hope to achieve fame by successfully splicing together the DNA of different animals to create new hybrid animals for medical use.
Director: Vincenzo Natali | Stars: Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chanéac, Brandon McGibbon
Votes: 101,798 | Gross: $17.00M
Modern-day Frankenstein
18. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Unrated | 127 min | Horror, Thriller
During an escalating zombie epidemic, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross
Votes: 128,644 | Gross: $5.10M
19. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
R | 101 min | Action, Horror
A nurse, a policeman, a young married couple, a salesman and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.
Director: Zack Snyder | Stars: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer, Jake Weber
Votes: 272,567 | Gross: $59.02M
Zombie remake
20. Frankenstein (1931)
Passed | 70 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Dr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.
Director: James Whale | Stars: Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff, John Boles
Votes: 79,738
James Whale's classic. It may be hard to remember now, but this movie scared the ever-lovin-jeepers out of people when it came out.
21. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)
R | 123 min | Drama, Horror, Romance
When the brilliant but unorthodox scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein rejects the artificial man that he has created, the Creature escapes and later swears revenge.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Robert De Niro, Kenneth Branagh, Helena Bonham Carter, Tom Hulce
Votes: 59,359 | Gross: $22.01M
A bit long, but this version of Mary Shelley's classic really does pack a punch, pointing out repeatedly how the creature isn't really the evil one--his creator is.
22. Psycho (1960)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin
Votes: 718,583 | Gross: $32.00M
Frankenstein's monster, anyone? A created sociopath?
23. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Horror
The uneventful, aimless lives of a London electronics salesman and his layabout roommate are disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.
Director: Edgar Wright | Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis
Votes: 594,203 | Gross: $13.54M
Zombie comedy
24. Zombieland (2009)
R | 88 min | Action, Comedy, Horror
A shy student trying to reach his family in Ohio, a gun-toting bruiser in search of the last Twinkie and a pair of sisters striving to get to an amusement park join forces in a trek across a zombie-filled America.
Director: Ruben Fleischer | Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin
Votes: 621,626 | Gross: $75.59M
Okay, I have to admit... This movie does not pack a big sociological punch. However, it is really amusing and the main character is known as Columbus, my hometown.
25. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
R | 108 min | Action, Crime, Horror
Two criminals and their hostages unknowingly seek temporary refuge in a truck stop populated by vampires, with chaotic results.
Director: Robert Rodriguez | Stars: Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Juliette Lewis, Quentin Tarantino
Votes: 340,784 | Gross: $25.75M
vampires
26. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
R | 128 min | Fantasy, Horror, Romance
The centuries old vampire Count Dracula comes to England to seduce his barrister Jonathan Harker's fiancée Mina Murray and inflict havoc in the foreign land.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves
Votes: 238,533 | Gross: $82.52M
If you have anything bad to say about this movie, keep it to yourself. This has been one of my all-time favorite movies ever since its release when I was a young'n.
27. Dracula (1931)
Passed | 75 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Transylvanian vampire Count Dracula bends a naive real estate agent to his will, then takes up residence at a London estate where he sleeps in his coffin by day and searches for potential victims by night.
Directors: Tod Browning, Karl Freund | Stars: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye
Votes: 58,653
Classic. This movie set in our culture what Dracula is supposed to look/be like. And it’s all about deviant sex and xenophobia, to boot.
28. The Wolf Man (1941)
Passed | 70 min | Horror, Mystery, Romance
Larry Talbot returns to his father's castle in Wales and meets a beautiful woman. One fateful night, Talbot escorts her to a local carnival where they meet a mysterious gypsy fortune teller.
Director: George Waggner | Stars: Claude Rains, Warren William, Lon Chaney Jr., Ralph Bellamy
Votes: 30,729
Mental illness, stigma, social control, xenophobia
29. True Blood (2008–2014)
TV-MA | 55 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse encounters a strange new supernatural world when she meets the mysterious Bill Compton, a southern Louisiana gentleman and vampire.
Stars: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten
Votes: 260,167
30. The Amityville Horror (1979)
R | 117 min | Horror
Newlyweds and their three children move into a large house where a mass murder was committed. They start to experience strange, inexplicable manifestations which have strong effects on everyone living in or visiting the house.
Director: Stuart Rosenberg | Stars: James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger, Don Stroud
Votes: 44,612 | Gross: $86.43M
This is actually a haunted house movie, not a monster movie. However, it came out during a recession when housing prices were dropping. See the sociological significance yet?
Do you think it is also a coincidence that the television show "American Horror Story" also came out right after a real estate bubble burst? Recall the first season is all about an evil house.
31. Mimic (1997)
R | 105 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Three years ago, entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler genetically created an insect to kill cockroaches carrying a virulent disease. Now, the insects are out to destroy their only predator, mankind.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Alexander Goodwin, Giancarlo Giannini
Votes: 55,693 | Gross: $25.48M
Science gone awry - created creatures
32. Deep Blue Sea (1999)
R | 105 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Searching for a cure to Alzheimer's disease, a group of scientists on an isolated research facility become the prey, as a trio of intelligent sharks fight back.
Director: Renny Harlin | Stars: Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, Samuel L. Jackson, Jacqueline McKenzie
Votes: 142,600 | Gross: $73.65M
33. Cat People (1942)
Not Rated | 73 min | Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
An American man marries a Serbian immigrant who fears that she will turn into the cat person of her homeland's fables if they are intimate together.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Simone Simon, Tom Conway, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph
Votes: 26,002 | Gross: $4.00M
A twist on the old werewolf theme - all about fears of female sexuality
34. 28 Days Later (2002)
R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.
Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Alex Palmer
Votes: 446,032 | Gross: $45.06M
35. The Jacket (2005)
R | 103 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A Gulf war veteran is wrongly sent to a mental institution for insane criminals, where he becomes the object of a doctor's experiments, and his life is completely affected by them.
Director: John Maybury | Stars: Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Daniel Craig, Kris Kristofferson
Votes: 119,311 | Gross: $6.30M
36. The Descent (2005)
R | 99 min | Adventure, Horror, Thriller
A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.
Director: Neil Marshall | Stars: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder
Votes: 247,050 | Gross: $26.02M
37. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Approved | 80 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates, King Donovan
Votes: 54,784
This movie is one of the first political horror movies I know of, in that everyone watching it *knew* the story was really about communism.
The population of a small American town starts to suspect their neighbors aren't really their neighbors--they seem to be replaced by people who look and act exactly the same, but seem to be lacking "something." The town doctor discovers pods that grow into replacement bodies, taking people over WHILE THEY SLEEP (if that isn't an obvious wake-up call to stay awake and aware, I don't know what is).
The main character actually says, "First our town, and all the towns around us. It's a malignant disease spreading through the whole country." The point: The communists are here and they look just like us!
38. V (1984–1985)
TV-PG | 1,088 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A year after Liberation Day, courtesy of the red-dust bacteria, the humanoid, lizard-like aliens develop a resistance to the micro-organism and try to regain control of the Earth--only now, some humans are knowingly working with them.
Stars: Marc Singer, Faye Grant, Michael Ironside, Jane Badler
Votes: 14,048
39. V (2009–2011)
TV-14 | 42 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
An extraterrestrial race arrives on Earth with seemingly good intentions, only to slowly reveal their true machinations the more ingrained into society they become.
Stars: Elizabeth Mitchell, Morris Chestnut, Joel Gretsch, Logan Huffman
Votes: 58,882
40. Flash Gordon (1980)
PG | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A football player and his friends travel to the planet Mongo and find themselves fighting the tyranny of Ming the Merciless to save Earth.
Director: Mike Hodges | Stars: Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Max von Sydow, Topol
Votes: 61,559
Honestly, this movie is so bad--so campy--it's kind of good. Plus, it’s based off of early comic strips and radio programs, so naturally I love it.
Unlike the typical alien movie where they come to us, this has humans going to an alien planet where disparate (ethnic) groups are kept squabbling amongst themselves and therefore don't join together to overthrow the evil ruler. Shades of conflict theory, Marxism, ethnic conflict... and xenophobia, too!
41. E.T. (1982)
PG | 115 min | Adventure, Family, Sci-Fi
A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote, Dee Wallace
Votes: 437,702 | Gross: $435.11M
Along with Close Encounters of the Third Kind, this movie ushered in the second era of aliens: they're probably way smarter than humans to get here, so likely good. Unlike Close Encounters of the Third Kind, we actually get to know this alien personally.
This came out as the Cold War (and its resulting xenophobia) was starting to wind down.
42. Paul (2011)
R | 104 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Two English comic book geeks traveling across the U.S. encounter an alien outside Area 51.
Director: Greg Mottola | Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Mia Stallard
Votes: 266,200 | Gross: $37.41M
Perhaps the epitome of the newest era of aliens: aliens are pretty much just like us, only with a few relatively-trivial differences. Note the connection to the ethnic diversification of our population.
43. Happy Accidents (2000)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Romance
New Yorker Ruby Weaver believes she has found the man of her dreams in Sam Deed, who is her best catch in some time--except that he assures her that he came from the future.
Director: Brad Anderson | Stars: Marisa Tomei, Vincent D'Onofrio, Holland Taylor, Mick Weber
Votes: 10,230 | Gross: $0.69M
Technically, this is a time-travel movie (not a monster movie), but our main character is essentially an alien from another time. Again, the connection should be pretty obvious to the newest wave of aliens, in that the aliens are really immigrants, and pretty much just like us (no smarter, no more evil, etc.)
44. The Bad Seed (1956)
Approved | 129 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
Rhoda Penmark seems like your average, sweet eight-year-old girl. After her rival at school dies in mysterious circumstances at the school picnic, her mother starts to suspect that Rhoda was responsible.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, Gage Clarke, Jesse White
Votes: 15,779
Another created killer, this one a little girl - poses questions about parenting, gender dynamics, etc.
45. The Birds (1963)
PG-13 | 119 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette
Votes: 204,594 | Gross: $11.40M
Classic horror film (not really a monster movie, unless you count thousands of birds as tiny monsters). I always see it as the environment strikes back. Interestingly, it is based loosely on real events. There is a town in California where the birds seem to go crazy every couple of decades and swarm on the city. Turns out the culprit is toxic plankton due to pollution, which causes seizures and disorientation in the birds. So, it really IS the environment strikes back!
46. Outbreak (1995)
R | 127 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Army doctors struggle to find a cure for a deadly virus spreading throughout a California town that was brought to America by an African monkey.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey
Votes: 137,813 | Gross: $67.82M
No real monsters here unless you count a very sick little monkey, but an outbreak of contagious disease has the earmarks of both zombie apocalypse and old-world vampirism.
47. Frankenstein (1910)
Unrated | 16 min | Short, Fantasy, Horror
The first filmed version of Frankenstein. The young doctor discovers the secret of life, which he uses to create a perfect human. Things do not go according to plan.
Director: J. Searle Dawley | Stars: Mary Fuller, Charles Ogle, Augustus Phillips
Votes: 4,742
Silent. Frankenstein before even the basic make-up effects of the 1931 classic. It does have a fairly neat little special effects scene where they burn a skeleton/doll then play it backwards to make it look like the monster is being created by the fire (rather than destroyed). The best thing about this short is to remind us of how far advanced the 1931 film was.
48. Alien (1979)
R | 117 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 951,365 | Gross: $78.90M
This movie can be viewed as a love story between Sigourney Weaver's character and the alien, or a parable about rape, or fears that we are opening a Pandora's Box by going into outer space.
49. Aliens (1986)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Decades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser
Votes: 763,396 | Gross: $85.16M
Sequel to the 1979 Alien; not quite as much sociology but decent movie. Has more of a Western feel to it - they have to go rescue the colony (read: frontier), and much shooting occurs.
50. Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)
PG | 94 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A woman transformed into a giant after she is struck by a meteorite on her wedding day becomes part of a team of monsters sent in by the U.S. government to defeat an alien mastermind trying to take over Earth.
Directors: Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon | Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Rainn Wilson, Stephen Colbert, Seth Rogen
Votes: 176,115 | Gross: $198.35M
Kids flick, the "monsters" are spins on classic monsters: Attack of the Fifty-Foot Woman, The Blob, The Fly, etc.
Oh yeah, and they fight aliens.
Plus, a good dose of mistrust in the government.
51. I, Robot (2004)
PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
In 2035, a technophobic cop investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot, which leads to a larger threat to humanity.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, Alan Tudyk
Votes: 575,643 | Gross: $144.80M
Robots as Frankensteins
52. I Am Legend (2007)
PG-13 | 101 min | Action, Drama, Horror
Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure.
Director: Francis Lawrence | Stars: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson-Whitfield
Votes: 814,565 | Gross: $256.39M
Vampires/zombies classic story updated for a modern audience.
53. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
G | 92 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
An alien lands in Washington, D.C. and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe
Votes: 85,785
The prototype of the good aliens, though he's still scary - he basically tells us to stop playing with nuclear power or our celestial neighbors will stop us (i.e., destroy the planet).
54. Black Sunday (1960)
Approved | 87 min | Horror
A vengeful witch and her fiendish servant return from the grave and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of the witch's beautiful look-alike descendant.
Director: Mario Bava | Stars: Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Andrea Checchi, Ivo Garrani
Votes: 17,608
55. The Brood (1979)
R | 92 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, amidst a series of brutal murders.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, Art Hindle, Henry Beckman
Votes: 34,330
56. Witchfinder General (1968)
Unrated | 86 min | Drama, Horror
A young soldier seeks to put an end to the evils caused by a vicious witch-hunter when the latter terrorizes his fiancée and kills her uncle.
Director: Michael Reeves | Stars: Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Rupert Davies, Patrick Wymark
Votes: 12,225
57. Cloverfield (2008)
PG-13 | 85 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A group of friends venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack.
Director: Matt Reeves | Stars: Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Caplan, T.J. Miller
Votes: 420,832 | Gross: $80.05M
58. Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)
Passed | 76 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
Two bumbling American cops hunt for the mysterious Mr. Hyde in London, England.
Director: Charles Lamont | Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Boris Karloff, Craig Stevens
Votes: 5,001 | Gross: $2.62M
Sometimes, after watching all these scary movies, it is good to take a break with the heir-apparent sequel to Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).
59. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Not Rated | 83 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
The Wolf Man tries to warn a dimwitted porter that Dracula wants his brain for Frankenstein monster's body.
Directors: Charles Barton, Walter Lantz | Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi
Votes: 19,573 | Gross: $4.80M
The first monster comedy, and part of the reason why we don't think the old Universal monsters are terribly scary anymore. Still, a sweet little classic with most of our monsters in attendance.
60. Eight Legged Freaks (2002)
PG-13 | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Venomous spiders get exposed to a noxious chemical that causes them to grow to monumental proportions.
Director: Ellory Elkayem | Stars: David Arquette, Kari Wuhrer, Scott Terra, Scarlett Johansson
Votes: 60,238 | Gross: $17.32M
I haven't seen it, but I understand this to be a "fun" movie about spiders (read: science or Mother Nature) running amok.
61. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
R | 118 min | Drama, Fantasy, War
In the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú
Votes: 703,218 | Gross: $37.63M
This is a foreign monster movie that does not include any of our monsters, but it is a great example of the importance of stories to our lives, and especially to people in difficult social situations. It helps if you have a little knowledge of the Francoist period (after the Spanish Civil War) in Spain, but that isn't necessary to enjoy it.
62. The Mist (2007)
R | 126 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A freak storm unleashes a species of bloodthirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher
Votes: 340,602 | Gross: $25.59M
63. Diabolique (1955)
Not Rated | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
The wife and mistress of a loathed school principal plan to murder him with what they believe is the perfect alibi.
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot | Stars: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse, Charles Vanel
Votes: 69,416 | Gross: $1.09M
Is it a zombie film? You choose.
64. Eyes Without a Face (1960)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Horror
A surgeon causes an accident which leaves his daughter disfigured and goes to extreme lengths to give her a new face.
Director: Georges Franju | Stars: Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli, Juliette Mayniel, Alexandre Rignault
Votes: 35,164 | Gross: $0.05M
Frankenstein with subtlety.
65. The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Approved | 81 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
After Scott Carey begins to shrink because of exposure to a combination of radiation and insecticide, medical science is powerless to help him.
Director: Jack Arnold | Stars: Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, April Kent, Paul Langton
Votes: 19,976
Science gone awry--man turned into "creature," sort of. Plus, this came out only a year before Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. Coincidence?
66. Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
Passed | 66 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
When an abused socialite grows to giant size because of an alien encounter and an aborted murder attempt, she goes after her cheating husband with revenge on her mind.
Director: Nathan Juran | Stars: Allison Hayes, William Hudson, Yvette Vickers, Roy Gordon
Votes: 6,267 | Gross: $0.48M
Aliens. Came out during early rumblings of the modern feminist movement. (Also see The Incredible Shrinking Man.)
67. Donovan's Brain (1953)
Approved | 84 min | Sci-Fi, Horror
Three scientists unlawfully remove the still living brain of a dead tycoon and experiment with it but the evil brain begins to telepathically control the lead scientist.
Director: Felix E. Feist | Stars: Lew Ayres, Gene Evans, Nancy Reagan, Steve Brodie
Votes: 1,721
Shades of Frankenstein. Remake of The Lady and the Monster (1944).
68. The Lady and the Monster (1944)
Approved | 86 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A millionaire's brain is preserved after his death, and telepathically begins to take control of those around him.
Director: George Sherman | Stars: Vera Ralston, Erich von Stroheim, Richard Arlen, Helen Vinson
Votes: 442
Scientific creations gone awry at a time when advances in medicine seemed endless.
69. The Fog (1980)
R | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
An unearthly fog rolls into a small coastal town exactly 100 years after a ship mysteriously sank in its waters.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, John Houseman
Votes: 83,039 | Gross: $21.38M
70. Salem's Lot (1979)
PG | 100 min | Horror
A novelist and a young horror fan attempt to save a small New England town which has been invaded by vampires.
Stars: David Soul, James Mason, Lance Kerwin, Bonnie Bedelia
Votes: 27,493
Vampires.
71. Young Frankenstein (1974)
PG | 106 min | Comedy
An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle
Votes: 168,935 | Gross: $86.30M
I love Mel Brooks, but never cottoned to this movie. However, lots of people love the silly send-up of the classic monster movie.
72. The Brain Eaters (1958)
Approved | 61 min | Sci-Fi, Horror
The inhabitants of a small Illinois town begin disappearing after a strange cone is found sticking out of the ground nearby.
Director: Bruno VeSota | Stars: Ed Nelson, Alan Jay Factor, Cornelius Keefe, Joanna Lee
Votes: 1,804
Supposedly this is a terrible movie. I don't really think you should watch it - it's just on here so you know of it. (So you know to avoid it.)
73. Diabolique (1996)
R | 107 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
The wife and mistress of the sadistic dean of an exclusive prep school conspire to murder him.
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik | Stars: Sharon Stone, Isabelle Adjani, Chazz Palminteri, Kathy Bates
Votes: 15,380 | Gross: $17.10M
Remake of the 1955 classic. I must admit that--as a child of my times--I actually like this one better than the original. This confession probably doesn't win me "movie snob" points, but, oh well.
74. The Stepford Wives (1975)
PG | 115 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Joanna Eberhart has come to the quaint little town of Stepford, Connecticut with her family, but soon discovers there lies a sinister truth in the all too perfect behavior of the female residents.
Director: Bryan Forbes | Stars: Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Peter Masterson, Nanette Newman
Votes: 19,580 | Gross: $8.72M
Feminism and Frankenstein.
75. Freaks (1932)
Not Rated | 64 min | Drama, Horror
A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.
Director: Tod Browning | Stars: Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, Roscoe Ates
Votes: 50,626 | Gross: $0.63M
This was meant to be a horror film, but flopped spectacularly. It features famous last-generation freak-show performers. Turns out, people didn't like their horror movies to be real. It was just uncomfortable to watch.
76. I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)
Approved | 76 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A hypnotherapist uses a temperamental teenager as a guinea pig for a serum which transforms him into a vicious werewolf.
Director: Gene Fowler Jr. | Stars: Michael Landon, Yvonne Lime, Whit Bissell, Charles Willcox
Votes: 2,863 | Gross: $2.00M
What adolescent hasn't felt like their body was changing into a hairy, hormone-laden monster?
77. Teen Wolf (1985)
PG | 91 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
An ordinary high school student discovers that his family has an unusual pedigree.
Director: Rod Daniel | Stars: Michael J. Fox, James Hampton, Susan Ursitti, Jerry Levine
Votes: 59,701 | Gross: $33.09M
A retelling of the adolescent as werewolf story
78. Teen Wolf (2011–2017)
TV-14 | 41 min | Action, Drama, Fantasy
An average high school student and his best friend get caught up in some trouble causing him to receive a werewolf bite. As a result they find themselves in the middle of all sorts of dramas in Beacon Hills.
Stars: Tyler Posey, Holland Roden, Dylan O'Brien, Linden Ashby
Votes: 163,322
Haven't seen it, but it was about time we saw another "adolescents as werewolf" show.
79. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
R | 83 min | Horror
Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.
Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain
Votes: 183,740 | Gross: $30.86M
80. Dracula (1979)
R | 109 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
In 1913, the charming, seductive and sinister vampire Count Dracula travels to England in search of an immortal bride.
Director: John Badham | Stars: Frank Langella, Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasence, Kate Nelligan
Votes: 11,114 | Gross: $20.16M
Even though we can trace the sexy Dracula all the way back to Bela Lugosi, this could be seen as the movie where there was no going back. Vampires past 1979 were going to have to be sexy to be popular.
81. Dark Shadows (1966–1971)
TV-PG | 30 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
The rich Collins family of Collinsport, Maine is tormented by strange occurrences.
Stars: Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Alexandra Isles, Nancy Barrett
Votes: 5,430
Began as a soap opera (even played during the afternoons) with a Gothic twist, then got more and more bizarre. People who didn't even watch the afternoon melodramas got swept up into the stories.
Barnabas Collins is the first vampire who is not terribly happy about being a vampire, and maintains enough of his humanity to be distressed about feeding on humans. Anne Rice later developed this more fully in her character, Louis.
82. Dark Shadows (2012)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
An imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins, is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green, Helena Bonham Carter
Votes: 280,548 | Gross: $79.73M
Okay movie meant to be campy. Vampires, werewolves, and more.
83. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Not Rated | 75 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Mary Shelley reveals the main characters of her novel survived: Baron Henry Frankenstein, goaded by an even madder scientist, builds his monster a mate.
Director: James Whale | Stars: Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson
Votes: 53,274 | Gross: $4.36M
Classic, also by James Whale. He had to make a sequel, so he decided the sequel would be campy and funny.
84. The Munsters (1964–1966)
TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
A family of friendly monsters have misadventures, never quite understanding why people react to them so strangely.
Stars: Fred Gwynne, Al Lewis, Yvonne De Carlo, Butch Patrick
Votes: 16,904
It’s so delightfully sociological how they worry about their “normal” daughter.
85. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
PG-13 | 112 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Bruce Banner, a scientist on the run from the U.S. Government, must find a cure for the monster he turns into whenever he loses his temper.
Director: Louis Leterrier | Stars: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt
Votes: 523,682 | Gross: $134.52M
Jekyll & Hyde, anyone?
86. Hulk (2003)
PG-13 | 138 min | Action, Sci-Fi
Bruce Banner, a genetics researcher with a tragic past, suffers an accident that causes him to transform into a raging green monster when he gets angry.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott, Josh Lucas
Votes: 278,638 | Gross: $132.18M
Modern re-boot of the modern Jekyll & Hyde with anger management issues.
87. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
In an alternate Victorian Age world, a group of famous contemporary fantasy, science fiction, and adventure characters team up on a secret mission.
Director: Stephen Norrington | Stars: Sean Connery, Stuart Townsend, Peta Wilson, Jason Flemyng
Votes: 184,000 | Gross: $66.47M
vampires, Jekyll & Hyde
88. King Kong (1933)
Passed | 100 min | Adventure, Horror
A film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.
Directors: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack | Stars: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher
Votes: 91,000 | Gross: $10.00M
Not one of our monsters, but a classic of film reflecting social tensions--in this case, the racial exploitation of African Americans.
89. Gods and Monsters (1998)
R | 105 min | Biography, Drama
The last days of Frankenstein (1931) director James Whale are explored.
Director: Bill Condon | Stars: Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich
Votes: 32,773 | Gross: $6.39M
Actually, this is an imagining of James Whale's final days, but could be watched as an interesting commentary on the Frankenstein films. Decades after directing the first two Frankenstein films, the famous director was suffering from dementia and living an openly homosexual life during a time when such a lifestyle was practically unheard of in public.
90.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988–1999)
Episode:
Beginning of the End
(1993)
Not Rated | 93 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
Swarms of giant grasshoppers are headed straight for Chicago in Beginning of the End (1957). Mike catches the Mads off guard, Crow presents his latest screenplay "Peter Graves Goes to the ... See full summary »
Director: Kevin Murphy | Stars: Trace Beaulieu, Michael J. Nelson, Jim Mallon, Kevin Murphy
Votes: 594
You are welcome to watch the original movie, but it is somewhat difficult for a modern viewer to enjoy. Science gone awry to the tune of giant bugs terrorizing (pictures of) the world.
91. Nosferatu (1922)
Not Rated | 94 min | Fantasy, Horror
Vampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife.
Director: F.W. Murnau | Stars: Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder
Votes: 105,478
Early depiction of Bram Stoker's Dracula. All the names are changed because Bram Stoker's widow refused to sell the rights.
92. Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
R | 92 min | Drama, Horror
The filming of Nosferatu (1922) is hampered by the fact that its star Max Schreck is taking the role of a vampire far more seriously than seems humanly possible.
Director: E. Elias Merhige | Stars: John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Udo Kier, Cary Elwes
Votes: 44,184 | Gross: $8.29M
This is an imagining of the filming of Nosferatu (1922); see it as imaginative commentary.
93. The Golem (1920)
Unrated | 91 min | Fantasy, Horror
In 16th-century Prague, a rabbi creates the Golem - a giant creature made of clay. Using sorcery, he brings the creature to life in order to protect the Jews of Prague from persecution.
Directors: Paul Wegener, Carl Boese | Stars: Paul Wegener, Albert Steinrück, Ernst Deutsch, Lyda Salmonova
Votes: 8,544
We will talk about Golems in class. They are the prototype for Frankenstein’s monster.
94. Metropolis (1927)
Not Rated | 153 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Votes: 185,593 | Gross: $1.24M
People either love this movie or hate it. I personally love it, but I will understand if you don’t want to give it a go. Two and a half hours of silent film is a lot for most people to sit through. It is wonderfully sociological and has phenomenal cinematography, though. What’s the monster? Ooh, I’m not going to give it away. I’ll give you a hint, though... Modernity.
95. The Brides of Dracula (1960)
Unrated | 85 min | Horror
Vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing returns to Transylvania to destroy handsome bloodsucker Baron Meinster, who has designs on a beautiful young schoolteacher.
Director: Terence Fisher | Stars: Peter Cushing, Martita Hunt, Yvonne Monlaur, Freda Jackson
Votes: 8,884
96. Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)
PG-13 | 73 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Mike Nelson and his robot companions watch and give their comments about This Island Earth (1955).
Director: Jim Mallon | Stars: Trace Beaulieu, Michael J. Nelson, Jim Mallon, Kevin Murphy
Votes: 18,916 | Gross: $1.01M
Shows This Island Earth (1955). Again, you can watch the original film instead, but it may be more enjoyable for the modern viewer to watch this version.
97. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (I) (1920)
Unrated | 69 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
Director: John S. Robertson | Stars: John Barrymore, Martha Mansfield, Brandon Hurst, Charles Lane
Votes: 6,047
silent, but beautiful sets.
98. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Passed | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Dr. Jekyll allows his dark side to run wild when he drinks a potion that turns him into the evil Mr. Hyde.
Director: Victor Fleming | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Donald Crisp
Votes: 9,874 | Gross: $3.92M
99. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Passed | 98 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Dr. Jekyll faces horrible consequences when he lets his dark side run wild with a potion that transforms him into the animalistic Mr. Hyde.
Director: Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart, Holmes Herbert
Votes: 15,813 | Gross: $2.79M
100. The Outer Limits (1963–1965)
TV-PG | 51 min | Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi
An anthology series of insightful science fiction tales.
Stars: Bob Johnson, Ben Wright, William Douglas, Robert Culp
Votes: 9,307
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