10 Great Monster Movies You May Have Missed

WhatCulture

Discover the top ten underrated creature features for you to enjoy.

Transcript

00:00Since the very earliest days of cinema, horror has featured prominently, and the genre has

00:05brought us some of the most unforgettable sights in motion picture history.

00:09The following list contains some of the most memorable movie monsters ever committed to

00:14celluloid.

00:15From beautifully strange reworkings of classic fairy tales to demon cats, rabbits and dinosaurs,

00:21there's something for everyone here, even fans of Elvis Presley.

00:25I'm Jess from World Culture and here are 10 great monster movies you may have missed.

00:2910.

00:30Koroneko

00:31Koroneko, or to give the film its full title, and I will do my best with this pronunciation,

00:36Yabu no Naka no Koroneko, A Black Cat in a Bamboo Grove, ranks among the best movies

00:43you may not have seen, in any genre.

00:45The film was directed by Kaneto Shindo, the multi-talented creative responsible for many

00:50classics of Japanese cinema, including Onibaba and Naked Island.

00:55Shot in black and white, Koroneko's setting is feudal Japan, and the monsters in this

01:00case are the deadly spirits of Yone and her daughter-in-law, Shige.

01:04Murdered by a troop of samurai, the two women return as vicious killers, seducing and then

01:09murdering unsuspecting samurai by tearing their throats out with their cat-like teeth.

01:15A splendid twist arises when a samurai named Gintoki is tasked with tracking down and destroying

01:20the vengeful spirits.

01:22The problem, as Gintoki soon discovers, is that Yone and Shige are none other than his

01:27deceased mother and wife.

01:309.

01:31Company of Wolves

01:32One of the greatest and certainly most stylish of werewolf films, Company of Wolves serves

01:37as both an allegory and a fine horror in its own right.

01:41In part a retelling or reimagining of the classic Little Red Riding Hood, the film stars

01:46a number of familiar faces, including Angela Lansbury, Stephen Reyer, and David Warner.

01:52There are several scenes here which will remain with you forever, not least of which is a

01:56wedding ceremony, the participants of which are transformed by a vengeful witch, the reappearance

02:02of a presumed dead husband, and an almost familiar trip to Grandma's house.

02:08Whatever the movie's underlying message, it remains a startlingly and highly enjoyable

02:12watch.

02:138.

02:14House

02:161977

02:17A cult classic for fans of Japanese horror, 1977's House features one of the most memorable

02:23and bizarre human-creature battles in cinematic history.

02:27It was directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi, a filmmaker who started out in TV advertising and swerved

02:34into experimental territory before making his mark in the mainstream movie world, enjoying

02:39an incredible 60-year career.

02:41House displays Obayashi's taste for bold weirdness.

02:45The protagonists, seven schoolgirls, of course, and indeed most of the cast, were amateur

02:50actors with little to no previous experience.

02:53The film's plot concerns an ill-advised trip by the girls to a country house belonging

02:58to an aunt.

02:59Said house, of course, turns out to be haunted.

03:03The monster in this fantastic entry is none other than the house itself, which proceeds

03:08to murder the girls in various outlandish ways.

03:12The British Film Institute aptly describes House as,

03:14a head-on collision between the evil dead and yellow submarine.

03:187.

03:19Baba Hotep

03:20Baba Hotep stars horror legend Bruce Campbell as Elvis Presley.

03:25Now confined to a nursing home, Elvis befriends fellow inmate Jack.

03:29Presley confides in Jack that back in the 70s, he swapped places with a double in order

03:34to free himself from the confines of the showbiz life.

03:38Jack in turn confesses to being John F. Kennedy, explaining that he was not killed in 63.

03:44He survived, was patched up, died black and abandoned.

03:48With that sort of setup, the fact that a mummy is stalking the nursing home seems like the

03:52most believable aspect of this fantastic film.

03:566.

03:57Werewolves Within

03:58A fantastic modern entry on this list, 2021's Werewolves Within largely slid under the radar,

04:04which is a crying shame as this is a gem well deserving of a much larger audience.

04:09Taking inspiration from the Ubisoft game of the same name, Werewolves Within stars the

04:14likable Sam Richardson as Finn Wheeler, a forest ranger newly assigned to cover the

04:19small town of Beaverfield.

04:21Finn soon befriends male courier Cecily Moore and discovers that the town is bitterly divided

04:26over plans for a proposed oil pipeline.

04:29To make matters worse, a mysterious creature has begun terrorizing the inhabitants and

04:34when a vicious snowstorm traps many of the residents inside a local inn, Finn and Cecily

04:39have to balance egos and tempers in order to survive and discover the truth.

04:455.

04:46Cat People, 1942 Rightfully regarded as a classic of the black

04:51and white era, RKO's Cat People is a stylish and inventive take on the monster movie.

04:56The plot centers on Irina Debrovna, whose recent marriage to Oliver Reed, not the actor,

05:01is beset by a peculiar trouble.

05:04Irina believes she is descended from an ancient tribe of cat people and that, if stirred to

05:10passion, she will transform into a half-woman, half-cat beast.

05:15Much has been made of Cat People's subtext concerning the dangerous lusts of women, ingrained

05:21patterns of misogyny and hypocrisy, but if you wish, you can easily put all that aside

05:26and simply enjoy this well-made and surprisingly original Sunday afternoon movie.

05:314.

05:32Night of the Lepus Fitting comfortably into the so-bad-it's-good

05:37category, 1972's Night of the Lepus features an unlikely adversary in the form of a rampaging

05:44horde of monstrous mutant killer rabbits.

05:48The film is based on a book, The Year of the Angry Rabbit, by Australian author Russell

05:53Braden.

05:54Braden claims that the novel was envisioned as a joke and took about four weeks to complete.

05:59Night of the Lepus, however, misses all this by a country mile thanks to a woeful script,

06:04poor acting and most damningly, laughably bad special effects.

06:09Director William F. Claxton, a native Australian and former Japanese prisoner of war, also

06:14helmed episodes of The Twilight Zone, Bonanza, The High Chapel, as well as 80s phenomenon

06:21fame.

06:22You can assume he had an off day, or days here, as Night of the Lepus soundly misses

06:27the mark on every single front.

06:293.

06:30Valley of Gwangi

06:31Ahead of its time in the genre-mashing stakes, 1969's Valley of Gwangi uniquely pits Wild

06:38West cowboys against living dinosaurs in a New Mexico canyon.

06:43Intriguingly, the film was based on an abandoned project by Wills O'Brien, the creator of

06:48the original King Kong, who sadly passed away before he could bring this idea to life.

06:53Though it never quite lives up to its A-list potential, the film has plenty to offer, not

06:58least the novel plot, which concerns the supposed existence of a herd of tiny prehistoric horses.

07:04The owner of a struggling Wild West show teams up with her former lover and a British paleontologist,

07:10hoping to track down and capture these beasts in order to boost flagging ticket sales.

07:15An all-star cast take the roles of the protagonist, but the real stars, of course, are the dinosaurs,

07:22which are wonderfully brought to life by legendary animator Ray Harryhausen.

07:272.

07:28The Mummy – 1932

07:30Boris Karloff is the main star, a legendary horror actor whose resume includes such classics

07:36as Frankenstein, The Mask of Fu Manchu, and The Ghoul, all of which are well worth seeking

07:42out.

07:43Based on the real-life discovery and opening of Tutankhamen's tomb ten years earlier,

07:48the plot concerns an archaeological expedition led by Joseph Wemple and Dr. Muller.

07:53The team pays the price for its inquisitiveness, of course, and unwittingly unleashes ancient

07:59Egyptian high priest Imhotep onto the world.

08:02Lost loves, hidden tombs, curses, and magic spells all play a part in this delightful

08:07movie directed by Karl Freund, who also worked on both the science fiction classic Metropolis

08:13and the much-loved sitcom I Love Lucy.

08:161.

08:17Invasion of the Body Snatchers

08:19A magnificent two-for-one entry here, as we're recommending both the original 1956 version

08:25and its equally excellent 1978 remake.

08:29Both adaptations of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers are closely based on the classic

08:33book of the same name, by American author Jack Finney.

08:37The chilling premise behind Body Snatchers is that folks are slowly becoming convinced

08:42that their nearest and dearest have been replaced by doppelgangers, almost perfect replicas

08:47whose behavior is somehow off.

08:49Doctors initially assumed that this is some kind of mass mania caused by stress.

08:54In reality, sinister aliens are slowly taking over the Earth, killing us off one by one

09:00and taking the place of their victims.

09:03That's the end of our list, but let me know down in the comment section if you can think

09:07of any other great monster movies you reckon most people probably missed.

09:12As always, I've been Jess from WhatCulture, thank you so much for hanging out with me.

09:16If you like it, you can come say hi to me on my Twitter account, where I'm at jessmcdonald,

09:20but make sure you stay tuned to us here for plenty more great horror lists.

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