The Top 10 Best Giant Movie Monsters

5. Gwoemul- The Host

If you think Japan is the only Asian country with some awesome giant movie monsters, then you obviously haven’t seen The Host. A Korean horror movie that has a pretty typical premise for these kinds of things, namely that pollution will really mess up the local wildlife. What makes Gwoemul so different though is just how monstrous it is. This bad boy has segmented teeth, whip-like tails, and is fast as hell. It might not be as be as big as some of the other creatures on this list, but it quickly establishes its place at the top of the food chain once it makes its appearance. If you’re a fan of this monster, then you’ll be excited to know that rumors of a sequel being in production have surfaced around the net. Here’s hoping we get another great Korean giant monster movie.

4. Clover- Cloverfield

One of the greatest found footage movies also happens to be one of the greatest giant monster movies. J.J. Abrams kicked off his Cloverfield trilogy years ago (and then frantically finished it in just over a year recently) with a film that was more of a natural disaster movie than a kaiju flick. Clover doesn’t appear on screen too much during the film, but the damage this beast does is everywhere. Not only that, but the beast starts laying eggs with disastrous consequences. Clover holds a place in my heart because the movie was from the point of view of those little people you see running in terror in most giant monster movies. You never get a really good look at Clover, but what you do see is horrifying.

3. Slattern- Pacific Rim

No one does monsters better than Guillermo del Toro, so it goes without question that Pacific Rim would be making an appearance on a giant monster movies list. Throughout Pacific Rim, there were a lot of amazing Kaiju that made appearances. If I have to choose one though, I’m going to have to go with Slattern. He was the big boy that appeared at the very end of the movie. The first Category V kaiju that the Pan Pacific Defense Force ever came in contact with. He was a beast that tore apart every mecha that came at him, and it was only by the skin of their teeth that the pilots were able to defeat this monster. What really freaked me out about Slattern is the fact that he appeared deep in the ocean. Who knows if the real deal could be lurking down there right now.

2. King Kong

King Kong was one of the first giant monsters to appear on the big screen. Sure, he was a goofy-looking claymation ape, but that doesn’t make his contribution to giant movie monsters any less significant. Since the new millennium, there have been two attempts to bring Kong back to movies. The first was Peter Jackson’s god-awful remake, while the second was a much more tolerable new take on Kong as a protector of the monster island. When it comes to giant movie monsters, there are usually two camps. Those that think Kong is king and those who say there’s no way he could beat the monster coming in at number one on this list. Kong might be a beast, but there’s no way he could lick this next guy.

1. Godzilla

Was there any doubt that the King of the Monsters would in at number one on a giant movies monsters list? He’s an icon that has served as the face of kaiju and giant monsters since he first appeared in 1954. Since then, he’s thrown down with most monsters than this list could hold and has maintained his heavyweight title. Of course, there was that little remake fiasco in 1998 with Matthew Broderick, but every monster makes mistakes. More recently he got Americanized again in the 2014 film by Gareth Edwards and this time he got some justice. So much so that we’re in store for a whole new franchise. Godzilla earned his title of King of the Monsters a long time ago and since then nothing has come close to dethroning him, not even that poser Kong.

Honorable Mention: The 50 Foot Woman

There have been a lot of versions of these cheesy sci-fi giantess flicks, and probably just as many ways to interpret them. There’s the woke approach to these “classic” movies and say that she represents a patriarchal society’s subconscious fear of being crushed by any woman with power. Then there’s the misogynistic approach and say that “dizzy dames are dangerous when they get too big for their britches.” There’s also the taboo approach and say… Well, I’m not going down that path, but there are plenty of very active forums out there run by, let’s call them, devoted fans of these films. For the sake of this list, I’ll take a classicist approach and say that these giant monster movies are a modern retelling of a universal theme seen in mythology. That’s why I’m giving a shout-out to an incel’s worst nightmare.

Shout-Out: The Gang from Destroy All Monsters 

For those of you concerned I didn’t include your favorite giant movie monsters from the horde that have emerged from Japan over the years, I’m giving a shout-out to the entire “cast” of Destroy All Monsters. There have been a lot of ambitious cinematic crossover events recently, but none of them feature a collection of stars of this scale doing battle. The film features the likes of Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Anguirus, Minilla, and more throwing down in an epic no-holds-barred heavyweight battle royale. Why? Who cares why!?! No one ever watched these flicks for the storylines, they watched them because giant movie monsters fighting is just about the most popcorn thing you could ever want in a movie. So here’s to the greats (and not-so-greats) of yesteryear.  

There you have it the biggest and meanest creatures from giant monster movies to grace the silver screen. There have been a ton of them over the years though and I’m sure plenty of lesser-known beasts have made appearances in import movies from Japan. So, be sure to let me know who your favorite giant monster is in the comments!