Last week, on part 1 of this special feature, I presented my favorite monster movies that had at least a bit of a realistic feel to it. For those of you that might have missed this post, you can find it here. Now though, all hell breaks loose, as I am now going to feature the terrible creatures that are not of this world. And some of these are so incredible frightening, that at times you wonder what on Earth must have gone through the mind of the person that thought these things up in the first place. Anyways, sit back, grab a cold drink, and prepare to scream.

1. The Thing (1982)

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I sure have a headache today, I really wonder why?

John Carpenter’s remake of the 1951 classic movie The Thing from another world, is one of the best monster movies ever made. In The Thing members of a research facility in Antarctica are under attack by a creature that can take on the same shape as anything it touches. As nobody is able to trust one another, paranoia soon grows rampant. The creature effects in this movie are stunning and absolutely disgusting. Even to this day, they are very impressive to say the least. But the true strength in this film, lies in the concept itself. With literally anyone who could be the monster, who can you trust? Great stuff, and in my opinion this is an absolute must see movie.

2. Tremors (1990)

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Did anyone order fried snakes?

This movie has fun written all over it. Starring a young Kevin Bacon, a small town is threatened by a group of gigantic worms that live under ground and are attracted by noise. This movie has a lot of funny and scary scenes at the same time, and with great creature effects, this is just another highly enjoyable movie. This film has spawned four sequels and even a tv series. Supposedly a second tv series is currently under development, with Kevin Bacon reprising his role. The original movie is still the best though, and after 27 years it has withstood the test of time very well.

3. The Relic (1997)

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I really wonder what his dentist has to say about his teeth.

This is a pretty underrated movie, that might not even be known to a lot of people. Based on the novel of the same name, the Relic tells the story of a frightening creature that has unknowingly been transported to the basement of a Chicago museum. When people start to die, a homicide detective joins forces with a anthropologist to find out the truth. I honestly have to admit that the novel was better than the movie, but still this is a very enjoyable monster romp. The creature itself, designed by legend Stan Winston is amazing, and the dark atmosphere and unique setting ensure that you will definitely be entertained throughout this movie.

4. The Host (2006)

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The things you find in the river these days.

The Korean movie The Host, is one of the more unusual monstermovies on this list. In Seoul’s Han river a truly repulsive monster resides, that suddenly emerges and begins to attack people on the shore. A father fights to protect his family from the creature at all cost. Usually, in a film such as this, we get to see the monster later on in the film. But here the creature is shown right from the start and in full daylight. With a story that is part comedy, part horrormovie, and also part drama this really is a very unique monster film, and one that I was highly impressed by.

5. Cloverfield (2008)

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Hey…no need to run away, he really doesn’t bite, trust me.

Cloverfield was steeped in secrecy before it was released. Nobody quite knew what to expect from this film, as the trailers showed very little of what was going on. This was a movie in the found footage category. A group of friends in New York get caught up right in the middle of what at first is presumed to be a natural disaster. However it turns out that a gigantic monster has invaded the Big Apple and is on a rampage. We get a lot of shaky cam shots, that actually made people ill while watching it in theatres. I had no such problems however, and found it to be a fantastic experience with a very well designed creature.

6. Virus (1999)

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Hey, who are you calling ugly?

Virus tells the tale of the crew of the salvage ship “Sea Star”, that during a storm comes across a Russian vessel seemingly abandoned at sea. However it soon becomes clear that a terrible evil has invaded the ship. This movie features some great actors including Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Sutherland. But the real stars for this film are the very well designed robotic/organic creatures. This is a highly underrated gem of a movie, with some terrific performances by the cast, and a truly frightening atmosphere. This is one of those films where you wonder why it received so many negative reviews at the time.

7. Aliens (1986)

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Why the hell do they make these ceilings so low?

I have featured this movie a couple of times on my blog, on all kinds of different posts. But if I were to leave this one out of this list, I would really be doing something wrong. Yes the original alien movie was great, but this sequel was superior in every way. When a group of marines travel to the newly established colony on planet LV 426, they encounter a breed of deadly alien xenomorphs. Together with Ripley, the sole survivor of the spaceship Nostromo, and who has encountered the creatures before, they must find a way off planet before it’s too late. I have seen this movie too many times that I can count, and I am honestly still in awe of the incredible creature effects that are featured in this film. This movie is just simply put an alltime classic.

8. The Descent (2005)

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A candle light dinner sure isn’t what it used to be.

The small British horrormovie the Descent is a truly frightening and claustrophobic experience. A group of girls travel down into an unexplored cavesystem, but encounter a horrifying breed of creatures. A struggle for survival begins, but with the way back pretty much cut off, their chances of getting out alive are slim. This movie is definitely the most terrifying one of this list, and that is in part because of the truly tense atmosphere that this movie has. Even though this film had a pretty low budget, it does not show that in the least. If you like to be truly scared this movie is definitely for you.

Final thoughts

And that as they say, is that. Now is this list complete, and does it feature all of my favorite creature feature movies? I would have to answer that one with a big and resounding no. Predator, King Kong, Godzilla to name but a few, are also favorites of mine. But as this post is already pretty long, I have decided to stick with the 8 movies that are featured on this post. Maybe in the future I will do another one of these, as I really had some fun writing this.

But these are my favorites, and as always I am looking forward to the “out of this world monster films” that you like the most. Are any of them featured above? Are there any others you like? Let me know in the comments section below. Thank you for reading this one, and I will see you all at the next post!

 

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