There is never a shortage of thrills in monster movies. Such movies usually revolve around giant creatures that terrorize humans. On rare occasions, the creatures even manage to save the day. The majority of monster flicks normally fall into the horror, science fiction, thriller, and fantasy genres.
The monsters tend to be animals that have undergone genetic mutations, extraterrestrial beings, supernatural creatures, giant humans, or popular creatures from folklore such as Kong. While marketing these movies, posters play an essential role in getting viewers interested. Here is a ranking of some of the best monster movie posters ever made.
Lake Placid Vs. Anaconda (2015)
There have been numerousMost of them are forgettable B-movies, but Lake Placid Vs. Anaconda -- the Infinity War of the direct-to-video market -- is among the best. There's a lot going on in the poster. The anaconda and the giant crocodile are battling, yet the snake still finds time to swallow a woman. Clearly, humans are the losers in all of this.
In this schlocky crossover, two scientists try to create a crossbreed between an anaconda and a crocodile that has been captured. However, the crocodile escapes and frees a couple of other captured animals in the process. When the animals get to the lake, things take a very interesting turn.
Tremors (1990)
Paradoxically, Tremors' title tells you the plot is about earthquakes but the poster tells you there is a monster (or several of them) beneath the ground that's causing it. It's this strange mix of elements that helps drum up interest upon first glance.
Here, two repairmen in the town of Perfection, Nevada get bored with their lives and decide to skip town. They soon encounter mysterious dead bodies caused by tremors. A seismologist figures the readings are not normal and concludes that something is causing the tremors and deaths. Turns out she is right. Tremors was well received by critics, holding a strong 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. It spawned an ongoing franchise but the original remains the best of the bunch.
Q (1982)
The creature here looks like a snake and a dragon rolled into one. It also happens to be holding a woman while flying on top of buildings. The moon on the background also gives the poster a very classy look.
Q -- alternatively known as Q - The Winged Serpent -- is about a dragon-like, female lizard named Quetzalcoatl, a winged that decides to live in the art-deco spire of the Chrysler Building in Manhattan, New York. It starts killing ordinary citizens and eating them, forcing the police to get involved. But will they really be able to deal with it? The movie is viewed today as one of the most iconic B-grade monster romps ever made, and the poster does this campy gem justice.
Rampage (2018)
Based on the arcade game of the same name, one of Dwayne Johnson's best movies and the poster quickly tells you his character has a lot of big things to deal with. There's what looks like a giant wolf, a giant ape that reminds one of Kong and finally, a giant not-so-familiar species. There is plenty of wreckage on the ground too but the hero seems to be walking confidentially. It's Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson after all.
In the movie, Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson) is a primatologist who finds himself teaming up with an albino gorilla named George who transforms into a giant, vicious creature due to a rogue experiment. Davis and George do their best to stop two other giant, mutated animals from destroying the city.
Attack Of The 50-Foot Woman (1958)
A giant woman towering above a highway while holding a car in her hand is guaranteed to get any viewer interested. Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman is one of the most classic B-movies ever made that's about, well, a giant woman. The movie was well-received and currently has a score of 75% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The plot revolves around a wealthy heiress who encounters an alien and gets infected with a "growing syndrome." She thus transforms into a giantess and begins causing havoc in the city. HBO remade the film in 1993 but it wasn't as well-received as the original.
The Thing (1982)
John Carpenter has many masterpieces and this 1982 horror sci-fi remake of The Thing From Another World (1951) happens to be among them. The poster for The Thing shows a humanoid figure whose face appears to be emitting light. What could it be? Is it still human? More importantly, who is this person?
Based on the 1938 John W. Campbell Jr. novella Who Goes There?, the plot revolves around American researchers who head to Antarctica a parasitic extraterrestrial creature that assimilates other living beings. They soon begin doubting each other since any of them could have been assimilated already.
Godzilla (1998)
Size does matter? Quite the phrase. That alone makes the titled incredible. There is also the fact that only the giant foot is shown. Momentarily ignoring how divorced it is from its Japanese source material, this Godzilla remains one of the best movies ever made about the tower-destroying monster. There are cars below, choppers above, and people running for their lives.
The plot? A huge, reptilian monster surfaces in New York City, destroying everything in its path. There is even more trouble coming because apparently, the creature has babies. With the police not knowing what to do, an earthworm scientist and his reporter ex-girlfriend do their best to save the city.
The Host (2006)
The beauty of the poster is that only a small part of the monster is revealed. One cant help but wonder whether that's the creature's tail, or it's simply a giant snake. The poster also draws concern about the girl's fate, and this (coincidentally) is the driving force of the film.
This South Korena monster film was helmed by Parasite director Bong Joon-ho. In it, an American military pathologist instructs his Korean assistant to dump liters of formaldehyde into the Han River. Soon, strange amphibious creatures begin emerging, including one that's a host to a deadly virus.
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Kong: Skull Island is arguably the most entertaining monster movie to come out in the last five years. It also has a stellar cast that includes Samuel L. Jackson and Tom Hiddleston. The poster draws a lot of curiosity: Why are soldiers marching in the water? Why are there helicopters in the sky? What's that creature on the horizon? The visual callbacks to classic Vietnam War movies like Apocalypse Now also make this poster stand out even more.
Set in 1973, Kong: Skull Island follows a team of scientists and Vietnam War veterans goes on a mission to the uncharted Skull Island to find out what really goes on there. They begin bombing the area to see what comes out and shortly after, a huge ape-like creature shows up and begins fighting them. It later turns out that the ape-like creature is the protector of the island and there are real enemies within.
Swamp Thing (1982)
This poster is simply too beautiful. There are trees, there are the creepy, leaf-less branches and there's a monster walking on water while holding a woman. What is it about to do to her? There are also additional pictures at the bottom, hinting at what the movie has in store. Based on the DC Comics of the same name, Swamp Thing revolves around the scientist Alec Holland (Ray Wise) who ends up getting transformed into a monster named Swamp Thing when an evil scientist named Anton Arcane sabotages a laboratory experiment.
ittedly Swamp Thing isn't exactly one of director Wes Craven's best works, but its poster is simply amazing. In 2019, a new adaptation was released and while this series was much better received despite an infamously sudden cancellation, its promotional material is nothing compared to this one.
