In a slight deviation from our usual fare, for this list I am simply highlighting my favorite monster movies. So, no first time watches, and I’m not sure how many of these are still free to stream (but I suspect most of them if you are good at exploring). Also there are 21 films in this list, in no particular order, because I’m feeling saucy.

Let’s go!

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Let’s get the histrionics out of the way. Yes, I’m choosing this over the 1933 original, but that’s not to say that I don’t love the Merian C. Cooper/Ernest B. Schoedsack/Willis O’Brien classic. For nostalgic reasons, that film will always hold a special place, but for sheer entertainment value, I’m choosing Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ love letter to the monster mashes of old.

As a continuation to Garth Edwards’ 2014 reboot of Godzilla, and all the Monarch shenanigans associated with that, Skull Island lays further groundwork for the soon to be expanded ‘MonsterVerse’, and remains my favorite of the bunch. The decision to wrap the story in a Heart of Darkness duvet was inspired, and the cast, led by Hiddleston, Larson, and Jackson, is solid. That said, for me the best moments come from the supporting cast; John C. Reilly’s crazed airman, Toby Kebbell’s doomed G.I., and the ever-reliable Shea Whigham’s Earl Cole, the staunchly unflappable, slightly unhinged, captain of the Sky Devils.

As for the ape himself, I love that Kong is still a youngster in this, not fully grown, but already adopting his ‘get off my lawn’ persona. The ghastly flora and fauna on this island feature some unique designs, the highlight being the ‘bamboo spider,’ and even though the big bads, the skull crawlers, didn’t really butter my toast design-wise, the set pieces featuring them rampaging through hapless soldiers are inspired.

Finally, a huge shout-out to Vogt-Roberts and cinematographer Larry Fong for making this the best-looking film of the MonsterVerse to date. The colour palette and lighting are stunning in this, and Vogt-Roberts’ love for video games comes through in the digital landscape extensions (look for the mountain from Journey). Somebody give this man his Metal Gear Solid movie.

10/10

The Valley of Gwangi (Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, September 3, 1969)
and Godzilla Minus One (Netflix, October 4, 2019)

The Valley of Gwangi (1969)

The first Harryhausen joint on this list, and certainly not the last, this daft ‘cowboys vs dinosaurs’ film is a blast from start to finish, and has left several key images seared on my brain from an early age.

Although part of a relatively sparse sub-genre, Gwangi wasn’t the first dino flick to feature cowboys, as thirteen years earlier a Mexican production, The Beast of Hollow Mountain, had already pitted a rancher against a cattle-rustling T-rex. However, Gwangi is the more favourably remembered film, due in no small part to Harryhausen’s immaculate stop-motion beasties. From the tiny Eohippus, to a full-on Allosaurus vs elephant smack-down, the creature effects are terrific fun, and the scene of a gang of cowboys attempting to rope and contain Gwangi itself is rightly revered.

The plot is all over the place, bringing in Romani curses and a child-in-peril trope, but it all plays out at a great pace, and left me craving more, more, MORE.

8/10

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

If you are one of the half-dozen people who haven’t seen this film yet, let me give you some reasons to rectify that.

1. Do you like Godzilla movies?

Watch it.

2. Do you like films about the human spirit?

Watch it.

3. Do you like films about found families and the love they share?

Watch it.

4. Do you like WWII films about the inhumanity of war, dealing with PTSD, and survivor guilt?

Watch it.

5. Do you enjoy stunning cinematography and extraordinary sound design?

Watch it.

6. Do you like scores that not only evoke a 70-yr-old theme that sends shivers down your spine, but also a contemporary score that is non-invasive and yet ratchets the tension up to 11?

Watch it.

7. Are you a big fan of Freon?

Watch it, you weirdo.

I saw it upon release, then in IMAX, then in the black and white re-release, then several times on the telly. It’s safe to say it has joined my pantheon of comfort movies, and I can’t wait to see what Takashi Yamazaki does with the big fella next.

10/10

Anaconda (Sony Pictures Releasing, April 11, 1997) and Cloverfield (Paramount Pictures, January 18, 2008)

Anaconda (1997)

I’m rather delighted to see this muscly lump of Amazonian hokum receiving the kind of retroactive love normally reserved for ambrosia salad or excessive drinking. I loved it when it came out, loved it every time I caught it on TV, and loved it whenever I watched a Jon Voight film and remembered how Ebert once referred to him as ‘King Leer’ based on his performance in this film.

There is a plot of sorts; young J-Lo and her film crew are abducted by Voight’s nutty hunter and forced to help him hunt down a big ol’ snake. Cue coiling kerfuffles.

The cast is great. We have Owen Wilson, Ice Cube, Eric Stoltz, Kari Wuhrer, and Danny Trejo among others, and they are all having a great time reacting to a great practical snake that sometimes steps aside for a bit of early, but still fairly good, CG.

Director Luis Llosa knew exactly how to approach this B-movie, by embracing its cheesy DNA and keeping things light to ramp up the contrast when the snake attacks, swallows, and/or regurgitates. Glorious nonsense, sweaty, and fun. Can’t wait to see how the new Jack Black reboot totally drops the ball.

8/10

Cloverfield (2008)

If you know me (and you shouldn’t), you’ll know of my general disdain for found footage flicks. If the technique logically serves the story, then I don’t always have a problem with it (although it still doesn’t mean I enjoy the film), but if it is being utilized badly in an effort to stretch the limits of a low-budget horror, I usually check out as fast as possible (unless I’m torturing myself by doing one of these lists).

When I first saw Cloverfield, I disliked it. I wanted a conventional monster movie. Show me Clover, dammit! However, found footage was enjoying its boom years following the phenomenal success of Paranormal Activity the preceding year, and suddenly we were inundated with genre entries that refused to acknowledge the existence of tripods.

It was only upon a second viewing on the small screen that I really started to see what J.J. and Matt Reeves were up to, and a few subsequent viewings since then have cemented it as one of my favorites. The fact that the cast are on the whole excellent as they slowly realize what is happening and then react to it realistically certainly helps the film, and the initial glimpses of Clover are frustratingly efficient.

I’m still holding out for a true sequel to this film, rather than having Cloverfield tacked onto other scripts (see 10 Cloverfield Lane and The Cloverfield Paradox), but right now this all-American kaiju is holding its own against other international favorites.

8/10

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Legendary Pictures, May 31, 2019) and Razorback (Warner Bros., April 19, 1984)

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

With the emergence of Legendary’s MonsterVerse came a bunch of super fun Godzilla flicks; nothing too taxing for the ol’ noggin, and guaranteed to vibrate your pants in IMAX. Of the new films I’m picking KotM as my favorite so far, although that doesn’t mean I’m not a fan of the Kong-heavy tag-team movies (full transparency, it took me several watches to start to like the Garth Edwards one).

Anyhoo, I’m plumping for this slice of chonky hokum purely because of some glorious set-pieces (the thawing of Ghidora, the jets vs Rodan, Mothra being gorgeous) and the fact that Kyle Chandler gets to carry it, because I’ll always champion a Kyle Chandler starrer. We get decidedly more than the 16 or so minutes of the G-man we got in the previous outing, and the humans aren’t entirely intolerable.

I mean come on, Vera Farmiga and Charles Dance? Don’t threaten me with a good time. Also, I love Ken Watanabe’s scenes with a giant lizard in need of a jump-start. Loud, daft, frantic and fun.

8/10

Razorback (1984)

Around the same time that he was making Duran Duran look windswept and salty for the Rio video, and a couple of years before he decreed ‘there can be only one’ (but the Highlander sequels ruined that idea), Russell Mulcahy made this down and dirty giant pig flick, shot through with his signature backlit smoke, slick editing, and requirement for belief suspension. It’s an utterly gorgeous movie, shot by DP Dean Semler with an eye for color unmatched in the 80s, and populated with a cast deranged enough to have stepped out of a George Miller romp.

The razorback, a mutated, murderous wild pig, rampages through the Australian outback with wild abandon, merrily chomping down on hapless ranchers and other locals who get in the way of its stampeding. The hog itself is a full-on practical monster, and Mulcahy follows the Spielberg playbook by not showing too much of it at once, to great effect.

A fun film, hugely overlooked, and definitely worth tracking down.

8/10

Previous Murky Movie surveys from Neil Baker include:

It’s All Rather Hit-or-Mythos
You Can’t Handle the Tooth
Tubi Dive
What Possessed You?
Fan of the Cave Bear
There, Wolves
What a Croc
Prehistrionics
Jumping the Shark
Alien Overlords
Biggus Footus
I Like Big Bugs and I Cannot Lie
The Weird, Weird West
Warrior Women Watch-a-thon

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Neil Baker’s last article for us was Part III of It’s All Rather Hit-or-Mythos. Neil spends his days watching dodgy movies, most of them terrible, in the hope that you might be inspired to watch them too. He is often asked why he doesn’t watch ‘proper’ films, and he honestly doesn’t have a good answer. He is an author, illustrator, teacher, and sculptor of turtle exhibits. (AprilMoonBooks.com).