Creature features seem to have their Hollywood ebbs and flows. Some decades, like the 1950s and 1990s, have been goldmines. What’s great about these monster flicks is how easy they are to consume. A viewer can take in one, two, maybe even three, and they don’t feel as if they’ve just undergone the heaviness of, for instance, Sophie’s Choice.
Instead, it’s about the moments. The anaconda leaping from the log. The giant lizard dodging missiles. The Mogwai’s ugly cousins causing havoc in a bar. A shark emerging from the water so a sheriff officially knows he’s out of his element. Creature features show audiences things they certainly can’t see in real life, and they’re seemingly limitless mines rich with entertainment value.
Anaconda (1997)
• Available to stream on Netflix
Anaconda is not the most beloved film from the late ’90s, but it was a high point of that decade’s creature feature glut. Just one year after Anaconda, Roland Emmerich had his version of Godzilla traipsing around a particularly rainy New York City, except when he was dodging missiles going straight for the Chrysler building.
Anaconda is equally silly, but it’s a little more self-aware, and this is incredibly advantageous when it comes to how it holds up on repeat viewings. The design for the snake (in the animatronic shots) is outstanding, even intimidating. The CGI is a mess, as is the performance from Jon Voight, but Anaconda‘s weakest points are exactly what makes it its own cheeky animal.
The Return of Godzilla (1984)
• The Return of Godzilla is not currently available to stream
Easily one of the best Godzilla films of all time, The Return of Godzilla is as much a commentary on Cold War paranoia as it is a movie about a giant radioactive beast destroying Tokyo.
Return takes place exactly 30 years after the original Gojira, retconning every installment that came between. Godzilla lived, he died, and Japan didn’t forget. Now, an even more ferocious version is taking hits off of nuclear power plants and feeling vivacious in a particularly deadly way. Toss in some relatable human characters and a dynamite finale, and The Return of Godzilla is an all-around excellent film. Just avoid the American version, Godzilla 1985.
Hollow Man (2000)
• Available to stream on Netflix
Paul Verhoeven’s Hollow Man was an R-rated spin on The Invisible Man released 20 years before Leigh Whannell’s excellent remake.
It wasn’t critically adored, but it’s a wildly fun movie that makes great use of Kevin Bacon’s villainous side. In regards to Bacon, the actor gives an even better than usual performance in Hollow Man, diving all in for an overtly evil role that could have come across as very silly. It devolves into a slasher during the third act, but even that is done well enough to please fans of that subgenre.
The Blob (1988)
• Available to rent on Amazon
Chuck Russell arguably stands as the most underrated horror director of all time. The Blob and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors alone seal the deal.
The Blob is a natural expansion of the Steve McQueen original, just with the benefit of an R rating. And Russell’s film fully takes advantage of that rating. The Blob has at least two scenes that are both legitimately frightening and surprising in equal measure, even with repeat viewings.
Tremors (1990)
• Available to stream on Starz
While it flopped at the box office when released theatrically, Tremors went on to spawn a franchise that continues to this day.
Everything about Tremors works, front to back. The key to the film’s appeal is multi-faceted. For one, it balances genres expertly: Western, horror, sci-fi, comedy, and drama. The buildup to the reveal of the creature(s) is phenomenal, e.g. the telephone pole or sheep farm scenes, and leads to the whole film feeling very well-paced. Lastly, the cast is just like the town they live in: Perfection.
Gremlins (1984)
• Available to stream on HBO Max
Joe Dante’s directing, Steven Spielberg’s producing, and Chris Columbus’ writing all made for one amazing and unique cocktail. Gremlins is one of a kind, possessing a tone that even its own sequel didn’t try to replicate (Gremlins 2: The New Batch more or less ditched Gremlins‘ scary elements in favor of Warner Bros.-style cartoonishness).
The best creature features portray an evolution, and outside of Scott’s Alien, Dante’s Gremlins does it the best. Even the creatures’ cocoons are revolting, and once the less furry versions of the Mogwai pop out, the human race is in trouble.
The Fly (1986)
• Available to stream on Paramount+
It’s rare that a film drastically improves upon the original, but such is the case with David Cronenberg’s The Fly.
Cronenberg’s take on the 1950s Vincent Price film is infinitely superior because it pushes several limits. Jeff Goldblum’s Seth Brundle is far from the average protagonist, and that makes his inevitable transformation even more horrid. The movie also benefits from some deeply unsettling practical effects, and this allows Cronenberg to revel in one of horror’s greatest assets: the gradual change.
Alien (1979)
• Available to stream on tubi
One of the greatest space-set movies of all time, Ridley Scott’s masterful Alien is actually one of two highly rewatchable films in the same franchise.
But while James Cameron’s Aliens did introduce the queen, there’s no beating Scott’s more straightforward introduction to the xenomorph, which to this day is one of the scariest, most well-paced films in movie history. The xenomorph is an astounding cinematic creation. It’s an organism designed to do one thing and one thing alone, which is to kill, and it’s wildly efficient at doing so. Alien is scary because the Nostromo’s interior design is basically the same as the alien’s; No matter where Ripley or Dallas or Parker go, they’re in imminent danger.
Jurassic Park (1993)
• Available to stream on HBO Max
On top of being a movie Redditors think is timeless, Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park is the definitive cinematic thrill ride.
The first major big-screen dinosaur adventure almost certainly will never be topped, and that’s because it’s a well-oiled machine. Jurassic Park was Spielberg working at the top of his craft, and unlike The Lost World: Jurassic Park, it’s obvious that he was having fun here. Fortunately, the film is every bit as entertaining in the 2020s as it was in the early ’90s, and that’s partially due to Spielberg’s mixed usage of both practical and well-aged CGI effects.
Jaws (1975)
• Available to rent on Amazon
One of the best films of all time, bar none, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is perfect. No line of dialogue is out of place, no big moment is squandered, and no performance is off-key.
It stands to reason that Jaws is just outright the most rewatchable film of all time. It’s 125 minutes of great scene after great scene, all building up to one particular reveal. Then, after that revelation, everything falls apart even more for those aboard the Orca. What’s ironic about Jaws is how accidental its success is. The audience was supposed to see that shark a lot more, to the point the first full view would have been during Alex Kintner’s death early on.
