General Discussion

After watching Super 8,(which I thought was great) I'm in the mood for some monsters. I'm a pretty big chicken when it comes to horror movies, although my main issue is with aliens and the supernatural. Any suggestions would be good, I guess you could suggest alien movies as well.

I'm not sure how many on are Netflix, but I've seen a handful of old school Godzilla films on there.

You might like Cloverfield as well, it seems to have mixed reactions by monster movies fans.

@FinalDasa: I actually haven't seen that many of the Godzilla movies so I'll definitely look into those. I should be getting Cloverfield from Netflix tomorrow so I'm excited for it.

The Host is kind of a parody of the monster movie genre and Korean culture but still pretty awesome.

The Troll Hunter is a found footage movie about a guy who hunts trolls for the Norwegian government. More of a mockumentary but it still has some genuinely tense moments.

The 80's version of The Blob is one of the more underrated horror remakes. Also some really cool practical effects and gore for the late 80's. Think the pink slime from Ghostbusters 2 if it was alien and liquified you as it consumed you so it could get larger and larger.

I would also recommend the Gamera episodes of MST3K. Some of my favorite episodes of Joel's run as the host and I think they may still be up on Netflix Instant.

It's not a monster movie marathon without Troll 2.

Holy crap, how did I miss this thread before?

If you are looking at the Godzilla flicks on Instant Streaming, the ones I recommend are Godzilla vs. Mothra, and Terror of Mechagodzilla. Godzilla vs Mothra is considered one of the classics of the series, and while Terror of Mechagodzilla is a sequel to Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, you don't really need to have seen the the first one to watch Terror.

In Godzilla movies overall, the first two (Godzilla/Gojira and Godzilla Raids Again) are a pretty good place to start. If you think the old ones might be a bit corny for your taste, the Godzilla series from the 90s, as well as the Millennium series, are both pretty good. The 90s movies are linked together, whereas the Millennium movies are a bunch of stand-alones (exception of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Tokyo: SOS). I'd recommend Godzilla 1985, but it doesn't seem to be out on DVD. If you get DVDs from Netflix, the 90s series have a couple of front/back discs that have two movies on them (Godzilla and Mothra: Battle for Earth/Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah and Godzilla vs Space Godzilla/Godzilla vs. Destoroyah). If you want the newer ones, Godzilla 2000 and Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack is where to go.

Avoid Godzilla's Revenge like the plague. It's just plain bad. It's basically a clip-episode in movie form.

If you don't want Godzilla but you want Japanese stuff, I'd recommend the Gamera movies from the 90s. I've only watched the first one (Gamera: Guardian of the Universe), but it was pretty good. Unfortunately, they aren't on Netflix, but I picked up the Blu-ray with all 3 pretty cheap on Amazon: about $13 bucks for 3 movies. I really can't recommend the "classic" Gamera movies, as I thought that even with the MST3k treatment they were barely watchable.

If you are looking for your monsters to be a bit smaller, the three movies I always go for are Them!, The Thing From Another World, and Forbidden Planet.

Them! is just one of the all time great monster flicks. If you have any interest in monster movies, Them! is a must watch.

The Thing From Another World (not to be mistaken for The Thing, or the other The Thing) is another favorite of mine. The monster isn't all that great, and it really isn't all the suspenseful, but it has a few good scenes (including what may or may not be the first full body burn stunt by a stunt man), and the dialogue is just great. On a side note, the 1980s The Thing is pretty good, very suspenseful and very good practical effects, but overall I'm not a big fan of gore so I've only watched it once.

Forbidden Planet is a bit of a strange duck, but it gets a mention here because I vividly remember watching the scene with the monster from the id (that's id, not I.D.) on 13 inch TV when I was probably 6 or 7 and being absolutely fascinated/scared witless by the scene. Probably pretty hokey by modern standards, but how can you go wrong freakin' MONSTERS FROM THE ID?!

If you are just looking for a laugh, MST3K: The Giant Gila Monster and MST3K: The Beginning of the End are hilarious.

The greatest monster movie of all time might be the 1931 Frankenstein. If you are looking for something newer, check out Monsters, Peter Jackson's King Kong, Cloverfield, and/or anything by Guillermo del Toro.

And then there are the modern monster movie classics like The Thing, Predator, and Jurassic Park.

They don't make too many giant monster movies these days outside of the occasional Godzilla. I really can't add anymore to Toastburner_B

's great list. Them! is one of my all-time favorites. Two others I might suggest that are more in the B-movie range are War of the Gargantuas (1966) and Dinosaurus! (1960).

Thanks for the suggestions everybody. A quick update on what I've watched so far: Cloverfield I thought was decent, Attack the Block which I thought was great, Apollo 18 was pretty good, I watched about the first thirty minutes of The Host before I had to leave, I really like that they show the monster within fifteen minutes of the beginning.

I've started watching The X-Files which is sure to be a detriment to my ability to sleep.