List of Giant-Monster Films

The Lost World is a 1925 silent film adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 book of the same name. The movie was produced by First National Pictures, a large Hollywood studio at the time, and stars Wallace Beery as Professor Challenger. This version was directed by Harry O. Hoyt and featured pioneering stop motion special effects by Willis O'Brien (an invaluable warm up for his work on the original King Kong directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack). Writer Doyle appears in a frontspiece to the film. In 1998, the film was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

King Kong is a Pre-Code 1933 fantasy monster adventure film co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, and written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman after a story by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. The film tells of a gigantic island-dwelling gorilla-like creature called Kong who dies in an attempt to possess a beautiful young woman. The film stars Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot, and opened in New York City on March 2, 1933 to good reviews. Kong is distinguished for its stop-motion animation by Willis O'Brien and its musical score by Max Steiner. The film has been released to video, DVD, and Blu-ray, and has been computer colorized. In 1991, the film was deemed "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Wasei Kingu Kongu (和製キング・コング?, lit. Japanese King Kong) was a 1933 Japanese black-and-white silent film directed by Torajiro Saito. The film is a now lost silent short based on King Kong and produced by Shochiku Studios (who released the original 1933 film in Japan on behalf of RKO). It has been suggested, without any strong evidence, that the film was lost as a result of US atomic bombing in 1945.

The Son of Kong is a (1933) American adventure movie/monster movie produced by RKO Pictures. Directed by Ernest Schoedsack and featuring special effects by Buzz Gibson and Willis O'Brien, the film starred Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack and Frank Reicher. The film was a direct sequel to King Kong which was released just 9 months earlier.

King Kong Appears in Edo (江戸に現れたキングコング Edo ni Arawareta Kingu Kongu?) is a kaiju film released in Japan in 1938[2][3], but is now considered to be a lost film.

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is a 1953 science fiction film directed by Eugène Lourié and stars Paul Christian, Paula Raymond and Cecil Kellaway with visual effects by Ray Harryhausen. The film is about an atomic bomb test in the Arctic Circle that unfreezes a hibernating fictional dinosaur, a Rhedosaurus, that begins to wreak havoc in New York City. It was one of the first monster movies that helped inspire the following generation of creature features, coining it with the atomic age.

Godzilla (ゴジラ Gojira?) is a 1954 Japanese science fiction film. The film was directed by Ishirō Honda and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka. In 1956, a heavily edited version was released in the U.S. as Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. The original Japanese-language version is now available in the United States and Britain under the title Gojira. It was the first of many "giant monster" movies (known as kaiju) to be produced in Japan, many of which also feature Godzilla.

Them! is a 1954 American black and white science fiction film about man's encounter with a nest of gigantic irradiated ants. It is based on an original story treatment by George Worthing Yates. It was developed into a screenplay by Ted Sherdeman and Russell Hughes for Warner Bros. Pictures Inc., and was produced by David Weisbart and directed by Gordon Douglas. It starred James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon and James Arness. One of the first of the "nuclear monster" movies, and the first "big bug" film, Them! was nominated for an Oscar for Special Effects and won a Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing. The film starts off as a simple suspense story, with police investigating mysterious disappearances and unexplainable deaths. The giant ants are not even seen until almost a third of the way into the film.

Godzilla Raids Again (ゴジラの逆襲 Gojira no Gyakushū?), also known in the United States as Gigantis, the Fire Monster, is a 1955 Japanese black and white tokusatsu kaiju film directed by Motoyoshi Oda, written by Shigeaki Hidaka and Takeo Murata, and produced by Toho. It was the sequel to the previous year's successful Godzilla and was the second film in the Godzilla franchise. It is the first film to feature Anguirus. It is the first film in the series (and in kaiju eiga) to feature a battle between two monsters. Although director Ishirō Honda and composer Akira Ifukube did not return for this sequel, the special effects were once again created by Eiji Tsuburaya. The English title Godzilla Raids Again was created by Toho in the 1950s, but only appeared onscreen in later US television and home video releases. The 1959 U.S. release was titled Gigantis the Fire Monster, and Godzilla's name was changed for this version of the film. The American and Japanese versions of the film vary considerably.

Half Human, originally released in Japan as Jūjin Yuki Otoko (獣人雪男?, lit. "Monster Snowman"), is a tokusatsu film produced and released by Toho Film Productions Ltd. in 1955. The film was made by Toho's legendary Godzilla production team of Ishirō Honda, Eiji Tsuburaya, and Tomoyuki Tanaka. This was director Honda's second assignment in the kaiju (or monster) genre, after the original Godzilla (1954). According to Wikipedia Japan, the movie has been removed from circulation due to the original screenplay describing the inhabitants of the remote village similar to the Ainu people as being deformed from generations of inbreeding. However, no such reference is made in the film's dialogue, but for this reason broadcasters and media publishing companies have refrained from showing it.

t Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) is an American science fiction film produced by Sam Katzman and Charles Schneer for Columbia Pictures, from a script by George Worthing Yates designed to showcase the special model-animated effects of Ray Harryhausen. It was directed by Robert Gordon and stars Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, and Donald Curtis. Much of the filming was done at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard, including scenes aboard a submarine, and several naval personnel were given supporting roles. One of the main radar man characters is Joseph R. Fanning from Valdosta, Ga. He was an instructor there at the San Francisco Naval Base.

Tarantula is a 1955 science fiction film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Leo G. Carroll, John Agar, and Mara Corday. Among other things, the film is notable for the appearance of a 25-year-old Clint Eastwood in an uncredited role as a jet pilot at the end of the film.

Rodan, released in Japan as Sora no Daikaijū Radon (空の大怪獣 ラドン?, lit. "Radon, Giant Monster of the Sky"), is a 1956 tokusatsu film produced by Toho Studios. It was the studio's first daikaiju eiga filmed in color (though Toho's first color tokusatsu film, Madame White Snake, was released earlier that year). It is one of a series of "giant monster" movies that found an audience outside Japan, especially in the United States, where it was originally released as Rodan! The Flying Monster!

attack of the Crab Monsters is a 1957, American, black-and-white, science fiction film, written by Charles B. Griffith and produced and directed by Roger Corman via Los Altos Productions, on contract for distribution by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. The plot follows a scientific expedition trapped on a remote island inhabited by atomically mutated giant crabs. It was distributed as the main feature on a programmed double bill with Not of This Earth.

Beginning of the End is a 1957 American science fiction film directed by Bert I. Gordon and starring Peter Graves and Peggie Castle. The film is about an agricultural scientist (Graves) who has successfully grown gigantic vegetables using radiation. Unfortunately, the vegetables are then eaten by locusts (the swarming phase of short-horned grasshoppers), which grow to gigantic size and attack the nearby city of Chicago. The film is generally recognized for its "atrocious" special effects and considered to be one of the most poorly written and acted science fiction motion pictures of the 1950s.

The Giant Claw is a 1957 science fiction film about a giant bird that terrorizes the world. Produced by Clover Productions under the working title 'Mark of the Claw' and released through Columbia Pictures, it starred Jeff Morrow and Mara Corday, and was directed by Fred F. Sears. The film has been a staple of the bootleg video market with only two official VHS releases (one in the USA through Goodtimes Home Video and the other through Screamtime in the United Kingdom) to date. Columbia Pictures finally released the film officially to DVD in October 2007 as part of the two disc four film set Icons of Horror Collection - Sam Katzman.

The Deadly Mantis is a 1957 science fiction film produced by William Alland for Universal-International Pictures. It was directed by Nathan Juran from a screenplay by Martin Berkeley, and starred Craig Stevens, William Hopper, Alix Talton, and Pat Conway. It was filmed in black and white and runs for 79 minutes.

The Black Scorpion is a 1957 American horror film released by Warner Brothers, with stop motion special effects done by Willis O'Brien.

20 Million Miles to Earth is a 1957 American science fiction film written by Bob Williams and Christopher Knopf from an original treatment by Charlott Knight. The film was produced by Charles H. Schneer's Morningside Productions for Columbia Pictures and directed by Nathan H. Juran. As with several other Schneer-Columbia collaborations, it was developed to showcase the stop-motion animation talents of Ray Harryhausen.

The Amazing Colossal Man is a 1957 black-and-white science fiction film, directed by Bert I. Gordon and starring Glenn Langan. The film revolves around a 60 foot mutant man produced as the result of an atomic accident.

Kronos (Ravager of Planets) is a 1957 black and white science fiction film directed by Kurt Neumann, starring Jeff Morrow and Barbara Lawrence. The film is also known as Kronos, Destroyer of the Universe. In the years since its release, Kronos has been widely praised both for its above-average storyline and its farsighted portrayal of the consequences of overconsumption of natural and man-made resources, and has achieved minor cult status.

The Monolith Monsters (1957) is a science fiction film directed by John Sherwood and starring Grant Williams and Lola Albright. It is based on a story by Jack Arnold and Robert M. Fresco with screenplay by Fresco and Normal Jolley.

Varan the Unbelievable, released in Japan as Giant Monster Varan (大怪獣バラン Daikaijū Baran?), is a 1958 daikaiju eiga (giant-monster movie) directed by Ishirō Honda (drama) and Eiji Tsuburaya (tokusatsu), and their last black-and-white monster film. The title character Varan is one of Toho Studios' least-famed creations. Although shown in Japanese-language theaters in the USA, the film saw general U.S. release in 1962 only after being heavily revised, in the manner of Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, to have all principal scenes reshot with American actors. Indeed, the plot itself was generally revised, and the Japanese material consisted only of special effects, a few incidental shots, and the ending scene.

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is a 1958 American science fiction feature film produced by Bernard Woolner for Allied Artists Pictures. It was directed by Nathan H. Juran (credited as Nathan Hertz) from a screenplay by Mark Hanna, and starred Allison Hayes, William Hudson and Yvette Vickers. The original music score was composed by Ronald Stein. The film was a take on other movies that had also featured size-changing humans, namely The Amazing Colossal Man and The Incredible Shrinking Man, but substituting a woman as the protagonist. The story concerns the plight of Nancy Archer, a wealthy heiress whose close encounter with an enormous alien being causes her to grow into a giantess. She uses her new size and power to seek revenge against her philandering husband Harry and his mistress, Honey Parker.

War of the Colossal Beast is a 1958 black-and-white science fiction film, directed by Bert I. Gordon and produced by Carmel Productions and distributed by American International Pictures. It continued the storyline of the 1957 movie The Amazing Colossal Man, although it was not marketed as a direct sequel, and featured a different cast. Both The Amazing Colossal Man and War of the Colossal Beast were later mocked on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Earth vs. the Spider (also known as The Spider and Earth vs. the Giant Spider) is a 1958 American black and white science fiction horror film produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon, who also wrote the story which the screenplay by George Worthing Yates and Laszlo Gorog is based upon. It starred Ed Kemmer, Eugene Persson and June Kenney. The film's original title was Earth vs. the Spider but when The Fly, also released in 1958, became a blockbuster, the film company changed the name to The Spider on all advertising material. The original screen title, however, was never changed.

Monster from Green Hell is a 1957 B movie shown as a double-feature to the 1957 film The Brain from Planet Arous. It is also seen as a clone of Them!.

Attack of the Giant Leeches is a low-budget 1959 science fiction film from American International Pictures. It was directed by Bernard L. Kowalski, produced by Gene Corman, and the screenplay was written by Leo Gordon. The film is in black and white, and runs for 62 minutes. It was one of a spate of monster movies produced during the 1950s in response to cold war fears; in the film a character speculates that the no-no leeches have been mutated to terrible giant size by atomic radiation from nearby Cape Canaveral. This film was also called Attack of the Blood Leeches, Demons of the Swamp, She Demons of the Swamp, and War of the Giant Leeches.

Behemoth, the Sea Monster or War of the Paeleosaurus (1959) is an American-British science-fiction film co-production. Originally a story about an amorphous blob of radiation, the script was changed at the distributor's insistence to a pastiche of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), though elements of the original concept remain in the early parts of the film and in the "electric eel" power of the titular monster. The script was written by blacklisted author Daniel James under the name "Daniel Hyatt," with Eugène Lourié co-writing as well as directing. Released in the United States as War of The Giant Paeleosaurus, the film starred Gene Evans and André Morell. It was distributed by Allied Artists Pictures.

The Giant Gila Monster is a 1959 black-and-white science fiction film directed by Ray Kellogg, and produced by Ken Curtis. It stars Don Sullivan, Lisa Simone, as well as Fred Graham, Shug Fisher and Bob Thompson. This low-budget B-Movie featured a cast of unknown actors, and the effects included a live gila monster filmed on a scaled-down model landscape. The movie has been released on DVD and is considered a cult classic.

The Killer Shrews is a 1959 science fiction film directed by Ray Kellogg. It has been released on DVD and is considered[by whom?] a cult classic. It was featured in the fourth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000, as well as the first season of the similar show This Movie Sucks!.

Konga is a 1961 British science fiction film directed by John Lemont and starring Michael Gough, Margo Johns and Austin Trevor. It was distributed in the United States by American International Pictures. The film was the basis for a comic-book series published by Charlton Comics in the 1960s.