Creature Features: Best of the Beast movies
The beastly movies that most appeal to the monstrous sensibilities of theNeoplatonist. In alphabetical order...
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21 titles
- DirectorVal GuestStarsForrest TuckerPeter CushingMaureen ConnellA kindly English botanist and a gruff American scientist lead an expedition to the Himalayas in search of the legendary Yeti.Atmospheric Nigel Kneale ("Quatermass") thriller with huge philosophical overtones. Peter Cushing gives his usual captivating performance as a scientist seeking the Yeti...
- DirectorEugène LouriéStarsPaul HubschmidPaula RaymondCecil KellawayA ferocious dinosaur awakened by an Arctic atomic test terrorizes the North Atlantic and, ultimately, New York City.Cecil Kellaway swallowed alive in a bathyscope. Sob....
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsRod TaylorTippi HedrenJessica TandyA wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.Hitch should have had more strictly horror movies. The absence of an explanation for the goings-on makes it all the more bleak and troubling.
- DirectorJack ArnoldStarsRichard CarlsonJulie AdamsRichard DenningA strange prehistoric beast lurks in the depths of the Amazonian jungle. A group of scientists try to capture the animal and bring it back to civilization for study.A new classic monster bursts forth among us. Great location work, great costume, unsettling sense of things lurking below the surface.
- DirectorJustin HardyStarsIan HolmPatrick StewartPaul HiltonAn imaginative blend of adventure and nature special that purports to investigate the discovery of a dragon's corpse in modern-day Romania. A British scientific team attempts to understand the creature's unique capabilities.Try to get the one narrated by Captain Jean-Luc Picard in that inimitable voice.
- DirectorEllory ElkayemStarsDavid ArquetteKari WuhrerScott TerraVenomous spiders get exposed to a noxious chemical that causes them to grow to monumental proportions.Amusing way to pass the time and give a heart-attack to arachnophobes.
- DirectorEugène LouriéStarsGene EvansAndré MorellJohn TurnerMarine atomic tests cause changes in the ocean's ecosystem resulting in dangerous blobs of radiation and the resurrection of a dormant dinosaur that threatens London.I'm told that the correct way to say the word is Be-hay-moth ("moth" rhyming with "growth"). The joy of pedantry. Scared me witless as a child.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsTakashi ShimuraAkihiko HirataAkira TakaradaAmerican nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable dinosaur-like beast.The original and best.
- DirectorJack ArnoldStarsGrant WilliamsRandy StuartApril KentAfter Scott Carey begins to shrink because of exposure to a combination of radiation and insecticide, medical science is powerless to help him.A giant cat and a giant spider (from the shrinker's standpoint).
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsRoy ScheiderRobert ShawRichard DreyfussWhen a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.I never went into the sea again.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsSam NeillLaura DernJeff GoldblumA pragmatic paleontologist touring an almost complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park's cloned dinosaurs to run loose.
- DirectorMerian C. CooperErnest B. SchoedsackStarsFay WrayRobert ArmstrongBruce CabotA film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.The first and best.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsNaomi WattsJack BlackAdrien BrodyA greedy film producer assembles a team of moviemakers and sets out for the infamous Skull Island, where they find more than just cannibalistic natives.Pretty good remake, with the inimitable Jack Black.
- StarsBob HoskinsJames FoxTom WardAn expedition leaves for the Amazon to prove the existence of dinosaurs.Perhaps a slight improvement on the Conan Doyle storyline, and a wonderful opportunity to see Peter Falk in action in his old age.
- DirectorEd RagozzinoStarsGeorge LaurisSteve BoergadineJim BradfordScientists mount an expedition to find a Bigfoot-type creature.Effectively comes across as a documentary. A slow burner, but when Bigfoot finally turns up, howling and roaring, he's quite unnerving.
- DirectorHideaki AnnoShinji HiguchiStarsHiroki HasegawaYutaka TakenouchiSatomi IshiharaJapan is plunged into chaos upon the appearance of a giant monster.Effective remake.
- DirectorGordon DouglasStarsJames WhitmoreEdmund GwennJoan WeldonThe earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization.Giant ants. Brilliant. And a tragic death...
- DirectorRon UnderwoodStarsKevin BaconFred WardFinn CarterNatives of a small isolated town defend themselves against strange underground creatures which are killing them one by one.Giant carnivorous worms... Whatever the proper term is for "wormophobia", stay away from this movie if you suffer from it. Otherwise very entertaining.
- StarsKenneth BranaghStockard ChanningLarry AgenbroadUsing the latest digital technology, the era between the dinosaurs and man is superbly recreated by the BBC and Discovery Channel in another winning production from the coalition.Semi-documentary style. The age of the monstrous mammals brought to vivid and graphic life by the BBC. Colorful, convincing, and compelling.
- StarsNikolay DrozdovKenneth BranaghAvery BrooksDocumentary-style series about the era of the dinosaurs, mixing real locations and CGI.See above, this time with dinosaurs.
- StarsKenneth BranaghEdward GeroThe final installment in the "Walking with" series is a 90-minute documentary about the evolution of life before the dinosaurs.And this time with pre-dinosaurs.