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Summary
The 1950s were a great era formonster movies , with many helping establish the popularity of the sci - fi genre that keep to this solar day . Since then , skill fabrication stories in both television receiver and flick have blossom out , launching successful franchise such asDoctor WhoandStar Trek . While1950s filmsdiffer greatly compared to what appears on the flatware filmdom now , many still hold up to this daylight .
Monster moving picture , in particular , were incredibly popular in the fifties . With thesci - fi moving picture genretruly coming into its own during this time , the 1950s saw an incredible tilt of movie that sport some variety of monster as its main antagonist . At a time when animate being or elephantine robots are created altogether with CGI , it ’s worth looking back at the origin of monster movies to see which moving picture still hold up .
From Dracula to Frankenstein to the Invisible Man , Universal ’s iconic monster movies are massively influential on revulsion . Here ’s how they rank .

15The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms
Introduced The Rhedosaurus In 1953
The Beast From 20,000 Fathomswas ab initio released in 1953 and is one of the earliest atomic monster film in cinematic history , inspiring a raw propagation of monster motion-picture show , includingGodzilla . This photographic film ’s main villain is the Rhedosaurus , a fictional dinosaur , who is awoken from a wintry hibernation by an nuclear bomb . The Rhedosaurus ' destruction along the East Coast of North America make chaos and pain for many , with the general population fighting back against it with electrical barriers and bazooka .
The creature lastly play a gray-headed destruction in one incredible fit that sees Colonel Stone ( Lee Van Cleef ) and Tom Nesbitt ( Paul Christian ) ride a rollercoaster to foregather its eye level . Shooting an isotope into its neck , its irradiation poisoning kill the animate being but also set the amusement park they obtain themselves in ablaze . Despite the damage the Rhedosaurus caused , the film ’s champion may have been even more destructive than it .
14Godzilla, King Of Monsters
Introduced Godzilla In 1954
Godzilla is well one of the most iconic monsters in cinematic chronicle . Godzilla is considered the King of all monster , quite literally , as seen in the claim of the first movie it appear in , Godzilla , King of Monstersin 1954 . The reptile ’s tone-beginning on Japan is well remembered in celluloid , so much so that it appeared in a sum of 38 films . Despite Godzilla ’s destruction by the Oxygen Destroyer inGodzilla , King of Monsters , the puppet was so pop that it was brought back , and has become one of the most recognisable monsters in sci - fi .
What manner of puppet is Godzilla and what was he in the first place ? Here ’s a full crack-up of Godzilla ’s origins and true nature in his moving-picture show .
13Them!
Introduced Giant Ants In 1954
1954’sThem!introduced a platoon of mammoth irradiate ants to the world of sci - fi , with two Queens escaping their nest and causing chaos in the storm drainpipe organization of LA.Unlike other pic monsters , these creatures are only ever referred to as " the Queen " or " ants,“rather than get a specify name . Although it ’s not all obvious where these bug come from , they appear to be of foreign line of descent and ineffective to communicate with humans , leave behind several deadened eubstance in their viewing as they move throughout the city .
12Creature From The Black Lagoon
Introduced Gill-Man In 1954
tool from the Black Lagoonis such an iconic fiend movie that , to this sidereal day , the rubric is often used as a phrase referring to an unusual and odd creature . Released in 1954 , it ’s also one of the earlier instances of 3D cinema , the first being in 1922 withThe Cinema of Love . The cinema ’s principal resister is pertain to as the " Gill - man,“a strange combined blur of valet and Pisces , and after 80 proceedings of brutal execution , is shot multiple times before go away back into the astuteness of the lagoon , in a rather ambiguous termination .
11The War Of The Worlds
Introduced Martians In 1953
found on the H. G. Wells novel of the same name , The War of the Worldsis one of the most iconic sci - fi narration of all time . In 1953,the firstThe War of the Worldsfilmadaptation was released by director Byron Haskin , with a slight story change , so that Martians were learn intrude on 1953 California , rather than the original location of Victorian England . While more intricate details about the extraterrestrial are leave equivocal , interestingly , there are quite a few differences in their description compared to the original Good Book .
In the novel , the Martians are described as being pear-shaped , grey - brown in color , with beak - shaped mouths that consistently taradiddle saliva . However , the creature audiences saw on the silver screen had a slightly more humanistic shape , with long , probing fingersand a cerise , blue , and green plane section resembling a face . DespiteThe War of the Worldshaving been adapted many time over the years , the first 1953 version sticks out in the sci - fi genre .
10Invasion Of The Body Snatchers
Introduced The Pod People In 1956
9Forbidden Planet
Introduced The Krell And Monster Id In 1956
1956’sForbidden Planetsaw a first for the sci - fi writing style , postdate a story that was place on a planet that orbits a star other than Earth ’s sun . While this picture has an obvious freak in the Krell , a technologically advance airstream that had been lose to clip , their reason enhancer can also be considered so . The automobile allowed the expansion of the subconscious mind and caused a desire for outright power , which resulted in the deaths of several masses .
Proving just how complex and dangerous the Krell could be , it ’s revealed that the coinage ' bitter end was make by their machine . Despite the Krell ’s extermination , it deal to create the " lusus naturae id,“made from the thought of Morbius ( Walter Pidgeon ) . Although it ’s made from psychic free energy , it ’s the only present monster in the film that has a physical form , replicating Morbius ' appearance to intimidate him .
8The Thing From Another World
Introduced The Thing In 1951
Based on the novelWho Goes There?by Don A. Stuart ( a pseudonym for John W. Campbell ) , the 1951 filmThe Thing from Another Worldintroduced The Thing ( James Arness ) to celluloid . This was the first instance of the novel being adapt , with the second beingThe Thingin 1982 . There was anotherThe Thingfilm in 2011 but or else served as a prequel , despite using the same title .
In the 1951 version , the Thing resemble that of the description of Frankenstein ’s Monster . Identified as being a plant - based alien that feeds on animal blood , The Thing was responsible for for multiple destruction , including firedog as well as humans . The Thing caused such a fear - mongering atmosphere that despite its destruction , Scotty ( Robert Cornthwaite ) still made certain to monish the public to " watch the sky . "
7The Neathanderal Man
Introduced Professor Groves As A Prehistoric Man In 1953
1953’sThe Neanderthal Mansaw an interesting take on the monster film premise , with Professor Groves ( Robert Shayne ) turning into a prehistorical version of himself . He can attain this by inject himself with an experimental blood serum he ’d used to commute domesticated cats into sabretooth tigers , but the effects are n’t lasting . Through his translation , Leslie Richard Groves polish off multiple masses , but his priorities seem to be aligned with making the serum work right , rather than being touch with the deaths he ’s caused . Ironically , he end up being mauled by a sabretooth Panthera tigris and reverts into his woodlet form before dying .
6Bride Of The Monster
Introduced Lobo In 1955
As a resultant of experiments with nuclear energy and nuclear might came Lobo ( Tor Johnson ) , the flagitious villain inBride of the Monster . Unlike a lot of demon motion picture , Lobo has a side to him that is more gentle and apprehension . However , his large size and restrain qualities come from his struggles to control himself , due to the experiments forced upon him .
Throughout the film , Lobo can be insure attempting to campaign back against Dr. Vornoff ’s ( Bela Lugosi ) unbalance way . Even when Vornoff is bring onto the operating table towards the end of the film , becoming the national of his own experimentation , Lobo prioritizes escaping the laboratory ’s blast with Janet ( Loretta King ) over getting his retaliation . Not only didBride of the Monstercomment on biologic intervention in skill , but it also show just how complex a movie ’s villain can be .



Custom image by Sam MacLennan







