Ever since camera techniques for cinema were discovered, monsters have always been a staple trope and element in movies. Seeing something big, ugly, and lethal takes people out of their comfort zones and suggests that humans are nothing but mere prey anywhere else makes for compelling cinema formula, and the same statement holds true to this day.
The difference is, this decade is about superheroes, not monsters. The 2000s, for that matter, were a lot different. There are a ton of scary sci-fi monsters that made waves during the decade, and we’ve expanded our list to include a few more. Are you afraid of the dark?
Clover - Cloverfield
You don’t actually get to see much of Clover in the film. However, you get to see the destruction it caused through the perspective of the victims, and, boy, oh boy, Clover is the last visitor you’d want in your city. It’s an alien who awakened in its undersea habitat due to submarine expeditions.
Moreover, Clover is also immune to any human weapons, including nukes at least according to the credits of Cloverfield. Still, the director himself, J.J. Abrams, claimed that the nuke killed Clover. Oh, you also can’t just ignore the fact that Clover is a 300-foot tall wild beast that has spider-like legs
Zombies - 28 Days Later
There have been many zombie iterations from many different horror movie franchises, but 28 Days Later seems to have nailed how horrific these undead creatures can be. It also doubles as a sci-fi movie since it’s a lot more grounded in its handling of the undead. In fact, they’re not even considered outright zombies in the film, but more like rabid humans infected by a rage-virus.
In any case, these zombies are not your standard dumb blundering half-corpses who cannot chase anyone cleaner than they are. These are angry running violent mobs who are hungry and will do anything to eat or infect others. Back then, they shook the zombie genre to the very core with how unforgiving they are. Thankfully, they can die from starvation, which is only fair.
Sadomasochist Demons - The Cell
Most 90s kids have probably seen this one from their childhood and also got some nasty traumatic memories from the film, and that’s because The Cell is what happens when someone vividly remembers their nightmares and decided to make them into films. The movie is actually about an experimental virtual reality treatment for coma patients which somehow makes them see sadomasochistic demons in their sleep.
These demons then sometimes appear as being with hooks pierced into their skins, and many other painful imageries which would have given Clive Barker a wet dream. Oh, and they also torture the coma victims apparently, sometimes by opening their victims’ guts and attaching their intestines to a rotisserie spit and then cranking to their heart’s content. Comas are hard.
Sebastian Cane - Hollow Man
Ever wanted to see Kevin Bacon go crazy evil and decide that he should be a god just because no one can see him? That’s what happened to him as Sebastian Caine in the underrated classic, Hollow Man. It’s an old horror movie that follows the exploits and deranged success of Caine, a molecular biologist who decided to become a guinea pig for his experimental invisibility serum.
The good news is that it worked. The bad news is that Caine was a perverted narcissist who, due to invisibility, developed a god complex faster than someone who can resurrect in three days. As such, Caine did all manners of crimes and transgressions since he was basically an invisible hand who can do anything and everything. That title, for that matter, is a double entendre; humans can be monsters, too.
Spinosaurus - Jurassic Park 3
The T-Rex might have been the big bad boss when it comes to the Jurassic Park franchise, but it actually has been defeated by something more deadly and has actual useful arms! Jurassic Park 3’s Spinosaurus lays the T-Rex to rests and gives a new face of terror to the apex predator of dinosaurs.
Heck, the film even shows the Spinosaurus killing a T-Rex. Scientists also surmise the Spinosaurus may have been the biggest carnivore/predator that ever existed—even bigger than the T-Rex. Forget about heading to the water for safety as well, the Spinosaurus can swim, too.
Alien - Alien vs. Predator
Speaking of apex predators, there can only be one in the extraterrestrial category. Between the Alien or the Predator, it’s not hard to see which one’s more terrifying. One is a social Darwinist warrior with dreadlocks and a bad case of gingivitis, while the other is an invincible space cockroach who’s pretty much the sentient equivalent of death.
For that matter, Aliens originating from the Alien franchise are a lot scarier than Predators, as is evident even when placed alongside their very capable counterparts in the monster crossover film Alien vs. Predator. You definitely don’t want to be locked with one in a small room.
Godzilla - Godzilla
Forget about the Spinosaurus, the Japanese have their own fictional apex predator which they’ve been perfecting for more than six decades now: Gojira, or, in the Western tongue, Godzilla. After the controversial Western adaptation in 1998, the Japanese worked hard to clean up Godzilla’s legacy once more. Films like Godzilla: Final Wars and Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla barely cut it.
However, there’s no doubt that Godzilla’s popularity and notoriety haven’t diminished one bit. He’s still the angry and scary reminder of human hubris and an avatar of retribution for mankind. What he has come to represent is scarier than the actual antihero monster himself.
Killer Alien Slugs - Slither
Moving on to other predators, we present you some of the unlikeliest sci-fi monsters to ever terrorize human beings: slugs from outer space courtesy of the horror-comedy film Slither. It’s the spiritual successor to Night of the Creeps where slugs basically infect human beings with some icky nasty stuff that would make you puke and would also make you scared of any boil of pimple in your body moving forward.
It might be hard to believe but these alien slugs that turn human beings into body horror genre pieces are actually part of the MCU— yes, the MCU. You see, that’s because Slither was directed by James Gunn, and he included these slugs as Easter Eggs in Guardians of the Galaxy as part of a certain treasure hunter’s collection.
Mutant Fish - The Host
One doesn’t have to look far into outer space to create monsters. According to Bong Joon-Ho’s The Host, humans are very much capable of creating the monsters themselves. The sci-fi monster here is a giant amphibian mudfish-like creature that kidnaps humans and stores them as food for later.
The twist is that such a creature was actually the result of improper chemical waste disposal in South Korea’s rivers. Like Godzilla, the abomination is both physically horrific and has come to represent all of humanity’s mistakes which must be punished
Extradimensional Creatures - The Mist
Regardless of how many horror creatures you see, the unseen ones will always be the most terrifying. They are unknown, mysterious, and remind you that life is meaningless and we are all nothing but sacks of meat. That’s the foreboding feeling that will stay with you all throughout The Mist, a film adaptation of Stephen King’s Lovecraftian horror novel.
A military experiment gone wrong exposes one town to another dimension, and out came pouring all sorts of creepy crawlies from another reality accompanied by a strange mist. From spider and insect hordes that are freakier than anything you’ll see in Australia to huge lumbering tentacle monsters that are most likely Cthulhu’s pets. You’ll find no scarier monsters than the creatures of the mist when it comes to 2000s sci-fi movies.
Crawlers - The Descent
Spelunking is not everyone’s cup of tea, what with being alone in the dark in an eerie cave, and all. It’s a lot worse when you’re being pursued by a strain of horrendously terrifying mutant humanoids who rely on sound to capture their prey!
The Descent proved just how awful it can be to mix claustrophobia with sheer, primal fight-or-flight terror. The scares in the film are genuine, and powered by a straightforward monster design that hits all the right notes.
The Pale Man - Pan’s Labyrinth
From the deepest recesses of evil comes the Pale Man, a soulless and grotesque butcher who eats children alive, and cares nothing for the pleas of mercy. In Pan’s Labyrinth, he’s the second in a series of villains that Ofelia must face in order to retrieve a symbolic dagger.
The creature is frightening as is, but when it lifts its hands and splays out its fingers to reveal two glaring eyeballs (which it uses to see), it becomes ten times as bone-chilling and blood curdling!
Pyramid Head - Silent Hill
The ominous Pyramid Head is not a guy you’d want to bump into late at night in an alley. He’s a frighteningly cold and vicious demon that is theorized to act out the subconscious thoughts of those within Silent Hill. His macabre and grotesque actions suggest a connection to latent primal, negative thoughts.
Regardless, he’s a killer, through and through. 2006’s Silent Hill movie brought Pyramid Head to the forefront; every bit as vicious as his game counterpart. In one particularly gruesome scene, he tears the skin off a woman and flings it at two fleeing characters. Spine-tingling stuff!
Sammael - Hellboy
2004’s Hellboy had an equal share of laughs as it did tense moments, which is part of the movie’s charm. It wasn’t afraid to churn out some vicious looking baddies for Hellboy to fight, however! One of the best is Sammael, the so-called “Desolate One,” aptly named for its status as Hell Hound whose essence was encased in crystals formed from the tears of a thousand angels.
Yikes! It also possessed a strong healing factor and the ability to regenerate lost limbs. Rasputin’s spell didn’t help much either, causing two to rise up whenever one was killed.
The Monsters - Feast
These ugly mothers don’t actually have a name; they’re simply called “monsters,” and that’s good enough for us! The principle antagonists of Feast, they’re relentless, tough and full of, shall we say…questionable mating habits!
While Feast was undoubtedly a tongue-in-cheek horror/comedy hybrid, its monsters are definitely the kind you’d cross the street to avoid - if not the entire country!
