The Scariest Movie Monsters of All Time

Movie: Frankenstein (1931) and sequels

We can’t say “in movie history” without including a couple of classics, and Boris Karloff’s portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster in the 1931 film directed by James Whale was an easy choice. The monster from Mary Shelley’s book was already a tragic (but terrifying) character, though Karloff brought him to life with his acting abilities. Jack Pierce’s makeup and now iconic flat head design also added to the scariness of the man who was made of several corpses and given an empty life. The “flower” scene is often mentioned as the scariest scene in the film, but the monster’s shriek, his stature, and his strength would have us running from the jump.

Movie: Nosferatu (1922)

There were a number of scary vampires that could have made the list, including Bela Lugosi in Dracula (1931), Chris Sarandon in Fright Night (1985), or the throat rippers in 30 Days of Night (2010), but German actor Max Schreck’s look in Nosferatu is the scariest. The sharp teeth, pale skin, bat-like ears, hunched shoulders, and long nails are what you expect to see lurking in the shadows at night. The film was silent, but Orlok’s appearance gives you an idea of how chilling his voice (or snarl) would have been.

Movie: Jaws (1975)

In 2013, there were 72 authenticated reports of unprovoked shark attacks across the globe, so the danger is real. When Jaws was released in 1975, people became more afraid to get in the water because they were convinced that the huge bully would be there waiting.

Movie: The Descent (2005)

The Descent isn’t scary because it’s something that is likely to happen; it’s just a well-made horror film with great creatures and great use of sound and darkness to creep you out. The species of cave dwellers are slimy, deformed, have sharp teeth, and can scurry across the ceiling like Spider-Man. They are also blind and use echolocation to see their way around the pitch-black caverns that humans can not, which gives them an unfair and horrifying advantage over the unsuspecting spelunkers.

Movie: Friday the 13th franchise (1980-2009)

Jason is another tragic character, much like Frankenstein's monster, only he wasn't pieced together from dead bodies. As a deformed child, Jason was neglected by his sex-crazed camp counselors and drowned. His lunatic mother was killed while exacting her revenge at Camp Crystal Lake, but the immortal Jason lived on to slowly stalk his prey and silently skewer them for their promiscuity.

Dying for sex is frightening enough, but add a tall dude with a machete (who never runs but always catches you) and you have a pretty serious threat. Michael Myers and other slashers were scary, but most of them were limited by their mobility and had a murder radius of a few miles. Jason went to space.

Movie: A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise (1984-2010)

What's scarier than ax murderers, aliens, and lab experiments? A guy who can infiltrate your dreams to violently end you. You can argue that his sense of humor and fear of fire make Krueger less scary, but his kills are gruesome and you can never escape him.

Wes Craven was inspired by true events in which otherwise healthy people were afraid to sleep and subsequently died when they did. If you say that the original film in the franchise didn't give you nightmares the first time you saw it, you're a liar.

Movie: Hellraiser franchise (1987-2011)

Pinhead is by far the most well known, but all of the Cenobites are terrifying in their own right. People who have not seen the original Hellraiser would think that the torturers from hell (really another realm) are the stars of the film, but they don't get a lot of screen time. The word cenobite means that they belong to a specific religious order, but they lean more toward the extreme. Each has their own sick physical mutilations, and they share an affinity for “experimenting” on their victims in sadomasochistic ways.

Movie: The Fly (1986)

Seth Brundle was an ambitious scientist who bit off a little more than he could chew and it came back to bite him in the ass. While trying to transport a living creature (himself) from one telepod to another, Brundle accidentally mixes his molecules with that of a fly. For the rest of the film we get to watch his cringe-worthy transformation, which happens gradually over the course of weeks. Brundle loses it, and it’s the combination of his dwindling human characteristics and his grotesque appearance that makes us uncomfortable and afraid.

Movies: Alien franchise (1979-1997), Alien vs Predator films (2004; 2007), and Prometheus (2012)

The Xenomorph is the perfect killing machine and is scary in each of its forms, from goo, to face hugger, to chest burster, to mature alien. It’s fast, strong, and really only has one purpose in life. If you’re somehow lucky enough to kill one, there is a real possibility that you or someone you know is growing another one inside of you, and you won’t know until it’s too late. H.R. Giger gets a lot of credit for creating the art that inspired the creatures in the film, but Ridley Scott’s vision really brought it all together. The series has stood the test of time and is by all accounts a sci-fi/horror classic.

Movie: The Thing (1982; 2011)

Every monster on this list has some quality that the others don’t, which makes them uniquely scary. We gave the alien creature from The Thing the top spot because of its ability to become anyone—and anything—that it kills, and for the dramatic way that it alters the body when it is ready to find another form. The effects in the 1982 film are still some of the best in horror film history and they absolutely make the film what it is. Whether it’s a guy’s stomach opening and biting a doctor’s hands off, a weird detached head growing legs, or a freaky dog, each time the Thing’s disguise is compromised, it becomes a new nightmare waiting to happen.