Ever since the conception of film all the way back in the early 1900s, movies and stories surrounding gigantic monsters and weird creatures were some of the first films to be introduced, and have managed to fascinate audiences for decades. With each passing director or story, the monsters get bigger and weirder; from Godzilla, to King Kong, to giant ants, the giant monster genre strives to outdo itself with every outing.

Some are more tame and grounded, like Jurassic Park. Others are just created to show impressive Kaiju fights, akin to Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Some are more story and character-driven, with the beast in the background, like Colossal. The giant monster genre of cinema allows imaginations to run wild, to allow audiences to see or hear things they never would have thought of in their regular lives. The films also allow for some CGI creations of truly epic proportions. Alas, some monster movies crash and burn, while others soar and succeed. Here are the best of those giant monster movies, ranked.

5 The Mist (2007)

     MGM Studios

One of many films across Hollywood based on a Stephen King story, The Mist is based on one of King’s longest, darkest, and arguably scariest stories. The Mist surrounds a small town that gets enveloped in a mysterious mist, and in that mist lies all sorts of giant monsters and creatures terrorizing the town. What makes The Mist excel is not the monsters themselves (though they are truly terrifying to gaze upon), but rather the suspense and tension created from the citizens not being able to see those creatures, and trying to defend themselves from them. Like driving a car in a thick fog down a tight mountain road, going slow, looking everywhere, and just being generally cautious, people do their best to avoid accidents of all sorts; but they can’t really avoid accidents if what they’re looking out for are giant, killer monsters. The Mist is also known to have one of the most depressing film endings ever, but is more remembered for its suspense, tension, and giant many-legged monsters.

4 Cloverfield (2008)

     Paramount Pictures

Akin to the movie listed above, Cloverfield is another horror masterclass, taking the found footage style of The Blair Witch Project and injecting it with one of the best modern monster movies. Showing a normal group of people celebrating and living a regular life, Cloverfield flips their world upside down as a giant monster begins attacking New York City. The group then has to go through ravaged NYC, while the monster is still attacking. With very good CGI, built-up horror, and more; Cloverfield has sustained itself into the present, spawning two sequels with a potential third on the way.

3 Jurassic Park (1993)

     Universal Pictures

Based on real-life monsters (Dinosaurs), and based on the novel by the ever-great Micheal Crichton, Jurassic Park debuted in 1993 and immediately paved its place into popular culture. With some of the best CGI of all time (involving the terrifying Tyrannosaurus Rex), fascinating characters, a classic musical score, and more; Jurassic Park became an instant classic, beloved by fans and critics alike. And it is just one of forty-seven films (of all-time) to make more than one billion dollars at the box office. A family adventure with suspense, terror, and fantastic (but scary) dinosaurs, Jurassic Park is a modern masterpiece, one that spawned two sequels, along with a spinoff franchise of three films (Jurassic World).

2 King Kong (1933)

     RKO Pictures

One of two classics that made modern giant monster movies what they are today, and the oldest film on this list, is 1933’s King Kong. The story follows a young videographer trying to film his next wildlife flick, and it leads him to the infamous Skull Island, home to all sorts of giant monsters and such. The biggest, fiercest monster on all of Skull Island is King Kong, a giant gorilla. Created through stop-motion animation and fancy camera angles, the creators brought the lovable ape to life, along with its live-action counterparts. Trouble only ensues when they bring Kong back to NYC, leading to some of the most iconic scenes in all film. It has also been ranked in the top-100 films of all-time across multiple aggregator sites.

1 Godzilla (1954)

     Toho Co.

Aptly named “King of the Monsters”, Godzilla premiered in Japanese theaters back in 1954, and the impact has been immense since. After destroying two naval ships, Godzilla comes to mainland Japan, and the citizens have to do their best to stop him. The film is best known (outside the creation of the horrifying Godzilla creature) for pioneering a new type of special effects technique known as Suitmation, where an actor dresses up as the monster in order to film the scenes of destruction. Mixing that with some tiny town sets, the creators of the film were able to put together some of the most believable scenes of destruction for its time. In fact, when first seeing the film, theater-goers ran out in fear once they saw Godzilla approaching the same theater in the film to destroy it. The legend and fear have only grown since then, with a vast amount of sequels, reboots, and spin-offs in the seventy years since its debut. Godzilla is truly one of the greats.

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