Buzz
In 1954, a massive 46-meter (150 ft) reptile stormed onto Japanese cinema, while enormous ants, as big as trucks, invaded American screens. The triumphs of Godzilla and Them! inspired filmmakers in Hollywood and Tokyo to unleash a wave of oversized mutants, often leading to absurd outcomes.
10. The Giant Claw (1957)
This movie’s avian monstrosity—boasting a stretchy neck, bulging eyes, a mouth full of fangs, and a scruffy Mohawk—appears as though it was battered by a barrage of ugly sticks. It devoured planes, trains, and demolished structures by using its face like a battering ram, which says it all. The creature wasn’t an ancient vulture thawed from an ice block nor a radioactive turkey from Bikini Atoll. “That bird is from outer space. It hails from an antimatter galaxy millions of light years away,” a scientist in the film clarifies.
The main filming was completed without the monster, which was added later after outsourcing the special effects to a Mexican studio. Lead actor Jeff Morrow recalls, “The director—Fred Sears—simply instructed us, ‘Alright, now you see the bird up there, and you’re terrified! Use your imagination.’ But we didn’t actually see it until the premiere night. The audience couldn’t stop laughing. We were on screen, acting like fools, treating this ridiculous bird as if it were the most terrifying thing ever . . . [The producers] later admitted they ran out of funds. They could only afford this absurd puppet . . . I’ve never been so humiliated.” The shame was so intense that the film wasn’t released on DVD until 2007.
The issues extended beyond the monster’s appearance. The strings controlling the creature were glaringly visible, as were those delivering planes to its mouth. One aircraft—which mysteriously had two engines in one shot and four in another—was knocked from the sky, only to halt mid-fall when its strings got tangled. It dangled momentarily, rose slightly, and then finally plummeted.
9. Earth vs. The Spider (1958)
Following the success of Them!, filmmakers flooded screens with every irritating insect imaginable in 1957. Grasshoppers starred in The Beginning of the End, a praying mantis in The Deadly Mantis, scorpions in The Black Scorpion, and wasps in Monster From Green Hell. This trend culminated in absurdity the next year with Earth vs. the Spider, a knockoff of another imitation—Tarantula (1955)—directed by Bert I. Gordon, the master of low-budget copycats.
Gordon was notorious for his cheap, clichéd special effects. In Earth vs. the Spider, characters are ensnared in webs resembling cargo nets. The spider, a normal-sized creature, crawls over plastic models or what appear to be scenic postcards. During a car chase scene, the poor-quality processing shots rendered the spider transparent, with the background clearly visible through it.
As often seen in these films, scientific accuracy was ignored. At one point, a high school science teacher remarks, “Speaking of spiders, insects have pretty simple nervous systems.” Spiders, of course, are not insects. Additionally, the arachnid screeches, despite spiders lacking any physical means to produce such sounds.
Gordon didn’t shy away from tacky promotional strategies. The local theater in the movie’s setting screens not one but two of his earlier films. In a blatant attempt to appeal to younger audiences, he depicted townspeople dragging the unconscious giant spider to the high school gym, where they inexplicably host a sock hop filled with teenagers. In a scene dripping with symbolism—enough to make Sigmund Freud cringe—the rock and roll music revives the monster. Clearly unimpressed by the tunes, it proceeds to wreak havoc across the town.
The film’s peculiar title reflects the filmmaker’s priorities. Initially titled The Spider, it was renamed after Earth vs. the Flying Saucer debuted in 1956. When The Fly became a blockbuster just as Earth vs. the Spider was set to release, producers hastily re-added the original title to advertisements, though the new title stayed in the final cut.
8. Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster (1966)
Throughout the 1950s and ’60s, Godzilla faced off against—and teamed up with—a variety of colossal creatures. While he battled insects, spiders, and sea monsters, fans widely agree that two of the most underwhelming foes appeared in the same movie, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster.
The seventh installment featuring Godzilla was one of the rare films not directed by Ishiro Honda, the creator of the franchise. His replacement, Jun Fukuda, had little interest in special effects and significantly reduced the involvement of Eiji Tsuburaya, the longtime Godzilla effects director. The lack of passion was evident in the final product.
The film faced additional challenges as it was initially written for King Kong, not Godzilla. When Kong was removed from the project, the script remained largely unchanged, with the heroes swapped. Fans, accustomed to Honda/Tsuburaya collaborations featuring Godzilla in epic battles and city-destroying rampages, found this installment lacking. Set entirely on a remote island, there were no urban landscapes to demolish. Fukuda retained the villainous creatures, which might have posed a threat to a giant ape but were laughably outmatched against a fire-breathing, armored reptile.
One antagonist was a nameless giant orange condor that merely flew around, irritating Godzilla. When Big G had enough, he effortlessly incinerated the bird mid-flight. The other foe, pretentiously named “Ebirah, Horror of the Deep,” stood waist-deep in water, flailing its claws and occasionally nipping at Godzilla. During their clash, Ebirah dragged Godzilla underwater—a move that might have been tense if facing Kong, but Godzilla thrives underwater. He handled Ebirah like a seafood dish: boiling, dismembering, and dunking the creature in a suspiciously butter-like liquid.
7. Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman (1958)
The late 1950s saw a wave of “giant human” films, and their promotional materials left little doubt about their reliance on sexual exploitation. The poster for 1957’s The Amazing Colossal Man featured actor Glen Langan leering at a bathing woman through a skyscraper window. Similarly, the 1959 comedy-horror The 30-Foot Bride of Candy Rock depicted Lou Costello (in his only solo film) clinging to the leg of a giantess in a sheer bridal gown. Allison Hayes, the star of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, became a pin-up icon, showcased on posters straddling a highway as tiny cars crashed beneath her revealing skirt—a scene that never actually appeared in the movie.
Despite its intriguing poster, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is a dull affair. The film suffers from a weak script, stiff performances, and cringe-worthy special effects. Made in just two weeks on an $88,000 budget, Hayes’s enlarged character mostly stomps around in repetitive, poorly processed shots, appearing either ghostly or translucent. Her papier-mache hand, used for picking up objects, was visibly shaky, and the electrical tower she stands near is unmistakably wooden.
The film’s potential message, with its early feminist undertones (Hayes plays a wealthy woman battling both an outdated legal system and a deceitful husband), was somewhat undermined by her revealing giantess outfit. Any remaining relevance is further diminished by the inclusion of a giant alien and a tacky flying saucer, which felt entirely unnecessary.
6. The Monster That Challenged The World (1957)
Unlike many low-budget monster films, The Monster That Challenged The World boasted a solid script and competent acting. It even included a nighttime swim scene that foreshadowed the iconic opening of Jaws. However, it’s difficult to instill fear with a shell-less snail. The film’s grandiose title, which gave no hint of its plot, was also misleading—the snail doesn’t challenge the world, just a tiny island.
The filmmakers attempted to mask the film’s flaws by shocking 1950s audiences with gruesome scenes. One snail decapitates a diver and drains a sailor’s blood, leaving behind a shriveled, blackened corpse. The creature also leaves radioactive slime in its wake, adding to the gross-out factor.
Supporters of the film, who claim it’s one of the best of the 1950s, praise its detailed monster suit. However, they overlook a glaring issue—the suit bears no resemblance to a snail. Snails lack pincers, mouths, bulging eyes, or stubby legs, and they certainly don’t move at the speed this creature does.
5. Son Of Godzilla (1967)
Godzilla enthusiasts are divided over the character known as Baby Godzilla, Godzilla Junior, Minilla, or Minya. While some despise him, others remain indifferent. Many view Junior as the Japanese equivalent of Scrappy Doo, created primarily to boost toy sales, at least in his early appearances.
In later installments, Junior played a role in Godzilla’s battles, but in his debut films, Son of Godzilla and Destroy All Monsters, he became a target of ridicule. Directed by Jun Fukuda, who also helmed the disappointing Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, Son of Godzilla introduces Baby G as a goofy puppet hatching from an egg, with visible strings. Junior sports a more human-like face, no teeth, chubby cheeks, and a rotund body.
In a blatant attempt to attract younger audiences, Godzilla and his son engage in playful antics, including jump rope with Daddy’s tail and practicing fire-breathing—though Junior can only produce comical smoke rings. Throughout the film, Junior causes trouble, preventing Godzilla from resting, while the audience struggles to stay awake.
4. Attack Of The Crab Monsters (1957)
Roger Corman, a legend in science-fiction, was the mastermind behind these laughable creatures and the director of their film. Known for his low-budget productions, Corman could finish a movie so fast that he often had time left on his actors’ contracts to shoot another film. He was also infamous for repurposing discarded sets from other projects.
The monsters in this film are clearly oversized crabs, but with unsettling human-like eyes. They possess the bizarre ability to absorb human voices and knowledge, growing intelligent enough to destroy a seaplane and disable a radio after consuming human brains. They emit infrared beams that obliterate parts of the island, forcing humans into the water where the crabs ambush them. Using their stolen voices, the crabs lure victims into dark, secluded caves.
Once again, the “science” in this science-fiction tale is questionable. A scientist character examines crab tissue under a microscope and claims it’s liquefied, enabling the crabs to absorb human brains, memories, and voices. If this sounds nonsensical, that’s because it is.
3. Monster From The Ocean Floor (1954)
Typically, multicellular organisms aren’t frightened by amoebas, even cow-sized ones. Roger Corman, however, thought otherwise and gambled his modest $18,000 budget on the idea that audiences would flee theaters at the sight of his absurd giant amoeba. Instead, they ran—straight to the box office to demand refunds.
Corman filled much of the film with extended underwater scenes featuring a shapely heroine, clearly inspired by the slow-motion diving sequences in The Creature From the Black Lagoon, released just four months earlier. When not focusing on swimwear, he showcased a mini-submarine, a novelty at the time. The monster is rarely seen, appearing only twice, always obscured by murky water or blurred. This works in the film’s favor, as an octopus easily doubles for the strawberry-shaped, tentacled, one-eyed creature during the few action scenes.
Rumor has it that this was Corman’s second attempt at designing the monster. The first version, allegedly resembling a giant contraceptive diaphragm, was so ridiculed by test audiences that a sensitive Corman removed it entirely.
2. Night Of The Lepus (1972)
It’s baffling how so many supposedly intelligent executives approved a film about giant pink-nosed rabbits terrorizing a town and devouring people. In the story, scientists experiment with chemicals to control rabbit overpopulation, and one test bunny mates with a wild hare. Their offspring grow into enormous, human-eating rabbits, though it’s never explained how the mother gave birth to babies six or seven times her size.
The producers cleverly concealed the true nature of their monsters in pre-release promotions. Posters depicted humans fleeing from menacing eyes, but these were binocular—positioned like human eyes—rather than the monocular eyes rabbits actually have. The trailer is equally deceptive, featuring screams and a voice declaring, “Kill one, and thousands take its place.” Clearly, the producers hoped audiences wouldn’t know the meaning of “lepus.”
But how do you make rabbits terrifying? This film’s solution is to barely show them, instead focusing on people screaming in bed or on the floor, drenched in spaghetti sauce, followed by close-ups of bunny mouths smeared with ketchup.
1. Food Of The Gods (1976)
American International Pictures made a terrible decision by hiring Bert Gordon, the director of Earth vs. the Spiders, to helm the first and third films in a trilogy based on H.G. Wells’s stories, starting with Food of the Gods. Gordon penned a painfully bad script filled with flat characters spouting awful dialogue and behaving in ways that defy all logic.
The story revolves around visitors to a cursed island where a farmer feeds his chicks a mysterious goo seeping from the ground. The chicks grow to 3 meters (10 ft) tall, kill their parents, and then attack the humans. Other animals—like wasps, worms, and rats—also consume the goo and grow to massive sizes. Gordon never explains what the goo is, where it comes from, or why creatures with such different biology react identically to it.
Gordon’s creature effects hadn’t improved since the 1950s. He reused matte shots with humans on one side and creatures on the other, along with laughable models. In one scene, a giant rat attacks a man in a red car, only to cut to a wide shot of real rats playfully nudging a Matchbox car of a slightly different red shade.
