Best of the beasts: Get into the Halloween spirit with the 10 top movie monsters and villains of all time

The Halloween season has always been the best time of year to watch horror movies – and especially monster movies. It fits the eerie atmosphere when creatures that shouldn’t exist find ways to creep out of the darkest corners of the mind and terrify to no end.

There are so many great movie monsters out there that it’s worth looking at some of the most iconic ones. So, if you’re looking for some movie monsters to help get you into the spirit of Halloween, here are 10 of the best ones.

10. Audrey II from “Little Shop of Horrors” (1986): In terms of the more whimsical monsters, it’s difficult to not get a chuckle out of a carnivorous plant from another galaxy that also belts out the most memorable songs in a movie filled with great music. As the film progresses, Audrey II becomes more monstrous as it grows in size and makes more demands from Seymour.

9. The Gill Man from “Creature From the Black Lagoon” (1954): Of all the monsters to come out of the 1950s, the Gill Man certainly has the creepiest and most memorable appeal. It is half-man, half-fish and all monster. But its appeal has grown in recent years because of reanalyzing the movie and realizing that he simply wanted love. Though I think “The Shape of Water” helped moviegoers love the gill man a lot more.

8. It from “It Follows” (2014): Not to be confused with Pennywise from “It,” this shapeshifting creature is the most unique monster of the last decade. It is first transmitted through sexual intercourse and then stalks you. Never running, but also never stopping. It will take any shape it needs to in order to get you, making it a slow burn terror that is not easily forgotten.

7. T-800 and T-1000 from “The Terminator” (1984) and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991): Much like the creature from “It Follows,” both of the villains in the first two “Terminator” movies have been seared into consciousness as unstoppable killing machines who cannot be reasoned with. What makes these killer robots a little bit better is they’re manmade.

6. Freddy Krueger from “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984): In terms of memorable film slasher villains, the one that best fits the description of a monster is certainly Freddy Krueger. While he’s just as brutal as slashers like Jason and Michael Myers, Freddy gets many more points for doing this when his victims are the most vulnerable – in their sleep.

5. Count Orlok from “Nosferatu” (1922): The vampire has to be one of the most iconic monsters in fiction in and out of film. While tempted to go with Bela Lugosi’s Dracula from the 1931 classic, the horrifying design and atmosphere of Count Orlok makes him a better monster than Lugosi’s interpretation. When I think of a vampire, they look more batlike than humanlike, and Orlok is the reason for that.

4. The Thing from “The Thing” (1982): I recently wrote about why John Carpenter’s “The Thing” is a perfect horror movie, and the whole reason for that is because its monster is used better than any other movie monster. A shapeshifting alien that can be anyone or anything, while also working to undermine the humans trying to hunt it down. It is intelligent, grotesque and dangerous all rolled into one.

3. Xenomorph from “Alien” (1979): Now we come to the three most iconic movie monsters, starting with the perfect killing machine in the xenomorph. Every stage of this alien is wrapped in several layers of mystery and terror, from the eggs and the chest burster to the adult form’s twin jaws and acid blood. When I think of alien monsters that keep one awake at night, Hollywood has never done better than in “Alien.”

2. Frankenstein’s Monster from “Frankenstein” (1931): While the character originated in Mary Shelley’s novel, it’s safe to say the 1931 film version has completely eclipsed her novel. Most of the things associated with Frankenstein came from the movie, including the inhuman design, neck bolts and castle setting during a lightning storm. But the power of the monster is how sympathetic and yet still terrifying it can be.

1. Godzilla from “Godzilla” (1954): When I think of a movie monster, Godzilla has always been tops. No other monster compares to Godzilla’s unstoppable force of nature. Everything about the king of the monsters is memorable, from his design and atomic fire breath to his roar. He can be frightening and lighthearted and pulls off both well. If you’re going to make a movie monster, you might as well go big.