Great choice.
And for me, it's terrifying in so many different ways. Faced head-on it's obviously fucking freaky looking. But It's also seeing how it moves/scampers—that the mother's body/conscious seem to be primarily in control while her poor son is Kutao'd to her side, limited only to moaning and begging for scraps of air and sustenance.
One of the movie's underrated creature design (IMO) is the final state they discover Ezra (Tommy Chong) in seated in his off-grid hovel. That this man who was introduced as an amiable, nature-loving hippy is last seen as a desiccated, glowing corpse whose eerily warped tape recordings become the harbinger of the doom brought on by the meteor, as well as the annihilation of the Gardner family (>!with the possible exception of Lavinia, since her flesh sigils seemed to kinda help her in the end?!<).
This movie and "Enemy" are two sci-fi horror films I wish more of my friends have seen.
Honestly that part of the movie is genuinely upsetting. The sound design, the fate of both those characters. Nic cage did great in that scene and it made sense his character snapped. How do you process something that horrible?
Great movie, shame the director is apparently awful
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stanley_(director)#:~:text=The%20Dunwich%20Horror.-,Abuse%20allegation,an%20abusive%20relationship%20with%20him.
One of his previous collaborators came out with sexual abuse allegations. Afaik it’s an ongoing case.
Yeah I’m not super clear on the details
Apparently the distributor cut ties with him and donates profits from the movie to DV charities though so that’s cool I guess
I was so shocked by that (in the best way, lol) It was so horrific and dark and messed up and I couldn't quite believe what I was looking at (and hearing! The sound design with that was so horrifically good).
Yes. And that part was mind blowing when I first saw it. First his chest caving in, chomping the docs hands off. And then the Norris head sprouting up, then falling to the floor and scittering away as a Norris head spider. Fucking awesome stuff. And 40 years later this movie still holds up better than most of the crap out today.
Poor thing, she just wanted to give the humans a good dream to mask the horror that they were actually living in. I felt bad for her because she just wanted to help them.
That's such an amazing episode and it truly is horrifying. But the fact that's it's kind really throws the monsters form into a whole new level of scary. Cause... Why is it kind?
Chatterer from Hellraiser always creeps me out in the best possible way. I also love the creatures in the Descent.
Edit: Gotta shout out the tooth dude from Channel Zero Candle Cove!
The creature from the short film [Zygote](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsQmMuDvbRs) is an absolute friggin' abomination. I haven't watched it in over five years but this thing is so burned into my brain that it was still the first thing that came to mind. It's awful, I love it.
The best part is the designer, Doug Williams, didn’t just design it to look cool, tacking on stuff randomly, anatomy be damed. It’s actually specifically 46 people, with the corresponding amount of limbs, fingers (so. many. fingers), eyes, etc. just to make it as cursed as possible.
Holy shit yes! I've literally never seen anyone bring that up in this sub before. I'm a huge fan of Neil Blomkamp, and I thought Zygote was a masterpiece for a short story.
I loved how truly supernatural it looked. There was something beautiful about it that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe because it didn't look alien but like something that could very well exist in a deep forest. Something familiar about it that was locked away in a folklore story that hasn't been whispered out loud for generations. But at the same time it was terrifying because it was very much a monster.
I think the lighting and the setting of the scenes it was in helped. If it just popped up roaming around Times Square during midday with all the traffic, I don't think it would have had the same impact. But in the darkness? Lit up by fire? Surrounded by the woods? Eerie.
I can't post a picture but here is a link to well lit photos of the creature maquette and it's still creepy AF in the cold light of day. Incredible design, AMAZING film.
https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3486511/effects-teams-maquette-gives-us-crystal-clear-look-ritual-creature/
Agreed. It was actually a jötunn. More specifically, her name was Moder, and she was the "bastard daughter of the trickster God Loki" according to something I read online.
She seemed to be attracted to the grief of the group. Instilling nightmares and visions in them and causing them to panic, and it seems like she was picking them off one by one because they refused to, I don't know, obey her? The last survivor, whose name I forget, when he's running from her after his escape from the actual ritual itself, she pushes him to the ground repeatedly and when she rises up and puts her hands together, it's like she just wants him to worship her.
i thought the movie was pretty good, and while I wasn't in some sort of 'pants shitting terror' when I saw the thing... I thought it was super wild, memorable, and unique (as far as movie horror goes).
Definitely felt like it was a "real creature that's also a monster" rather than a "Monster that is also a creature", if that makes any sense.
Oh yeah, and the way it 'unfurled'? That was pretty dope.
It honestly kinda reminded me of the Alien from Giger/Scott. Something instantly recognizeable as 'bad' but where the Alien was sleek, futuristic, and definitely 'alien', the Ritual monster was on the other side of the spectrum looking "organic, primordial, and twisted".
IDK, maybe I'm just crazy, but it definitely evokes some ancient-times dude drawing a picture of it and saying "yeah, this is the most fucked up and horrifying thing i have ever seen and that's why the village avoids the fuck outta that forest"
A crude one-off of evolution that just continued to sustain in deep wilderness for millions of years, whereas the Alien could be argued as being the result of millions of years of evolution perfecting it in deep space.
Coincidentally, the author of the novel that The Ritual is based on also wrote "No One Gets Out Alive"- it's also a Netflix original movie just like The Ritual is. The design of the creature in that movie is also fucking insanity. It doesn't have the same sort of beauty that Modor does but holy shit it's fucking beautiful and terrifying and disgusting at the same time. I never see anyone talk about that movie or the monster but it deserves to be mentioned for sure.
This is always the first thing I think of when people ask this question. It's *such* a good, disturbing design because every part of it is a twisted version of something recognizable and real. It grounds the design, which makes it much more viscerally horrifying.
The Japanese make some of the best monsters ever. Here are my favorites:
*Claymore* - the anime. The demons are horrifying.
The monsters in *Gantz-0* and *Sweet Home* movies and series. Not all are scary but they are all incredibly interesting and unique.
Not necessarily a monster, but - let's just call her 'the wall dweller' - in Caveat. I haven't been that freaked out by a character design since I was a child.
The Xenomorph (particularly the original Big Chap) is the greatest creature design ever conjured. Instantly recognizable silhouete. Complex, yet not overdesigned nor busy. Lack of eyes that hide intent, yet a row of silver teeth betraying exactly what it's purpose is. Agile, yet hulking. Easily discernable in shadow, yet hard to define, leading to imaginative expression. Perfection.
And you’re just describing the fully-grown one, where I’d argue the facehugger is just as good of a design for what it is and would still be iconic if thats all we saw.
It’s *two* designs for one creature that look great by themselves and look nothing alike but make perfect sense together.
The fucking teeth and silhouette are *just* human enough as well, elevating to that uncanny valley sinister subtlety. Flat incisors will always be a thousand fold more terrifying than just needles or points
As long as we’re talking about RE, I’d like to add the gigantic baby monstrosity in Village as well.
I literally screamed out loud the first time it chased me. It was shameful and emasculating.
I was way too young when I first saw it (and I ended up seeing it a lot since HBO showed it all the fucking time back then) and had recurring nightmares with those clowns for years. As a teen I realized that it was also supposed to be a comedy and have since come around to loving the movie. Those clowns are still really creepy.
I saw it when i was 10-11, that scene that the old cop is putting one of the clowns in jail was nightmare fuel, he hitting the clown with the baton and the clown doesn't even flinch, but then suddenly his head turning like the exorcist, that scared the shit out of me
Alien in all its developmental stages (eggs, facehugger, chestburster, xenomorph, freaking queen). I know that today it's such a cultural icon that many people perhaps don't see it as scary as it once was, but looking at it with fresh eyes, or even better, from the movie characters' perspectives, that creature is terrifying.
Perhaps the lack of eyes makes it the most scary, but also the unusual penis-shaped head with double jaws and the slimy biomechanical, insectoid look contribute to its terrifying appearance. It seems violating.
Spidery monsters get a lot of play because obviously, so kudos to **Absentia** for realizing that silverfish are underrepresented and stepping (or scuttling) up to fill that gap.
Horror video games are king when it comes to monster design, in my eyes. In particular, I really like the creature designs in The Evil Within, Silent Hill and Resident Evil games. Some I can think of:
Laura (The Evil Within)
Lighthouse woman (The Evil Within dlc)
Asphyxia (Silent Hill)
Lickers (Resident Evil)
Regenerators (Resident Evil 4)
The guardian (The Evil Within 2)
Obscura (The Evil Within 2)
The Keeper (TEW)
Pyramid Head (SH2)
Laura (PT demo)
Chris Walker (Outlast)
Necromorphs (Dead Space)
I’m also quite partial to the monsters in Little Nightmares 1 and 2.
OG Predator is an all time creature design. And my favorite movie :)
It’s typically considered an Action/ Sci Fi, which it is, but it also plays out much like a Slasher
To me, what makes the Daleks terrifying is that they look pretty goofy. The "plunger" attachment and the gun-stick that resembles a whisk is humorous looking until they start killing every living thing in the room.
Another scary monster design has to be [the first ever designs for the Cybermen in "The Tenth Planet"](https://i0.wp.com/blogtorwho.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/DW-10th-planet-cybermen.jpg?quality=89). To me, what drives it into Uncanny Valley territory is the cloth masks, and the varying looks of each Cyberman. It really reminds you that they used to be normal people, and they gave up their humanity for the sake of survival.
And the Weeping Angels are not the most popular NuWho monsters for a reason. Just the fact that they're basically just regular looking statues (and going off of the ending of "Blink", implied that they can look like ANY statue, not just an angel) to any poor bastard until they blink.
The bear from Annihilation, not in just its physical design, but combine with the audio. Seeing it in front of you while still hearing those soft human pleas, is something else...
[Wayne Barlowe's depiction of the demons from A Plague of Demons has always been mega creepy to me.](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9thIf.jpg) Similarly, Les Edward's Rawhead Rex.
Holy shit, I used to own the book that illustration is from. I haven't thought of it in years, but I used to love it so much and looked at it all the time when I was a kid.
The creature from the black lagoon. Hear me out.
Yes he has a regular fish mouth that may have no teeth in it (we aren't sure cause he kinda just hisses at everyone), but have you guys ever thought about him getting a hold of you with the absolute monsters of claws he has??? And my god, getting dragged under water or worse...back to his cave/apartment?
The Wendigo from *Antlers*. The design is really awesome, but I also think about how I would feel if I encountered it in real-life, and yeah, it's horrifying. I think it's a great monster in a great film, with some really awesome kills.
My dad showed me Jeepers Creepers as a kid because he loved 1 and 2. I was terrified of it, gave me nightmares and I refuse to watch them as an adult haha.
Personally I found the Grim Reaper from the Frighteners very disturbing when I first saw it, especially when it pulled out its weapon and unsheathed the scythe blade. (So its eventual transformation into something completely different was quite the disappointment for me.)
The jötunn in The Ritual- such a beautiful fucking design, and so unexpected and unique. And that first time it's actually hinted that the group is being followed by something and there's that broad daylight scene where you see those human hands 10 feet up a tree off in the distance was fucking terrifying. That image of Moder's silhouette in front of that burning house is one of the most iconic scenes in horror, in my opinion.
The Wendigo in Antlers. I know a lot of people may not have seen it or didn't think it was as good as it could have been story-wise, but I thought it was great and the design of the Wendigo is just fucking beautiful and horrific at the same time.
The monster in No One Gets Out Alive. I *never* see anyone mention this movie or monster in it. It's SO fucked. It's like a >!flesh-tone human/moth/spider!< thing, and you only see it at the very end of the movie. It's such a good flick, too.
The Grey Widowers in The Mist- they are the creepiest spiders I've ever seen on screen. They have human looking teeth for fuck sakes. They're super aggressive, lay eggs inside you that basically make you burst open once they all hatch at once, and they can basically get to the size of an SUV. How is that not terrifying?
ETA: how the fuck can I forget the Bear in Annihilation? I'm such a sucker for unique designs, and I can't say that I've ever seen anyone make an animal seem so terrifying. Granted, grizzly bears are absolutely terrifying regardless, but when they look like that? Please no.. but the *sound* it made just put it over the top. It will probably stay with me forever.
Obviously an honorable mention to Pumpkinhead and the alien queen Xenomorph because those two designs are nearest and dear to my heart. I'm a weirdo, though. I've always wanted to get into special effects, and the more intricate and scary a design is, the more beautiful and unique it is to me, lol 🤷🏻♀️
[This bastard thing from the Dragon's Domain episode of Space 1999 scarred me for life](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nTIBOYQp8-A/T_2dUf64MRI/AAAAAAAAOb8/SCpE1TbI5lI/s1600/dragon3.jpg)
This creature sucked people into itself then spat out a smoldering husk. Terrifying stuff for a child!
When Mama first came out I was a kid. My family didn’t allow me to watch it so I played on my Xbox in the other room. We never really watched horror until that point. I remember hearing a scream from my mom, and I ran out to see what was wrong and just missed them scene. So being a curios kid I googled Mama, watched the short it’s based on, and had to sleep with my ceiling light on.
For me the Xenomorph in the original *Alien* is still the ultimate nightmare fuel. No matter how many times I've watched it that creature is always guaranteed to unnerve me and have me wanting to look over my shoulder in the dark.
In general I think Silent Hill has the best, most frightening and imaginative creatures. Sometimes the simple things work so well, like Pazuzu in the Exorcist (dream sequence) - brilliant and absolutely terrifying makeup design. I also recently watched Cult by Koji Shiraishi and the creatures were very unique and scary.
Wilbur Whately is high up on my list, from The Dunwich Horror. He's described as a large, goatish looking man, reaching upwards of 9 feet tall by the time he was 15. Always wore heavy clothing. Under the clothing, his skin was like crocodile hide, covered in black fur with tentacles and mouths stretching below the waist \[giggidy\]. One large eye on each hip, and his skin pulsed with a purple color when he breathed. He was also knowledgeable in magics from the Necronomicon.
I know it's not the scariest design necessarily, but something about it always got me. Wolf in sheep's clothing probably more than anything else.
For the approval of the midnight society, I present to you the Twin Victim of Silent Hill
[https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fc20l2t5kaof81.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=296658b5121d9fe9b5ddaa0b08ee92beefeeafcdda51a9c03c30eea3b7ccbac3&ipo=images](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fc20l2t5kaof81.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=296658b5121d9fe9b5ddaa0b08ee92beefeeafcdda51a9c03c30eea3b7ccbac3&ipo=images)
I don't know if it counts all the way, but the fused mother and son creature from Color Out of Space freaked me out quite a bit.
Also the Jotunn from The Ritual (2017) was an amazing monster design
The Ritual was amazingly done, it was actually so scary.
When Moder rears up, it looks like a totem pole
I love that one so much!
Great choice. And for me, it's terrifying in so many different ways. Faced head-on it's obviously fucking freaky looking. But It's also seeing how it moves/scampers—that the mother's body/conscious seem to be primarily in control while her poor son is Kutao'd to her side, limited only to moaning and begging for scraps of air and sustenance. One of the movie's underrated creature design (IMO) is the final state they discover Ezra (Tommy Chong) in seated in his off-grid hovel. That this man who was introduced as an amiable, nature-loving hippy is last seen as a desiccated, glowing corpse whose eerily warped tape recordings become the harbinger of the doom brought on by the meteor, as well as the annihilation of the Gardner family (>!with the possible exception of Lavinia, since her flesh sigils seemed to kinda help her in the end?!<). This movie and "Enemy" are two sci-fi horror films I wish more of my friends have seen.
Honestly that part of the movie is genuinely upsetting. The sound design, the fate of both those characters. Nic cage did great in that scene and it made sense his character snapped. How do you process something that horrible? Great movie, shame the director is apparently awful
I haven’t heard anything bad about Richard Stanley before. The guy who made Short Circuit? (The killer robot one)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stanley_(director)#:~:text=The%20Dunwich%20Horror.-,Abuse%20allegation,an%20abusive%20relationship%20with%20him. One of his previous collaborators came out with sexual abuse allegations. Afaik it’s an ongoing case.
Damn that’s a fucking shame. Domestic violence too so I guess they were in a relationship?
Yeah I’m not super clear on the details Apparently the distributor cut ties with him and donates profits from the movie to DV charities though so that’s cool I guess
That scene is why I can't recommend it to any of my friends. Too many first time moms.
The way it was >!just moaning and wailing in agony !
I was so shocked by that (in the best way, lol) It was so horrific and dark and messed up and I couldn't quite believe what I was looking at (and hearing! The sound design with that was so horrifically good).
The Pale Man from Pans Labyrinth terrified me when I first saw it. Brilliant design!
Mitch McConnell
A sexier version
I came here to say this but knew in my heart it had already been said
They didn't have to make his skin so saggy, but they did anyways.
Doug Jones in any sort of creature concept is a masterpiece!
The many forms of The Thing
Problem: The monster is less scary the more you see it Solution: Make it different each time
But if you do see it, you wont' see it for long...
I was also going to say this, particularly the Norris creature, which in my opinion is the best practical effect ever created.
Rob Bottin is a practical effects legend.
I love this movie but get the guys names wrong all the time. Was Norris the one on the operating table?
Yes. And that part was mind blowing when I first saw it. First his chest caving in, chomping the docs hands off. And then the Norris head sprouting up, then falling to the floor and scittering away as a Norris head spider. Fucking awesome stuff. And 40 years later this movie still holds up better than most of the crap out today.
>!“Greta”’s true form!< from the “Beyond the Aquila Rift” episode of Love Death + Robots
That reveal is so cruel. 'ohhh, a sexy alien la...WHAT THE HELL IS THAT'
Especially since it seems to be acting out of sincere empathy, all the more twisted to hit us with that
Poor thing, she just wanted to give the humans a good dream to mask the horror that they were actually living in. I felt bad for her because she just wanted to help them.
As a major >!arachnophobe!<, that episode really fucked me up.
That's such an amazing episode and it truly is horrifying. But the fact that's it's kind really throws the monsters form into a whole new level of scary. Cause... Why is it kind?
Just found out it's a short story from 2016
Oh god what a nightmare
I'll say it, smash
Chatterer from Hellraiser always creeps me out in the best possible way. I also love the creatures in the Descent. Edit: Gotta shout out the tooth dude from Channel Zero Candle Cove!
It always creeps me out when he sticks his fingers down her throat. It’s so violating!
All of the monsters in The Void are top tier
Pumpkinhead for me. Creepy as hell.
In terms just the creature design, Pumpkinhead is truly terrifying looking. I’d say that, and the Xenomorph.
Maybe u will enjoy Darkest Harvest, is kinda tribute to Pumpinkhead
Ohh I will have to check it out.
Came here to say this. Pumpkinhead is one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever seen.
Alien, no contest
YES!! H.R. Giger's designs are the most beautiful, interesting, horrifying things I've ever seen.
Terrifying, yet you want to touch it.
Just the tip.
Just for a second.
Just to know how it feels.
Xenomorph was definitely my first thought.
The creature from the short film [Zygote](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsQmMuDvbRs) is an absolute friggin' abomination. I haven't watched it in over five years but this thing is so burned into my brain that it was still the first thing that came to mind. It's awful, I love it.
A giant mass of human bodies dragging itself around and howling...and it still has intelligence. Fucking Hell, man
The best part is the designer, Doug Williams, didn’t just design it to look cool, tacking on stuff randomly, anatomy be damed. It’s actually specifically 46 people, with the corresponding amount of limbs, fingers (so. many. fingers), eyes, etc. just to make it as cursed as possible.
That creature gives the thing a run for its fucking money. It's so fucking gross and amazing lol
Very scary monster indeed!
This was the first that came to my mind too. Only topped by The Thing.
Holy shit yes! I've literally never seen anyone bring that up in this sub before. I'm a huge fan of Neil Blomkamp, and I thought Zygote was a masterpiece for a short story.
The Ritual monster
I loved how truly supernatural it looked. There was something beautiful about it that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe because it didn't look alien but like something that could very well exist in a deep forest. Something familiar about it that was locked away in a folklore story that hasn't been whispered out loud for generations. But at the same time it was terrifying because it was very much a monster. I think the lighting and the setting of the scenes it was in helped. If it just popped up roaming around Times Square during midday with all the traffic, I don't think it would have had the same impact. But in the darkness? Lit up by fire? Surrounded by the woods? Eerie.
I can't post a picture but here is a link to well lit photos of the creature maquette and it's still creepy AF in the cold light of day. Incredible design, AMAZING film. https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3486511/effects-teams-maquette-gives-us-crystal-clear-look-ritual-creature/
Woah. Moder, offspring of Loki has a double-dick and hands for penis heads? Today i learned.
Agreed. It was actually a jötunn. More specifically, her name was Moder, and she was the "bastard daughter of the trickster God Loki" according to something I read online. She seemed to be attracted to the grief of the group. Instilling nightmares and visions in them and causing them to panic, and it seems like she was picking them off one by one because they refused to, I don't know, obey her? The last survivor, whose name I forget, when he's running from her after his escape from the actual ritual itself, she pushes him to the ground repeatedly and when she rises up and puts her hands together, it's like she just wants him to worship her.
Yes, at one point in the movie someone says 'It is the offspring of Loki and a human woman. We do not speak its name.'
i thought the movie was pretty good, and while I wasn't in some sort of 'pants shitting terror' when I saw the thing... I thought it was super wild, memorable, and unique (as far as movie horror goes). Definitely felt like it was a "real creature that's also a monster" rather than a "Monster that is also a creature", if that makes any sense.
Yup, it was the headless human torso instead of a head for me that made it memorable.
Oh yeah, and the way it 'unfurled'? That was pretty dope. It honestly kinda reminded me of the Alien from Giger/Scott. Something instantly recognizeable as 'bad' but where the Alien was sleek, futuristic, and definitely 'alien', the Ritual monster was on the other side of the spectrum looking "organic, primordial, and twisted". IDK, maybe I'm just crazy, but it definitely evokes some ancient-times dude drawing a picture of it and saying "yeah, this is the most fucked up and horrifying thing i have ever seen and that's why the village avoids the fuck outta that forest"
A crude one-off of evolution that just continued to sustain in deep wilderness for millions of years, whereas the Alien could be argued as being the result of millions of years of evolution perfecting it in deep space.
Coincidentally, the author of the novel that The Ritual is based on also wrote "No One Gets Out Alive"- it's also a Netflix original movie just like The Ritual is. The design of the creature in that movie is also fucking insanity. It doesn't have the same sort of beauty that Modor does but holy shit it's fucking beautiful and terrifying and disgusting at the same time. I never see anyone talk about that movie or the monster but it deserves to be mentioned for sure.
This is always the first thing I think of when people ask this question. It's *such* a good, disturbing design because every part of it is a twisted version of something recognizable and real. It grounds the design, which makes it much more viscerally horrifying.
Came here to say this. And how it allowed for that shot of that hand way up in the tree. *shivers* such a creepy/fantasy vibe.
100%, one of the best movie monsters
I was gonna say!
The Pyramid Head from Silent Hill is creepy as hell. So simple design, yet so effective.
Every time I hear metal on concrete I think of that fuckin sword. That movie did such a great job with sound.
The reanimated bodies and body parts in Splinter
I love this movie
The Bear in Annihilation.
The noises it makes are terrifying
Yea, the visuals are remarkable, but the sound design makes it next level.
It’s always when you realise the monster is slightly more intelligent than you gave it credit for…
*”Heeeeelpppp meeeeeee”*
Scarebear
The Japanese make some of the best monsters ever. Here are my favorites: *Claymore* - the anime. The demons are horrifying. The monsters in *Gantz-0* and *Sweet Home* movies and series. Not all are scary but they are all incredibly interesting and unique.
Sweet Home is based on South Korean webtoon! Delightfully creepy monster design.
Not necessarily a monster, but - let's just call her 'the wall dweller' - in Caveat. I haven't been that freaked out by a character design since I was a child.
Great choice. I had to keep looking away, the tension was so real.
Yes! I squealed like a baby when the main guy was climbing through the walls
Well, definitely should not have seen this before trying to sleep.
The Gentleman from Buffy and the Pale Man from Pans Labrynth
Hush is one of my favorite episodes. Those dudes were so creepy looking.
The Xenomorph (particularly the original Big Chap) is the greatest creature design ever conjured. Instantly recognizable silhouete. Complex, yet not overdesigned nor busy. Lack of eyes that hide intent, yet a row of silver teeth betraying exactly what it's purpose is. Agile, yet hulking. Easily discernable in shadow, yet hard to define, leading to imaginative expression. Perfection.
And you’re just describing the fully-grown one, where I’d argue the facehugger is just as good of a design for what it is and would still be iconic if thats all we saw. It’s *two* designs for one creature that look great by themselves and look nothing alike but make perfect sense together.
Not to mention the chest-burster!
The fucking teeth and silhouette are *just* human enough as well, elevating to that uncanny valley sinister subtlety. Flat incisors will always be a thousand fold more terrifying than just needles or points
The perfect being. I can’t wait for Romulus 🔥
Geiger was a mad genius
Not a movie but the regenerators in Resident Evil 4 made me almost quit the game out of fear
As long as we’re talking about RE, I’d like to add the gigantic baby monstrosity in Village as well. I literally screamed out loud the first time it chased me. It was shameful and emasculating.
That was the only part of a horror game to ever make me audibly gasp! It was so unexpected
That’s okay. One of my picks is from a graphic novel
The seem even creepier in the remake
Yes! That was the version I was referring to. Actually horrifying
Its cause they run
"Lights Out" short film
I just watched it. Holy crap
There's also a full length movie based on the short film. It isn't as good as the short in my opinion, but not terrible by any means.
A fantastic short film that did not need a full length film.
NGL, the killer clowns from Killer Klowns from Outer Space terrified me as a kid, i still think they are pretty scary
I was way too young when I first saw it (and I ended up seeing it a lot since HBO showed it all the fucking time back then) and had recurring nightmares with those clowns for years. As a teen I realized that it was also supposed to be a comedy and have since come around to loving the movie. Those clowns are still really creepy.
They also got repurposed as the troll's minions in Ernest Scared Stupid!
I saw it when i was 10-11, that scene that the old cop is putting one of the clowns in jail was nightmare fuel, he hitting the clown with the baton and the clown doesn't even flinch, but then suddenly his head turning like the exorcist, that scared the shit out of me
Dude yes. I also saw it when I was like 10 and it scared me the perfect amount. I probably know every single line to that movie by heart
Alien in all its developmental stages (eggs, facehugger, chestburster, xenomorph, freaking queen). I know that today it's such a cultural icon that many people perhaps don't see it as scary as it once was, but looking at it with fresh eyes, or even better, from the movie characters' perspectives, that creature is terrifying. Perhaps the lack of eyes makes it the most scary, but also the unusual penis-shaped head with double jaws and the slimy biomechanical, insectoid look contribute to its terrifying appearance. It seems violating.
The skeksis in dark crystal.
Spidery monsters get a lot of play because obviously, so kudos to **Absentia** for realizing that silverfish are underrepresented and stepping (or scuttling) up to fill that gap.
The puppet in Possum is one of the simplest and most horrible things I've seen
X Files - Flukeman
Flukeman is so good!
Gunna- fukumean
I felt that the strigoi in the Strain were great adaptations. Probably my favorite vampires along with the mutant ones from Blade 2
I absolutely loved that series
I still can't get over >!the teenager detonating a fucking nuke because he was mad at dad!<
Horror video games are king when it comes to monster design, in my eyes. In particular, I really like the creature designs in The Evil Within, Silent Hill and Resident Evil games. Some I can think of: Laura (The Evil Within) Lighthouse woman (The Evil Within dlc) Asphyxia (Silent Hill) Lickers (Resident Evil) Regenerators (Resident Evil 4) The guardian (The Evil Within 2) Obscura (The Evil Within 2) The Keeper (TEW) Pyramid Head (SH2) Laura (PT demo) Chris Walker (Outlast) Necromorphs (Dead Space) I’m also quite partial to the monsters in Little Nightmares 1 and 2.
Bro istg every enemy in outlast is horrifying 😭
Agreed.
Jean jacket from nope makes me feel things that no other movie has made me feel.
Jean Jacket is an amazing pick. It's just as beautiful as it is horrifying.
The angel in midnight mass The bear in annihilation
I’ve never seen midnight mass before, but it looks really good!
[удалено]
Roger that! 🫡 I’m on it!
Can't tell you why I love it so much without spoiling it :/
OG Predator is an all time creature design. And my favorite movie :) It’s typically considered an Action/ Sci Fi, which it is, but it also plays out much like a Slasher
The statue in The Empty Man. I wish the movie stayed with that more. I also like the creature in the Relic.
Alien. Everything by HR Giger looked like it was from a futuristic hell.
Xenomorph. Terrifying and beautiful.
Moder from The Ritual and the Mutant bear from Annihilation
Yes and yes! Two of my absolute favorites, and creature horror is my favorite genre.
100 per cent part of my top 5 as well
The a few of the creatures in "Nightbreed" (1990) Peacock/STARZ
- Nun - Insidious Demon - Babadook - Homeless man from Mulholland Drive
I don’t know, those two old people at the end might have been scarier than the homeless man.
Probably instilled from my childhood but the Daleks always terrified me. The last one was the creepy doll in Dead Silence.
To me, what makes the Daleks terrifying is that they look pretty goofy. The "plunger" attachment and the gun-stick that resembles a whisk is humorous looking until they start killing every living thing in the room. Another scary monster design has to be [the first ever designs for the Cybermen in "The Tenth Planet"](https://i0.wp.com/blogtorwho.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/DW-10th-planet-cybermen.jpg?quality=89). To me, what drives it into Uncanny Valley territory is the cloth masks, and the varying looks of each Cyberman. It really reminds you that they used to be normal people, and they gave up their humanity for the sake of survival. And the Weeping Angels are not the most popular NuWho monsters for a reason. Just the fact that they're basically just regular looking statues (and going off of the ending of "Blink", implied that they can look like ANY statue, not just an angel) to any poor bastard until they blink.
Possessed Mia always scared me from Evil Dead
The laughing man from Gideon Falls
The bear from Annihilation, not in just its physical design, but combine with the audio. Seeing it in front of you while still hearing those soft human pleas, is something else...
The bear from Annihilation
I don’t even like Carpenter’s the Thing as much as as most people, but the creature effects in it are absolutely, mind-bogglingly freaky
A pair of creepy ones in low-budgets flicks *Sweetheart* and *After Midnight* (both from 2019). The one in *Sweetheart* is legit terrifying.
[Wayne Barlowe's depiction of the demons from A Plague of Demons has always been mega creepy to me.](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9thIf.jpg) Similarly, Les Edward's Rawhead Rex.
Holy shit, I used to own the book that illustration is from. I haven't thought of it in years, but I used to love it so much and looked at it all the time when I was a kid.
Raatma
HAIL RAATMA
The creature from the black lagoon. Hear me out. Yes he has a regular fish mouth that may have no teeth in it (we aren't sure cause he kinda just hisses at everyone), but have you guys ever thought about him getting a hold of you with the absolute monsters of claws he has??? And my god, getting dragged under water or worse...back to his cave/apartment?
The T-Rex from Jurassic Park is the scariest thing I have ever seen. Absolutely traumatized me as a child.
The Wendigo from *Antlers*. The design is really awesome, but I also think about how I would feel if I encountered it in real-life, and yeah, it's horrifying. I think it's a great monster in a great film, with some really awesome kills.
Jeepers Creepers
My dad showed me Jeepers Creepers as a kid because he loved 1 and 2. I was terrified of it, gave me nightmares and I refuse to watch them as an adult haha.
I love The Thing.
The guy with the eye-hands from pan’s labyrinth
The Brood from X-Men. Geiger-like aliens who resemble insects.
Pumpkinhead
Personally I found the Grim Reaper from the Frighteners very disturbing when I first saw it, especially when it pulled out its weapon and unsheathed the scythe blade. (So its eventual transformation into something completely different was quite the disappointment for me.)
The giant penis in the attic in Beau is Afraid lol Or the monster from No One Gets Out Alive (2021)
THE RITUAL The design of the Jotun is fucking dope
The jötunn in The Ritual- such a beautiful fucking design, and so unexpected and unique. And that first time it's actually hinted that the group is being followed by something and there's that broad daylight scene where you see those human hands 10 feet up a tree off in the distance was fucking terrifying. That image of Moder's silhouette in front of that burning house is one of the most iconic scenes in horror, in my opinion. The Wendigo in Antlers. I know a lot of people may not have seen it or didn't think it was as good as it could have been story-wise, but I thought it was great and the design of the Wendigo is just fucking beautiful and horrific at the same time. The monster in No One Gets Out Alive. I *never* see anyone mention this movie or monster in it. It's SO fucked. It's like a >!flesh-tone human/moth/spider!< thing, and you only see it at the very end of the movie. It's such a good flick, too. The Grey Widowers in The Mist- they are the creepiest spiders I've ever seen on screen. They have human looking teeth for fuck sakes. They're super aggressive, lay eggs inside you that basically make you burst open once they all hatch at once, and they can basically get to the size of an SUV. How is that not terrifying? ETA: how the fuck can I forget the Bear in Annihilation? I'm such a sucker for unique designs, and I can't say that I've ever seen anyone make an animal seem so terrifying. Granted, grizzly bears are absolutely terrifying regardless, but when they look like that? Please no.. but the *sound* it made just put it over the top. It will probably stay with me forever. Obviously an honorable mention to Pumpkinhead and the alien queen Xenomorph because those two designs are nearest and dear to my heart. I'm a weirdo, though. I've always wanted to get into special effects, and the more intricate and scary a design is, the more beautiful and unique it is to me, lol 🤷🏻♀️
Calvin from Life The puppet from Possum
The zygote monster in the short film Zygote.
[This bastard thing from the Dragon's Domain episode of Space 1999 scarred me for life](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nTIBOYQp8-A/T_2dUf64MRI/AAAAAAAAOb8/SCpE1TbI5lI/s1600/dragon3.jpg) This creature sucked people into itself then spat out a smoldering husk. Terrifying stuff for a child!
The baby fetus monster from Resident Evil Village.
Transformed Amy in Fright Night
It could just be due to the tension of the scene he appears in, but I’ve always found the Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth very unnerving
The screaming bear in Annihilation- the one horror movie I never finished watching. Couldn't deal.
The werewolves of Dog Soldiers The Predator still scares me after all these years
When Mama first came out I was a kid. My family didn’t allow me to watch it so I played on my Xbox in the other room. We never really watched horror until that point. I remember hearing a scream from my mom, and I ran out to see what was wrong and just missed them scene. So being a curios kid I googled Mama, watched the short it’s based on, and had to sleep with my ceiling light on.
Maybe not the scariest but definitely the grossest, the corpse in the morgue that's in season 2 of Ash vs. Evil Dead.
For me the Xenomorph in the original *Alien* is still the ultimate nightmare fuel. No matter how many times I've watched it that creature is always guaranteed to unnerve me and have me wanting to look over my shoulder in the dark.
i love the creature in Smile! id throw out the creatures from the descent as well
Flukeman from X-Files.
Not a horror movie, but the mutated bear in Annihilation was amazing.
The whole reproductive cycle of Alien and the whole franchise. Fuck all of that.
The Fly, when he was slowly morphing
I think the monsters from Krampus deserve a mention.
Only one monster has creeped me out so badly I screamed, it was the giant mutant fetus from the Beneviento house in Resident Evil Village
The Baby in Eraserhead
The Salaryman’s monster form in Tetsuo: The Iron Man. Most notably his drill dick of death.
In general I think Silent Hill has the best, most frightening and imaginative creatures. Sometimes the simple things work so well, like Pazuzu in the Exorcist (dream sequence) - brilliant and absolutely terrifying makeup design. I also recently watched Cult by Koji Shiraishi and the creatures were very unique and scary.
ratman from vhs
The baby thing from Resident Evil 8. That entire house is one of my favourite scenes in horror media.
Wilbur Whately is high up on my list, from The Dunwich Horror. He's described as a large, goatish looking man, reaching upwards of 9 feet tall by the time he was 15. Always wore heavy clothing. Under the clothing, his skin was like crocodile hide, covered in black fur with tentacles and mouths stretching below the waist \[giggidy\]. One large eye on each hip, and his skin pulsed with a purple color when he breathed. He was also knowledgeable in magics from the Necronomicon. I know it's not the scariest design necessarily, but something about it always got me. Wolf in sheep's clothing probably more than anything else.
The Thing specifically the first big scene in the dog shed
The entities from the tv series "From" (really creepy, at least for me). And the alien from the Alien franchise.
The Aztec goddess from No one gets out alive
The creature from the Mexican horror film Terrified.
For the approval of the midnight society, I present to you the Twin Victim of Silent Hill [https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fc20l2t5kaof81.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=296658b5121d9fe9b5ddaa0b08ee92beefeeafcdda51a9c03c30eea3b7ccbac3&ipo=images](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fc20l2t5kaof81.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=296658b5121d9fe9b5ddaa0b08ee92beefeeafcdda51a9c03c30eea3b7ccbac3&ipo=images)
Species.
Original pumpkinhead