2018 Monster Movies/Creature Features Ranked and Rated

1. Primal Rage (2018) A newly reunited young couple's drive through the Pacific Northwest turns into a nightmare as they are forced to face a monstrous creature. My rating 8/10.
















2. A Quiet Place (2018) In a post-apocalyptic world, a family is forced to live in silence while hiding from monsters with ultra-sensitive hearing. My rating 8/10.
















3. Monstrum (2018) A king tasks a disgraced general with hunting down a mysterious creature which has been killing villagers and spreading a deadly plague throughout the kingdom. My rating 8/10.
















4. Rampage (2018) When three different animals become infected with a dangerous pathogen, a primatologist and a geneticist team up to stop them from destroying Chicago. My rating 7/10
















5. The Meg (2018) After escaping an attack by what he claims was a 70-foot shark, Jonas Taylor must confront his fears to save those trapped in a sunken submersible. My rating 7/10.

















6. Strange Nature (2018)  A single mother and her shy son move in with her estranged hermit father in the backwoods of a small town. Soon, they learn of deadly mutations that threaten to spread from animals to humans. My rating 7/10.















7. Wildling (2018) A blossoming teenager uncovers the dark secret behind her traumatic childhood. My rating 7/10.
















8. Cherokee Creek (2018) A bachelor party in the woods gets crashed by the ultimate party animal. My rating 7/10















9. Killer High (2018)  A high-school reunion goes south when a monster keeps killing all the guests. My rating 7/10.















10. Island Zero (2018) A fishing community on a remote Maine island finds itself suddenly cut off from the rest of the world after the ferry stops coming. When people start to vanish, the terrified survivors realize that someone - or something - is hunting them. My rating 6/10.

11. The Rake (2018) Brother and sister, Ben and Ashley, reunite 20 years after the murder of their parents to face the cause of their parents' death, a supernatural creature known as The Rake. My rating 6/10.

12. Guardians of the Tomb (2018) An innocent discovery of a well-preserved mummified Chinese Emperor from 200 B.C. unearths a two-thousand-year-old nightmare, a secret that should have remained buried. My rating 6/10.

13. Annihilation (2018) A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply. My rating 6/10.

14. Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018) Jake Pentecost, son of Stacker Pentecost, reunites with Mako Mori to lead a new generation of Jaeger pilots, including rival Lambert and 15-year-old hacker Amara, against a new Kaiju threat. My rating 6/10.

15. The Ninth Passenger (2018) Eight college students board a luxury yacht for a spontaneous sea voyage, only to be terrorized by an uninvited passenger. My rating 5/10.

16. The Outer Wild (2018) In this post-apocalyptic frontier western, mankind has given way to a new breed of beast, mutated from man. My rating 5/10

17. Big Legend (2018) An ex-soldier ventures into the Pacific Northwest to uncover the truth behind his fiance's disappearance. My rating 5/10.

18. The Cloverfield Paradox (2018) Orbiting a planet on the brink of war, scientists test a device to solve an energy crisis, and end up face-to-face with a dark alternate reality. My rating 5/10.

19. Darkness Reigns (2018) A film crew is ravaged by a demon, who is hell bent on cashing in on a deal he made with someone on set who was seeking fame and fortune. My rating 5/10.

20. Exposure (2018) To reconcile the problems in their relationship, a young couple go to a cabin in the mountains where they encounter an ancient evil that haunts the land, capable of turning people into monsters. My rating 5/10

21. The Titan (2018) A military family takes part in a ground-breaking experiment of genetic evolution and space exploration. My rating 5/10

Behind the Walls (2018) Years it has waited, now someone's moved in. Through the eyes of the evil within we witness a broken family desperately seeking a new beginning, in a new home, but this house lives, watches and wants them to stay-FOREVER. My rating 5/10.

23. Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018) Burt Gummer, who's dying from Graboid poison, and his son Travis at a remote research station in Canada's Nunavut Territory, where they must go up against a new batch of Graboids to save Burt's life. My rating 5/10

24. Gray Matter (2018) After a meteorite crashes to earth awakening the extraterrestrial creature within, a young woman is abducted by an alien "GRAY" to aide in hunting down and destroying the creature before it can reach a second meteorite that fell to earth decades earlier unleashing its deadly infestation of earth. My rating 4/10

25. Hidden Peaks (2018) Two survivors struggle through a dangerous journey in a world shrouded with evil and terror. My rating 4/10

26. 5th Passenger (2018) Five crew members are forced into an escape pod built for four after their starship is destroyed. Just as rescue seems imminent, an alien creature boards their craft and attacks them. My rating 4/10.

The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) Review

What do you get when you cross Hammer Films, horror, science fiction and monsters? One of the best examples of science fiction creature thrillers to come out of the 1950’s, The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) from director Val Guest, who adapted the film from a popular BBC television series created by Nigel Kneale. Long considered a classic among science fictions fans, The Quatermass Xperiment delivers mystery, intrigue, thrills, and includes some of the best creative monster effects of the era. If you love creature features, you will love this film.

Also known as The Creeping Unknown for the US release, we follow Professor Quatermass, played by classic Hollywood star Brian Donlevy, who is the head of a space exploration program which successfully launches the first rocket ship into space.  Shortly after launching, the mission suffers a disaster when the space agency loses all contact with the rocket and its three-man crew.  The rocket has experienced some mysterious event in space which causes it to crash land back on Earth. Soon, emergency services are rushed to a field in the English countryside where the craft is found buried nose first into the ground.

Attempts to get near the ship are thwarted by intense heat radiating from the ship’s hull, but Quatermass finally arrives on the scene and rushes to take charge of the rescue operation. Racing against time, and concerned for the safety of the men trapped inside the ship, Quatermass devises a plan to lower the temperature of the ship by ordering the fire department to blast the ship with water. The plan works and soon a hatchway opens. One of the astronauts, Victor Carroon (Richard Wordsworth), suddenly crawls out of the craft and falls unconscious to the ground.

Quatermass runs into the ship to rescue the remaining crew but there is no sign of the men. They have disappeared completely, save for their empty uniforms lying on the ground. Confused by their disappearance, Quatermass questions Carroon about the missing men, but he is in a state of shock and unresponsive and is finally taken away by ambulance.

And so the mystery of the missing astronauts takes center stage and to this end, Professor Quatermass is visited by Inspector Lomax (Jack Warner), who is called upon by Scotland Yard to investigate the ill–fated mission and the disappearance of the astronauts. The inspector’s appearance causes Quatermass great consternation as he only sees the detective’s presence as an impedance to his own scientific investigation. The two men frequently find themselves at odds with each other, but soon realize they must join forces if they are to prevent a disaster that threatens all of mankind.

As one mystery begins, another more deadly and sinister event threatens to take shape.  Victor Carroon, the lone surviving astronaut, is being monitored at a medical research facility, while also being watched over by his wife (Margia Dean), who is always at his side. Little does she know that Victor is slowly undergoing a physical metamorphosis that scientists cannot explain.  Desperate to find treatment for her ailing husband, she arranges to have him secretly taken from the research facility and into a waiting car outside. The joy of rejoining her husband turns to terror when she discovers that Victor may no longer be the man she once knew.  Already showing signs of physical mutations, Victor escapes from the vehicle while his wife screams out into the night.

Quatermass and Inspector Lomax are now faced with the enormous task of locating the dangerous Carroon, who now wanders the city in perpetual rage and in constant pain from the mutations affecting his body.  No man or beast is safe while he remains at large.

I have to point out that one of the highlights and real treats of the film for me are the extraordinary special effects that are used to showcase Carroon’s physical deformities during various stages of his metamorphosis. From skin discolorations to large tumor-like appendages, great expertise is given to bring these grotesque effects to life so that when they are combined with Wordsworth’s performance, they add a sense of realism and terror that allows the viewer to empathize with Carroon’s agony.

In the end, it is the special effects that add the final coup de grace to the film’s climax as Quatermass and Inspector Lomax finally locate Carroon. They find him inside an old church in the middle of a live television program, but Victor is no longer human. Instead he is now completely transformed into a part beast/part plant, slithering Lovecraftian nightmare.  Quatermass realizes that the creature is growing exponentially before their very eyes and must be destroyed immediately before it gets too large. He does so in a manner which is reminiscent of another classic 50’s science fiction movie, The Thing from Another World, using electricity to destroy the monster.

Quatermass may have saved the world from an uncertain doom, but the setback from this latest mission does not hinder his quest to reach the stars and to explore what other secrets lie beyond the known cosmos.

The Quatermass Xperiment is accompanied by a heart-pounding frenetic musical score which raises the level of anxiety, tension and horror and doesn’t let up until the final conclusion. If you are a fan of classic science fiction cinema, you will enjoy this film which illustrates the consequences of pitting mankind’s desires against the dangers of the unknown.

~Monster Movie Maniac