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Science Fiction Film and Television

A guide to research resources related to the study of science fiction film and television, including books, articles, and archives.

Selected Images - Monsters

Still from the film Nosferatu

Nosferatu (dir. F.W. Murnau, Germany, 1922)

Still from director F.W. Murnau's film Nosferatu, from FilmGrab.

Film still from 2001: A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey (dir. Stanley Kubrick, USA, 1968)

Still from director Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey, from FilmGrab.

Train to Busan (dir. Yeon Sang-ho, 2016)

Still from director Yeon Sang-ho's film Train to Busan, from FilmGrab.

Film Still from Godzilla

Godzilla (dir. Ishirô Honda, Japan, 1954)

Still from director Ishirô Honda's film Godzilla, from FilmGrab

Film still from Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim (dir. Guillermo Del Toro, USA, 2013)

Still from director Guillermo Del Toro's film Pacific Rim, from FilmGrab.

Film still from The Bride of Frankenstein

The Bride of Frankenstein (dir. James Whale, USA, 1935)

Still from director James Whale's film The Bride of Frankenstein, from FilmGrab.

Introduction and Scope

This page primarily focuses on classic movie monsters and characters, but is only a small portion of writing and examples related to monsters on film. For more examples from books and films, see titles featured in UC Library Search under the heading: 

Monsters in motion pictures

Selected Books on Monsters

Selected Films on Kanopy

The Lost World (dir. Harry O. Hoyt, 1925)

"The first film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel about a land where prehistoric creatures still roam."

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The Devil Bat (dir. Jean Yarborough, 1940)

"Dr Paul Carruthers [Bela Lugosi] appears to all of Heathville as a kindly doctor and research scientist for Heath-Morton Cosmetics, Ltd. But in his secret laboratory, Carruthers is actually conducting personal experiments--one of which is a formula for an oriental shaving lotion; another is the creation of a giant bat who hates the smell of the lotion. Bitter because founding fathers Martin Heath [Edward Mortimer] and Henry Morton [Guy Usher] got rich on his formulas while he himself is awarded with menial bonuses, Carruthers plans to sic his giant bat on their families."

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Godzilla (dir. Ishiro Honda, 1954)

"GODZILLA (a.k.a. Gojira) is the roaring granddaddy of all monster movies. It’s also a remarkably humane and melancholy drama, made in Japan at a time when the country was reeling from nuclear attack and H-bomb testing in the Pacific. Its rampaging radioactive beast, the poignant embodiment of an entire population’s fears, became a beloved international icon of destruction, spawning almost thirty sequels."

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The Blob (dir. Irvin Yeaworth, 1958)

"A cult classic of gooey greatness, THE BLOB follows the havoc wreaked on a small town by an outer-space monster with neither soul nor vertebrae, with Steve McQueen playing the rebel teen who tries to warn the residents about the jellylike invader."

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Piranha (dir. Joe Dante, 1978)

"When flesh-eating piranhas are accidentally released into a summer resort's rivers, the guests become their next meal."

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The Host (Bong Joon Ho, 2006)

"A creature plunges from a bridge into the Han River, emerging on its shores for a feeding frenzy upon onlookers. When a young girl is snatched in the melee, her family sets off to recover her from the monster."

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Frankenstein Remembered (dir. Chris Gerrard, 2024)

"Since its publication 200 years ago, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has influenced vast swathes of popular culture. Adaptations have starred cinema legends from Boris Karloff and Robert De Niro to even Alvin and the Chipmunks. From tales of science gone mad (Jurassic Park) to stories of understanding the other (E.T., The Hulk, Arrival), traces of the story and its themes have spread across our media. With “Frankenstein (Re)Membered,” video artist and film historian Chris Gerrard collects these diverse fragments from the birth of cinema until the present day and, in the tradition of Victor Frankenstein himself, attempts to stitch them back together into an adaptation of the original Shelley novel."

UCLA students, staff, and faculty access through Kanopy. Log into the campus VPN or proxy server to view video.