‘Horror’s Greatest’ Recap: ‘Giant Monsters’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Heidi Honeycutt in ‘Horror’s Greatest’. (Photo courtesy of Shudder.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Two of ‘Horror’s Greatest’. To revisit the Series Premiere, click here.

There are a great many incredible monsters that make up the horror landscape. After all, there’s the vampire. A fascinating creature that captivates us courtesy of the strange relationship it harbors with life and death. Plus, there’s the zombie, a being that puts fear into so many of us because of how it is an insult to our biological purpose in life, death. And one cannot forget about the werewolf, and how it tends to reflect the darkest parts of our soul unleashed. But of the many monsters that captivate us and that we discuss, there’s one that we don’t talk about enough, specifically… giant monsters.

But we should, for the big creatures that terrorize so many in horror are in fact, backbone creatures that mean as much to the genre as the monsters we mentioned above. Which is likely why the next episode of Horror’s Greatest took the time spotlight ‘Giant Monsters’. For they deserve their day in blocking out the sun and well… this ended up being quite the comprehensive look at this particular creature. One that explored the humble and low budget origins of giant monsters. Since so many of the earliest films in that vein featured rubber suits, and giant props for people to act against. But they did captivate, and they became so much more.

For in later years, movies such as Tremors would feature amazing upgrades for these creatures from a special effects standpoint and make them far more enthralling, and of course, the use of CGI has made them household spectacles that leave us in terrified awe or in the case of one particular giant monster… upgrades to special effects have given it longevity. Because one cannot talk about giant monsters without talking about the one, the only, Gojira. Or Godzilla as he has come to be known and truly, he is the quintessential giant monster. One that everyone knows, and everyone loves, and his amazing body of work was also put on display here.

But what truly made this episode worthwhile, was the fascinating analysis that accompanied this grand spotlight of these fascinating creatures. Because their journeys do offer incredible meaning, and they are filled with powerful commentary. After all, their original stories deeply reflected our fears of the atomic age and explored our worst nightmares regarding the power of mother nature. And the more recent stories have obviously pondered upon the trauma of natural disasters, and how hard it is to reconcile that we are nothing more than tenants on this world, and we live alongside beings that can in fact, turn upon us and that all offered up some wonderful depth to these films and informed us why they deserve to be celebrated more often.
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For these monsters are indeed the same caliber of any other horror monster out there, they may however… be seen as less because of how mainstream they’ve become and because at times they have their own measure of parody and don’t realize their potential. But clearly, they are as scary as the vampire and as disturbing as the living dead and that is why this series is so important. Because it really is spotlighting and showcasing some of the best parts of the genre, and the parts that we sometimes gloss over and forget about, and it will be interesting to see what other beings and moments this show intends to showcase, as season one of this fascinating series continues along. Until next time.

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