Top 10 Scariest CGI Movie Monsters

Top 10 Scariest CGI Movie Monsters

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 scariest CGI movie monsters.

For this list, we’ll be looking at the freakiest and most disturbing monsters made out of computer generated imagery. We will also be including monsters that were created from a combination of CGI and motion capture. Warning: a spoiler alert is in effect!

Did any of these creatures give you nightmares? Let us know in the comments below!

#10: Clover

“Cloverfield” (2008)
While the monster’s name was never revealed in the first movie, it has since come to be known as Clover. A fascinating found footage-style movie, “Cloverfield” plays out kind of like an American version of “Godzilla.” A massive creature emerges from the Atlantic Ocean and begins wreaking havoc on the streets of New York City. Nothing is known about this creature - it just emerges one random night and wreaks massive havoc. The unknown makes Clover all the scarier, as does its relative lack of screen time. Tension builds and builds and is intermittently broken by brief glimpses of the monster, who stomps through the streets on four spider-like legs. Imagination fills in the rest.

#9: Imhotep

“The Mummy” (1999)
This Brendan Fraser-led adventure film is a remake of the 1932 original, and it got the advantage of computers on its side. Industrial Light & Magic created The Mummy using a combination of cutting edge digital effects and motion capture. The first stage of The Mummy was entirely digital, depicting a decayed corpse that had been lying dormant for 3,000 years. It’s quite grotesque, complete with long-rotted sinew and muscles. Perhaps the scariest iteration of The Mummy is its final stages, in which it’s stuck between decay and full regeneration. This allows the filmmakers to work some creative magic, like having Imhotep eat a scarab that crawled through his neck and into his cheek.

#8: Grendel

“Beowulf” (2007)
Costing an extraordinary $150 million, “Beowulf '' boasts awesome computer-animation. Director Robert Zemeckis filmed live action actors on a massive soundstage and used their motion capture to create digital counterparts. Crispin Glover provided the mo cap and facial reference for Grendel, a disgusting and deadly creature. Grendel’s true nature is ambiguous in the epic poem, but the movie depicts him as a towering humanoid monster with unimaginable strength. The physical design of Grendel is nauseating, as he appears half-rotten with exposed organs, and goopy flesh. Gross, yes, but it certainly fits with the epic and otherworldly tone of the story.

#7: Moder

“The Ritual” (2017)
Props to the design department for this one. While “The Ritual'' came and went in the fall of 2017 without much buzz, the physical design of Moder may forever remain iconic. In this film, four friends go hiking in northern Sweden and eventually come across a dangerous cult who worship the deity Moder. Moder is a jötunn, ambiguous God-like creatures from Norse mythology. Moder’s status as something otherworldly is immediately apparent, as it looks like a cross between a moose, a human, and a horse. Found nestled within dangling human arms are two beady yellow eyes, and staring into them does not make for a pretty picture. Whatever the heck Moder is, it’s physical design is equal parts horrifying and utterly captivating.

#6: Gwoemul

“The Host” (2006)
Released in 2006, “The Host” is a South Korean monster movie directed by Bong Joon-ho, the man who would eventually give the world “Parasite.” It went on to become a massive hit, which is in large part thanks to the wonderful design of its creature. Inspired by a news article that Bong had read, the Gwoemul (or, “monster” in Korean) is some type of mutated amphibious organism that attacks people near the Han River. It’s certainly a creepy monster, looking much like a giant tadpole with human-sized teeth. It was created through a combination of CGI, animatronics, and modeling, and the variety helped give it a more realistic appearance.

#5: The Dementors

The “Harry Potter” Franchise (2001-11)
Introduced in “The Prisoner of Azkaban” and appearing sporadically throughout the rest of the series, the Dementors are the ghostly guards of Azkaban Prison. These are truly terrifying creatures, especially for young adult cinema. They suck the very happiness out of those they attack and have the ability to consume human souls through their mouths. They appear as little more than floating black cloaks, but their human-like mouths and massive claws promise something far more sinister underneath. The “Harry Potter” franchise is loaded with memorable villains, but the Dementors are arguably the most iconic. Their nightmarish appearance, combined with their thematic link to depression, have long made them notable monsters of cinema and literature.

#4: The Mutant Bear

“Annihilation” (2018)
The concept behind this movie is that a small group of scientists enter something called The Shimmer. The Shimmer is a mysterious alien force that randomly appeared on Earth and began mutating the animals within its confines. Most of the mutations are appalling, but the worst of them all is the bear. The bear’s face has completely withered away, leaving behind an exposed skull with an open nasal cavity. But even worse are the human elements involved. The bear has human teeth, and a skull has been grafted onto the side of its own. It also mimics the deceased Cass’s voice with a bloodcurdling scream. Literally everything about this mutated creature can induce nightmares.

#3: The T. Rex

“Jurassic Park” (1993)
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Steven Spielberg helped change the very fabric of blockbuster cinema. While CGI had been used before “Jurassic Park,” this movie helped popularize the technique. Suffice it to say, audiences in 1993 couldn’t believe what they were seeing. The T. Rex is the undeniable star of the show. It was made with the help of cutting edge CGI and a massive animatronic that weighed nearly 18,000 pounds. While the CG portions look a little dated today, they still have the capacity to both terrify and amaze. “Jurassic Park” brought our boring biology textbooks to thrilling life, and everyone loved the T. Rex. How could you not?

#2: The Death Angels

“A Quiet Place” (2018)
The Death Angels are death-intely are some of the scariest movie monsters in recent memory. Hailing from a distant galaxy, the alien monsters are very tall and lanky and move around with incredible agility. Outrunning one of them is simply out of the question. Their heads are also quite revolting, as retractable armor plates hide exposed muscle. Perhaps worst of all is the very idea of these creatures. They attack anything that makes noise, and they pounce with unbelievable speed and ferocity. Survivors are forced to live in complete silence; even when the monsters aren’t physically present, their danger is felt and acknowledged. And there’s nothing scarier than that.

#1: Shelob

“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003)
Peter Jackson made the epic to end all epics with “The Lord of the Rings,” and one of its battles was nothing short of cinematic monster magic. As Aragorn and crew are dealing with Sauron’s army in Minas Tirith, Frodo and Sam are battling a giant spider named Shelob. Spiders are certainly not a new type of cinematic villain, but Shelob is different. Her lair is horrifying, filled with walls of sticky webs and the bones of long-decayed corpses. Her size is immense, and she moves with both devastating speed and deadly silence. She nearly gets the best of both hobbits, but Sam is able to puncture her stomach with Sting. Shelob is a fantastic CGI creation, and she still looks convincingly terrifying to this day.