Why dont they make Monster Movies anymore?

[bluearth]

I was looking at 1979 Alien again and wondered...why don't they make monster movies anymore?

[Moviefan2k4]

Universal has tried rebooting their classic monster films several times in recent years, but for some odd reason most of the public doesn't seem too interested.

[GaragePoet]

aren't they still making Alien movies?

[steve_dave]

Tremors
The Thing
Slither
A Quiet Place

Just to name a small number.

[floridaswamprat]

With what happened in Maine yesterday and in the Middle East last week (among other places), there is no reason to create a monster - man has become the monster.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by floridaswamprat

With what happened in Maine yesterday and in the Middle East last week (among other places), there is no reason to create a monster - man has become the monster.

this is why monster movies are so fun--- it's a release from the horrors of real life....

[Bolty]

I still want to see a remake of the Creature from the Black Lagoon

[jess1581]

Originally Posted by Bolty

I still want to see a remake of the Creature from the Black Lagoon

Was hoping Del Toro would do it which I think he was slated well before he did The Shape of Water.

[Leslie Dame]

The Descent (2005)
The Mist (2007)
The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
Cloverfield (2008)
Life (2017)
Victor Frankenstein (2015)

[Rayjg]

It’s hard to make a monster movie that’s also an art movie and all horror now has to be deadly serious artsy-fartsy. Sad to say

[Kaiju]

They do.

[Lee A Stewart]

They don't want to lose money which they have been making them.

[levcore]

Antlers was a pretty superb monster movie from a couple of years ago.

[Martoto]

What is Godzilla Vs King Kong?

Doesn't The Quiet Place have monsters?

[moreorless]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

Universal has tried rebooting their classic monster films several times in recent years, but for some odd reason most of the public doesn't seem too interested.

Although really I think what you saw there is that studios are not that interested in making big budget horror films anymore so the Universal monster films were essentially action blockbusters which had well known monsters in them.

[Darren75]

I think it's part of a larger problem in Hollywood.

Film studios clearly do not care about making good movies any more and are only interested in the next billion dollar blockbuster. This is why we are constantly subjected to Fast and the Furious, Transformers and Superhero movies. Why take a risk on a new monster movie when the script for Jumanji 7 is lying on your desk.

They do not understand their audience and think that the dreaded PG13 (12A in the UK) will result in a larger audience when the simple truth is it puts a lot of viewers off, especially kids. Kids love sex and violence.

Would The Thing, The Fly and Alien be constantly discussed with such affection if they were PG's? You could argue that the good storytelling would make PG versions of these films successful but the violence is what makes these monsters terrifying.

The target demographic that Hollywood cares about are more interested in a quick fix that they can forget about 10 minutes later like Insidious rather than a film that can be constantly mused over for decades like The Thing or American Werewolf.

While I know that most of us here probably love man in a suit monster movies, because that is part of the charm. The audience that Hollywood want's to appeal to don't.

Here's a great example of what I'm trying to say. My daughter is 18. Recently our local cinema had screenings of The Thing, The Lost Boys, Alien and Aliens. She couldn't find one single friend that wanted to go with her. Sad.

A simple answer to the question Why don't they make Monster Movies anymore? is "those blasted kids."

[Martoto]

I'm not sure a significant portion of 28-50 year olds are crying out for monster movies either.

In the period of the mid seventies right up to the nineties studios could attract people to theatres with promise of things they wouldn't see on TV. Stuff that was somewhat transgressive, for the times. And it was a competitive market so it drove filmmakers in certain quarters to try and produce quality work within those expanded boundaries. The result was movies that, as was presumed even at the time, put a cap on certain genres. Like horror and sci-fi.

It was perhaps the inevitable high water mark. Since then that particular market shrunk due to saturation of what was once transgressive over into genres other than sci-fi and horror. So it became less competitive and the quality of the product (or numbers or quality, innovative films) reduced accordingly. Likewise the genres had to increase their potential market by appealing to a wider age group. And so it goes.

Has anyone seen that old news footage of people taking their kids to see Alien in 1979? That just seems nuts to me! And I'm in my mid forties.

[Lee A Stewart]

IMO - Hollywood got real nervous when Tom Cruise - a truly bankable movie star - laid an egg with The Mummy.

There have been so many, especially lately, reiterations of Frankenstein, Dracula and Werewolf. And none of them made any real money.

I'm sure they are looking very carefully at their toy and game franchises to see if they too can make billions from them. They aren't from monsters, that's for sure.

[Socko]

Do aliens count as monsters? And what size do the monsters have to be to meet your criteria?

Everything from this century and mostly in my collection or will be soon is posted below.
Creatures/monsters/aliens/dinos.
I kept out franchises like Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts, Resident Evil, Percy Jackson.

65
After Earth
Attack the Block
Cabin in the Woods
Pitch Black
Riddick
Cloverfield
Cowboy vs Aliens
Dog Soldiers
Doom
Dungeons and Dragons
Edge of Tomorrow
Eight Legged Freaks
Evolution
Godzilla
Godzilla King of Monsters
Godzilla vs. King
Grabbers
The Great Wall
Hellboy
Hellboy reboot
Hellboy 2
The Host a.k.a. Gwoemul (excellent one I might say)
King Kong (2005)
Kong Skull Island
Life (2017)
The Meg
The Meg 2
The Mist
Monster Truck
Outlander (2008)
Pacific Rim
Pete's Dragon
A Quite Place 1 + 2
Rampage
Reign of Fire
Rogue (2005)
The Thing (2011)
Trollhunter (2010)
Van Helsing
The Water Horse

Do the Underworld movies count?

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

Universal has tried rebooting their classic monster films several times in recent years, but for some odd reason most of the public doesn't seem too interested.

That has more to do with the quality of the films themselves than the audience's appetite for monster movies.