Sociology of Monsters
Films and television shows that demonstrate how "monsters" are often used symbolically to represent societal tensions or social problems. These movies can be watched and count as homework for the class the Sociology of Monsters (SOC 4910) at the University of Central Oklahoma. These movies will primarily focus on the monsters we are covering in class: aliens, zombies, vampires, Frankenstein's monster and other "things", and Jekyll & Hyde (and other werewolves). There may be exceptional movies that deal with other types of monsters on this list if their merit both as a film and as a symbol of social tension is readily apparent. If you have a suggestion to add to this list, please contact Dr. Copley, or leave a comment on the list!
List activity
4.5K views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
730 titles
- DirectorFred F. SearsStarsHugh MarloweJoan TaylorDonald CurtisExtraterrestrials traveling in high-tech flying saucers contact a scientist as part of a plan to enslave the inhabitants of Earth.Xenophobia and fears of communism--note especially how the aliens are pure bad guys and they speak through captured humans.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsBruce CampbellEllen SandweissRichard DeManincorFive friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsSissy SpacekPiper LaurieAmy IrvingCarrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.A teen, female Jekyll & Hyde
- DirectorNeill BlomkampStarsSharlto CopleyDavid JamesJason CopeViolence ensues after an extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth finds a kindred spirit in a government agent exposed to their biotechnology.Racism, xenophobia
- DirectorJaume BalagueróPaco PlazaStarsManuela VelascoFerran TerrazaJorge-Yamam SerranoA television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.
- DirectorTom SixStarsDieter LaserWinter WilliamsAshlynn YennieA mad scientist kidnaps and mutilates a trio of tourists in order to reassemble them into a human centipede, created by stitching their mouths to each others' rectums.Frankenstein. And a good example of HORROR vs. TERROR
- DirectorFernando MeirellesStarsJulianne MooreMark RuffaloGael García BernalA city is ravaged by an epidemic of instant white blindness.Technically not a horror movie (more of a drama) and if you want to get really picky, not a monster movie. Oh, there are monsters alright, but they are of the common, human type. Disturbing in a Lord-of-the-Flies-but-they're-adults-so-they-should-know-better kind of way. Also, since this is about the spreading of an epidemic, it has ties to both zombies and vampires.
- DirectorArvin BrownStarsHector ElizondoEdward BinnsJoyce EbertAn unemployed man who lives with his wife and overbearing mother-in-law sees an opportunity to relieve himself of the old bat, which tangles him in a maze of deception.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsMichelle MorganJoshua CloseShawn RobertsA group of young film students run into real-life zombies while filming a horror movie of their own.
- DirectorJohn Erick DowdleStarsJennifer CarpenterSteve HarrisColumbus ShortA television reporter and her cameraman are trapped inside a building quarantined by the CDC, after the outbreak of a mysterious virus which turns humans into bloodthirsty killers.
- DirectorRoland EmmerichStarsWill SmithBill PullmanJeff GoldblumThe aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive.A return to evil aliens; came out between Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsRichard DreyfussFrançois TruffautTeri GarrRoy Neary, an Indiana electric lineman, finds his quiet and ordinary daily life turned upside down after a close encounter with a UFO, spurring him to an obsessed cross-country quest for answers as a momentous event approaches.The plot is a bit convoluted and boring by today's standards, but keep in mind that it was a miracle of special effects for its time. Literally, UFOs were being depicted in movies by pie plates dangling from strings a short time before this (maybe twenty years). Even today, its special effects are pretty impressive if you remember this is before CGI. Along with ET, this movie ushered in the newer, "hey, maybe they're good and smarter than us!" aliens.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsDavid NaughtonJenny AgutterJoe BelcherTwo American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
- CreatorFrank DarabontStarsAndrew LincolnNorman ReedusMelissa McBrideSheriff Deputy Rick Grimes wakes up from a coma to learn the world is in ruins and must lead a group of survivors to stay alive.The current reigning king of zombies on television. Interestingly, this seems to be more about fear of the living than fear of the dead, though.
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsFrances DeeTom ConwayJames EllisonA nurse is hired to care for the wife of a sugar plantation owner, who has been acting strangely, on a Caribbean island.Old school, pre-Romero's Night of the Living Dead zombies. Creepy, shuffling about, but not cannibals.
Please note that this movie is less-than-sensitive to particular New-World African (eg, Haitians) ethnic groups. - DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsDuane JonesJudith O'DeaKarl HardmanA ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the Northeast of the United States.Really the beginning of the zombies as cannibals theme. Before this film, zombies were more like the Seabrook creation--corpses just walking around being creepy but otherwise pretty harmless.
Most people see this as a movie about the dangers of conformity. - DirectorVincenzo NataliStarsAdrien BrodySarah PolleyDelphine ChanéacGenetic engineers Clive Nicoli and Elsa Kast hope to achieve fame by successfully splicing together the DNA of different animals to create new hybrid animals for medical use.Modern-day Frankenstein
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsDavid EmgeKen ForeeScott H. ReinigerDuring an escalating zombie epidemic, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
- DirectorZack SnyderStarsSarah PolleyVing RhamesMekhi PhiferA nurse, a policeman, a young married couple, a salesman and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.Zombie remake
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsColin CliveMae ClarkeBoris KarloffDr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.James Whale's classic. It may be hard to remember now, but this movie scared the ever-lovin-jeepers out of people when it came out.
- DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsRobert De NiroKenneth BranaghHelena Bonham CarterWhen the brilliant but unorthodox scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein rejects the artificial man that he has created, the Creature escapes and later swears revenge.A bit long, but this version of Mary Shelley's classic really does pack a punch, pointing out repeatedly how the creature isn't really the evil one--his creator is.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.Frankenstein's monster, anyone? A created sociopath?
- DirectorEdgar WrightStarsSimon PeggNick FrostKate AshfieldThe uneventful, aimless lives of a London electronics salesman and his layabout roommate are disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.Zombie comedy
- DirectorRuben FleischerStarsJesse EisenbergEmma StoneWoody HarrelsonA shy student trying to reach his family in Ohio, a gun-toting bruiser in search of the last Twinkie and a pair of sisters striving to get to an amusement park join forces in a trek across a zombie-filled America.Okay, I have to admit... This movie does not pack a big sociological punch. However, it is really amusing and the main character is known as Columbus, my hometown.
- DirectorRobert RodriguezStarsHarvey KeitelGeorge ClooneyJuliette LewisTwo criminals and their hostages unknowingly seek temporary refuge in a truck stop populated by vampires, with chaotic results.vampires