Birthed in the Land of the Rising Sun, the kaiju film is one of the most recognizable genres of all time. Featuring towering monsters going mano-a-mano while crushing tiny model cities to dust, the genre emerged after the wide releases of King Kong and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms in Japan. Tomoyuki Tanaka of Toho Studios was looking to cash in on current trends, and, noticing how well these films did, greenlit 1954's Gojira, also known as Godzilla, which would launch not just a series that continues to this day, but a trend that would come to symbolize his country worldwide.
Directed by Ishiro Honda, Godzilla combined lingering nuclear anxieties with monster mayhem for groundbreaking and resonant spectacle. The film's success led to a succession of knock-offs, spin-offs, and mash-ups that have endeared the genre to fans for generations. Below, we list ten great non-Godzilla kaiju films worth checking out.
Rodan (1956)
A small mining village is plagued by a rash of disappearances, leading a group of men to investigate the mine into which the villagers were lost. All members of the search party are killed, save for one, who escapes atop a massive insect, inadvertently unleashing a flood of the beasts upon the unsuspecting village. To make matters worse, Rodan, a pre-historic, Pterodactyl-like creature takes to the sky, spreading fear across Japan.
The second kaiju created by Toho after the success of 1954's Godzilla, Rodan is a fan-favorite that was introduced in adventurous style in his first eponymous film.
Varan the Unbelievable (1958)
On the hunt for a rare butterfly, two entomologists meet their untimely end when a landslide buries them in a remote valley. The sister of one of the researchers heads to the same valley to uncover the truth about what occurred. When she and her crew of investigators reach the village where the men were last seen alive, they hear about a local legend that tells of a giant creature named Varan that may just be the cause of the deaths.
Also directed by Ishiro Honda, Varan the Unbelievable sticks a bit too close to the Godzilla formula, but Varan himself is worth the price of admission.
Mothra (1961)
Stranded on Infant Island, a group of survivors discovers that, though it was once used for atomic testing, the island bears no traces of radiation damage. After telling stories about surviving on a mysterious juice given to them by the natives on the island, a group of scientists heads in to learn the truth of these claims. On Infant Island, they encounter two diminutive twins who possess the power to summon Mothra, a large winged deity who the islanders call upon in times of crisis. When greedy expedition leader Clark Nelson snatches the women in a bid to capitalize on their novelty, it's only a matter of time before they summon Mothra to save them from his clutches and lay waste to the Japanese mainland.
One of the big green guy's most frequent enemies/allies, Mothra is one of the most beloved kaiju of all time, and the film that introduces her is a bonafide classic of the genre.
The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
The sole survivor of a sunken freighter tells a wild story about a furry green giant that attacked his crew, leading the police to report it to Doctor Paul Stewart. Years before, the doctor had encountered a similar species of creature and raised it before it escaped into the wilderness. What is the connection between these bizarre beasts, and is Stewart's past coming back to haunt him?
In this sequel to Frankenstein Conquers the World, leftover cells from Frankenstein's monster overgrow into giant humanoid monstrosities that duke it out for supremacy in a smackdown for the ages. Confusing? Certainly, but this is Toho's most entertaining hour.
Gappa: The Triphibian Monster (1967)
After a group of Japanese reporters stumbles upon an infant beast named Gappa on a remote island, they spirit him away to the mainland to be showcased as a tourist attraction. They incur the wrath of Gappa's bigger, more vicious parents, who head to Japan and will stop at nothing to save their child.
Legendary Japanese film company Nikkatsu's only Kaiju film, Gappa: The Triphibian Monster borrow its story beats from 1961 Irish-English-American co-production Gorgo to the point that some even regard it as an unauthorized remake.
Daimajin (1966)
After a goodly feudal lord is killed by a treacherous usurper, his children escape into the wilderness, taking refuge near a giant carved statue of the village deity, Daimajin. After suffering a decade of cruelty at the hands of their new leader, the people implore Daimajin to come to life and rescue their village from the iron fist of the usurper.
A kaiju of a different color, Daimajin is a historical, deeply human drama with some monster movie mayhem tacked on at the end, and it's all the better for it.
The Host (2006)
After the pollution of South Korea's Han River by the callous U.S. military, an amphibious monster emerges and begins chowing down on the country's population. Unexpectedly, a young girl is abducted by the beast, leading her family on a wild hunt to save her from its hungry jaws.
Not a kaiju film in the strictest sense, this monster movie is a modern update of the genre, bringing its environmental concerns to the forefront for a post-2000s audience courtesy of decorated director, Bong Joon-ho.
Big Man Japan (2007)
In this ludicrous mockumentary, a middle-aged man harnesses the power of electricity to swell himself to an enormous size. The titanic superhero smacks down with various wildly inventive (and gross) monsters in between dealing with his own everyday, human-sized personal issues.
Hitoshi Matsumoto's indescribably weird riff on the kaiju genre is a lot smarter than it often gets credit for, and is a true case of seeing is believing.
Death Kappa (2010)
A militant group of scientists attempts to create amphibious supersoldiers based on Japanese legends of the Kappa, but they're shocked when the actual thing shows up to mess with their plans.
This tongue-in-cheek sendup of the kaiju genre is a total blast, and the fact that it took so long for someone to blow up the mythological Kappa to Godzilla size is truly shocking.
Pacific Rim (2013)
In the near future, mankind wages war against monstrous encroaching kaiju using giant robots called Jaegers. With the fragile fate of humanity hanging in the balance, all hope rests on a former Jaeger pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an all-too-green trainee (Rinko Kikuchi) to beat back the kaiju invaders once and for all.
Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim isn't just a bold reimagining of kaiju cinema, it's also a love letter to one of his boyhood obsessions.