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Movies that feel like Godzilla (1954)

If you loved Godzilla, the closest films we have are Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Seconds (1966) and Shin Godzilla (2016). All three share Godzilla's dread and unsettling feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 6 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max, Paramount Plus Premium and Peacock Premium and others, checked against today's data.

Japan is thrown into a panic after several ships are sunk near Odo Island. An expedition to the island led by Dr. Kyohei Yamane soon discover something far more devastating than imagined in the form of a 50 meter tall monster whom the natives call Gojira. Now the monster begins a rampage that threatens to destroy not only Japan, but the rest of the world as well.

🍅 94% Rotten Tomatoes7.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Ishirō Hondatensedreadunsettlingcerebral
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If Godzilla hit the spot, these will too

Invasion of the Body Snatchers poster
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
1956 · dir. Don Siegel
🍅 97%7.7science fiction · horror · thriller

Common ground: black and white

A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.

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Seconds poster
Seconds
1966 · dir. John Frankenheimer
🍅 79%7.6science fiction · thriller · horror

Both keep coming back to the same thing: black and white

An unhappy middle-aged banker agrees to a procedure that will fake his death and give him a completely new look and identity; one that comes with its own price.

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Shin Godzilla poster
Shin Godzilla
2016 · dir. Shinji Higuchi
🍅 87%6.9action · science fiction · horror

Both rooted in Tokyo

The difference: Missing the tension of Godzilla

When a massive, gilled monster emerges from the deep and tears through the city, the government scrambles to save its citizens. A rag-tag team of volunteers cuts through a web of red tape to uncover the monster's weakness and its mysterious ties to a foreign superpower. But time is not on their side - the greatest catastrophe to ever befall the world is about to evolve right before their very eyes.

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Creature from the Black Lagoon poster
Creature from the Black Lagoon
1954 · dir. Jack Arnold
🍅 81%6.9adventure · horror · science fiction

Both are built on the same subject: ship

The difference: None of the tension Godzilla is built on

When scientists exploring the Amazon River stumble on a “missing link” connecting humans and fish, they plan to capture it for later study. But the Creature has plans of his own, and has set his sights on the lead scientist's beautiful fiancée, Kay.

Feels alike?
The Thing from Another World poster
The Thing from Another World
1951 · dir. Christian Nyby
🍅 87%7drama · horror · science fiction

Dread-soaked where it counts, unsettling underneath

The difference: Not nearly as tense as Godzilla

Scientists and US Air Force officials fend off a blood-thirsty alien organism while investigating at a remote arctic outpost.

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Son of Frankenstein poster
Son of Frankenstein
1939 · dir. Rowland V. Lee
🍅 95%7horror · science fiction

Horror built on ideas, twice over

One of the sons of late Dr. Henry Frankenstein finds his father's ghoulish creation in a coma and revives him, only to find out the monster is controlled by Ygor who is bent on revenge.

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Bride of Frankenstein poster
Bride of Frankenstein
1935 · dir. James Whale
🍅 98%7.8horror · science fiction

Both lean on dread more than on science fiction

Dr. Frankenstein and his monster both turn out to be alive after being attacked by an angry mob. The now-chastened scientist attempts to escape his past, but a former mentor forces him to assist with the creation of a new creature.

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The Invisible Man poster
The Invisible Man
1933 · dir. James Whale
🍅 95%7.6horror · science fiction

Unsettling thriller in both cases

The difference: 21 years apart, and the 1930s show

After experimenting on himself and becoming invisible, scientist Jack Griffin, now aggressive due to the drug's effects, seeks a way to reverse the experiment at any cost.

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The Fly poster
The Fly
1958 · dir. Kurt Neumann
🍅 95%7.1science fiction · horror · drama

Cerebral horror, and it commits to that

The difference: Leans harder into drama than Godzilla does

Industrialist François Delambre is called late at night by his sister-in-law, Helene, who tells him that she has just killed her husband. Reluctant at first, she eventually explains to the police that he invented a matter transportation apparatus and, while experimenting on himself, a fly entered the chamber.

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Onibaba poster
Onibaba
1964 · dir. Kaneto Shindō
🍅 90%7.8horror

The same preoccupation in both: japan

While her son, Kichi, is away at war, a woman and her daughter-in-law survive by killing samurai who stray into their swamp, then selling whatever valuables they find. Both are devastated when they learn that Kichi has died, but his wife soon begins an affair with a neighbor who survived the war, Hachi. The mother disapproves and, when she can't steal Hachi for herself, tries to scare her daughter-in-law with a mysterious mask from a dead samurai.

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The Black Cat poster
The Black Cat
1934 · dir. Edgar G. Ulmer
🍅 89%6.9horror · thriller

Thriller with a pulse of tension, in both cases

After a road accident in Hungary, the American honeymooners Joan and Peter and the enigmatic Dr. Werdegast find refuge in the house of the famed architect Hjalmar Poelzig, who shares a dark past with the doctor.

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Island of Lost Souls poster
Island of Lost Souls
1932 · dir. Erle C. Kenton
🍅 88%7.4science fiction · horror

Science fiction built on dread, twice over

An obsessed scientist conducts profane experiments in evolution, eventually establishing himself as the self-styled demigod to a race of mutated, half-human abominations.

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The best-reviewed films that share Godzilla’s defining feeling.