A good portion of moviegoers love a good monster movie, whether it's because of the thrilling chase sequences, chilling moments of tension and uncertainty or just the sight of an impossible beast looming over its prey. There's fun to be had in monster films, but sometimes filmmakers and screenwriters can't really seem to bring it out. When that happens, all you get is a loud, somewhat annoying film for which you may not really feel any sort of connection toward. Few monster films have managed to capture all the right ingredients and create something memorable. We're going to list those out here, along with the worst of the bunch.

We're going to take every major monster film release from the past decade and rank them in order of how well they were able to capture audiences. To do that, we're going to look at their reviews and explore how fondly people remember those films, if at all. We'll also be focusing on special effects and whether or not the human characters served any other purpose than helping to fill runtime. With those rules out of the way, let's take a look back at the monster films that succeeded in amazing us or failed to pull us from boredom.

20 THE MUMMY

Many of us remember the old Mummy film starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, the first in a trilogy. It was a bit campy but it was fun and charming. The reboot that premiered in 2017 was...not that. The Mummy was meant to be the first in Universal's Dark Universe, but it failed to impress people. Far from it, the film actually managed to annoy people with its heavy handed set-ups for future films.

Critics and audiences alike agreed that it was an emotionally empty summer film littered with loud, uninspired action sequences. Luckily, people generally don't remember this film at all. It's one of those movies that provide people with a momentary snigger when they're reminded of it and what it was meant to be.

19 THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX

You'd think -- with a film involving a different universe -- this film would have been somewhat impressive. It wasn't. However, the third in the Cloverfield franchise wasn't all bad. The performances were praised, as was the unique marketing of the film. Unfortunately, everyone agreed that The Cloverfield Paradox failed to take the overall story anywhere new. It stumbled in its own convoluted mess and left people unimpressed and uninterested in the franchise.

The film managed to keep at least a small portion of its worldwide audience pleased with what little insight it provided into the origin of the franchise's gargantuan alien monster and the decent special effects used to render the beast. That's not enough to get people to remember it fondly, especially when compared to its predecessors.

18 CLASH OF THE TITANS

Ancient Greek mythology offers a strong foundation for monster films and none stronger than the tale of Perseus. Despite the clear attempt by Clash of the Titans to make the most out of it, the film could not rise to the challenge of its monsters. That is to say, it teased some interesting creatures but failed to even render them properly.

It was loud and it had its fun moments but it could not capture the same balance of levity and magic that the 1981 original possessed and ultimately, while it succeeded at the box office, this remake left critics and audiences almost equally unimpressed. It earned the Razzie award it received. Yet, somehow, Clash of the Titans would not be the last time we would see Sam Worthington as Perseus.

17 WRATH OF THE TITANS

Much like the first instalment, Wrath of the Titans had some big names attached, but each one of them had seemingly realized that these were not serious films, which made the sequel more laughable than the first. The saving grace was the fact that the giant monsters like the Chimera and Cyclopes were far more visually impressive than the monsters of Clash of the Titans.

That wasn't enough to save the film from the wrath of the critics and audiences, who agreed that the screenwriting and lack of weight were tiresome. So while the film still performed decently at the box office, it proved to be the end of the franchise and not a very memorable one at that.

16 THE PREDATOR

Among the most well known monsters are the Predators, members of an alien race known for their habit of hunting other creatures for sport. Chronologically, The Predator takes place after the events of Predator 2 but before Predators. It was meant to refresh the franchise and revitalize the audience's interest in the titular Predator.

Shane Black's film failed to capture the interest of critics and much of its audience. It was bigger and gorier than its predecessors but its tone and script were all over the place. The decent moments weren't enough to arouse excitement for the franchise and so despite being an enjoyable enough film, at least in the moment, it could not ensure a revival.

15 PACIFIC RIM UPRISING

Set ten years after the events of the first film, Pacific Rim Uprising shows us the aftermath of the closing of the Breach and it's not all sunshine and daisies. Everyone is fighting over the future of Jaegers. The sequel featured several new characters but failed to make use of them. Despite criticisms from both professionals and audiences, the film was still large enough in its battles and monsters to satisfy many people.

Sometimes that's all anyone is really looking for in giant monster films. It's just unfortunate that this sequel couldn't deliver anything more or anything new to the franchise or to the genre the way Guillermo Del Toro could with the original. Everyone can agree that if it weren't for the film's two charismatic central characters, the film would have been a disaster.

14 THE MEG

Jaws gave cinema one of the most memorable theme music pieces and one of the most horrifying film monsters, at least at the time. The Meg is predictably similar in some respects but does not have the same impact on its audience, partly because it would inevitably be viewed under such scrutiny that its flaws would be somewhat magnified. If it had come out thirty years ago, it might have stood a chance.

As it so happens, The Meg delivered lesser quality excitement and entertainment than what we already had from Jaws and the countless other monster films we'd seen before. Don't mistake us, this is an enjoyable enough film, it's just not good enough to distinguish itself from the rest.

13 JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM

It will take a lot to bring this franchise down. Dinosaurs rampaging about is a great selling point, no matter what the storyline that surrounds it entails. That much was proven with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which somewhat clumsily guided the franchise to the world of dinosaurs this trilogy seems to eager to create.

Execution needed a lot of work. The unique and exciting part about Jurassic World was the concept of a hybrid dinosaur. The sequel offers the same concept only this time that hybrid is smaller. It was more exciting the first time around. It was a great summer blockbuster with a few genuinely emotional and memorable moments, each one weighted down by the flaws that surrounded it. Thankfully, the dinosaurs continued to look fantastic enough to carry this film above other monster movies, and that's pretty much the most important thing now.

12 PREDATORS

Back in 2010, Nimród Antal gave audiences a Predator movie focusing on gore, survival and the franchise's famed monster aliens, the Predators. It didn't take itself too seriously and as a result, while some of the acting and dialogue felt somewhat substandard, the film itself was engaging and brought fans everything about the Predators that captured their attention in the first place.

There was talk of a sequel over the past decade but nothing ever came into fruition. The Predator had very little to do with this film, which was not surprising since it took place on a completely different planet. It may not deliver everything that the original did but it's the closest thing fans have gotten in the past few years.

11 ALIEN: COVENANT

At this point you've probably noticed a pattern developing. Most of the monster films we've had in recent years are either reboots or extensions of franchises that already exist and they all faced somewhat harsh criticism. It's not easy to build on famous franchises but Alien: Covenant became one of the rare films that managed to do just that with a bit of elegance and respect. As an example, the Alien looked every bit as menacing and strange as H.R Geiger intended.

It delivered everything fans expected from the franchise to the approval of many critics -- grotesque and eerie Aliens that stalk and hunt human prey to inflict their offspring upon them, resulting in a lethal space voyage that ends with another unpredictable twist. Of course, it's not perfect, not even wholly unique, but for what it is, critics and audiences agreed that it was pretty decent.

10 RAMPAGE

If one giant creature is enough to get people excited for a monster film, surely a bunch of them would more than guarantee a film's success. That seemed to be the thought behind Rampage and its giant beast-laden storyline which can be summed up like so: a giant albino gorilla fights a giant wolf and a giant crocodile to save the city. The effects weren't spectacular and the writing left a lot to be desired, but with the help of its cast, it all still worked well enough.

It's as loud and as entertaining as you'd expect it to be and both critics and audiences agreed. It was the kind of film you could enjoy when you wanted something to watch while you turned your brain off for a while, not entirely unlike the video game on which the film was based.

9 PROMETHEUS

This prequel to Ridley Scott's Alien had actually been stuck in development hell for roughly a decade before Scott finally revisited the idea in 2010. It wasn't exactly what people were expecting but it still managed to impress, as many of Ridley Scott's films do.

Aesthetically, it offered something almost completely new to the franchise, which made sense because it took place in a different time. The talents of the cast were praised by both critics and audiences, as were the visual effects. The plot and script didn't quite measure up to everyone's expectations but overall, the film was a success and remains a strong entry in the franchise.

8 GODZILLA

The world has seen Godzilla adapted countless times over the past 60 odd years and filmmakers have discovered that in this modern age, there's an art to it. People don't just want to see the monster, they want to feel the effects of its presence or the chill of its absence. That's something 2014's Godzilla clearly attempted to give its audience by limiting the presence of the actual monster.

The two-hour-long film contained just a few brief sequences featuring the titular monster, totalling a little over ten minutes. That fact alone rubbed some people the wrong way, but few people can deny that each of those scenes were glorious and riveting, capturing everything that people loved about Godzilla, in part because the film was allowed to build those scenes up with characters and a storyline that actually provoked a bit of thought. The phenomenal effects and screenwriting made for a memorable Godzilla film that distinguished itself from the dozens that preceded it.

7 KONG: SKULL ISLAND

Hollywood hadn't seen a King Kong film since Peter Jackson's award-winning 2005 adaptation. A lot had changed since then. The interests of the audience had changed and perhaps most notably, seemingly every media company in existence was now looking to create an expansive shared universe. Legendary's MonsterVerse had begun with 2014's Godzilla. The next step was Kong: Skull Island.

The film was not afraid to reimagine the story of the beast or the beast itself. It introduced a bigger, scarier King Kong than any in recent memory, rendered with care by VFX artists. Critics and audiences were both impressed by the quality of this monster film which could very easily have collapsed under some heavy-handed set up for the inevitable battle between King Kong and Godzilla.

6 CLOVERFIELD

There are just a handful of great found-footage films and Cloverfield is one of them. The film revolved around a giant monster attack and the people trying to survive the disaster. It's unique in that the protagonists, Rob and Beth, aren't heroes, just a couple of average people, granting audiences with a unique perspective.

There was much to praise in Cloverfield. Audiences and critics both felt that the film itself was an intense experience and memorable among monster films. It helped that the effects, cast and script helped to immerse the audience, even if the cinematography left some people reeling.

5 PACIFIC RIM

The concept of Pacific Rim sounds like something right out of a kid's dream: giant monsters fighting giant robots. It's a fantasy fight we never stopped wanting to see. That was mainly why Pacific Rim appealed to people and why it was so successful. It gave us just that. However, that's not the reason why it ranks so highly among monster films.

It's a great film because Guillermo Del Toro knows how to take B-movie material and turn it into emotionally-driven, beautifully written, Kaiju-fighting gold. At least, that's how the majority saw it. Not everyone was enthusiastic about the film, but it had gained enough fans to warrant a sequel.

4 JURASSIC WORLD

Original Jurassic Park was the only one people like to remember. After all, you too would want to forget anything with a talking raptor, wouldn't you? Jurassic World takes the franchise forward with its plot and back to its roots with its themes. It's not just an excuse to have humans chased around by vicious prehistoric reptiles, it was an example of how humans come into conflict with nature and how nature will always win.

People had their complaints of course. For example, the effects were markedly inferior to those of Jurassic Park. Still, the film managed to create a breathtaking world and offer a lot of memorably frightening and exciting scenes, like one that put Mosasaurus on the map.

3 SUPER 8

A good monster film won't simply rely on the look of the monster itself to make it frightening. J.J Abrams and Steven Spielberg understand that and Super 8 managed to restrain itself with regards to the colossal alien that hounded the town. The focus was on the kids and their families. It gave the story some weight and depth.

There was a lot more to enjoy than just a rampaging creature, in fact, some of the most memorable moments didn't involve the monster at all. With that quality of screenwriting as well as the visual effects, both critics and audiences regarded the film highly, even if some had a problem with Abrams' clear attempt at emulating Spielberg's filmmaking style.

2 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE

The sequel (almost only in name) doesn't technically become a monster film until at least the second act and when the alien spacecraft and the monster show up, it all enhances the thrill the audience had already been experiencing with the drama happening in that bunker.

It's a well-paced journey of intensity the whole way through, just like a monster movie should be. For people looking for more monster-based action, 10 Cloverfield Lane probably won't satisfy, but overall, audiences and critics felt that the film did justice to the franchise, in no small part due to the direction of Dan Trachtenberg and the talents of the film's cast.

1 A QUIET PLACE

It's not often audiences come across a truly unique idea, especially in the realm of monster films. A Quiet Place attempted to bring something new to cinemas with absolute silence. The premise being that blind, indestructible alien creatures with hypersensitive hearing have invaded and the Abbott family has to survive without making noise.

It's an emotionally heavy and absolutely frightening film, which is why you were likely to have heard everyone talking about it during its theatrical run. Because of its premise, the film is able to maintain a sense of urgency and tension in almost every scene, which makes for an almost unforgettable experience, partly owing to the fact that the actual aliens were superbly rendered and look like the stuff of nightmares. It's no wonder critics and audiences consistently rank this film highly among monster films.