Why Giant Monster Movies Don't Scare Us

There are many different genres of horror films that will keep us up late at night from fear of what may haunt our nightmares. There are certain horror genres that will not scare us, but will make us laugh at their attempt to scare us. Giant animal movies will make more people laugh then any other horror genre.

In the 1950s and 1960s, giant animal movies saw their prime. The goal of these movies was to scare us about the possibility that nuclear testing and radiation could cause for simple animals to grow beyond belief. These giant animals would then wreak havoc on the world that accidentally created them.

At the time, there was very little understanding about what nuclear testing and radiation could do. There was speculation about every aspect of the science during that time, and very few answers.

This speculation led to fear. This fear led to many movie companies to decide to exploit this fear for their gain.

One of the speculations about nuclear side effects was that it could cause a change in the chemical and molecular makeup of many of the creatures on Earth. Animals were starting to be seen around the world with genetic mutations that were caused by radiation.

This led many movie production companies to wonder what would happen if nuclear radiation could lead to an animal growing to be monstrous in size. Once one company came out with a giant monster film, many of the other movie companies followed.

Now, since we have a better grasp on what nuclear testing and radiation can do, we laugh at the old movies. Movies like Them, Attack of the Giant Gila Monster, and even Godzilla are now known more for being humorous reflections of old fears then as horror films.

The late 1980s and early 1990s saw a slight resurgence of the giant monster movie. Alligator is one such movie that comes to mind. Chemical reactions were again blamed for the increase in size, but not radiation.