But they weren’t all winners. In fact, quite a few ’50s monster movies were extremely rough around the edges. But, of those lesser films, some of them continue to hold a compulsively watchable charm.

Not many giant monster movies feel essentially perfect, but classics like Jaws, King Kong (1933), and the original Godzilla might well be.

Monster movies have long been a staple of the horror genre, offering filmmakers a canvas to explore societal fears and human nature. While audiences flock to mainstream hits like Godzilla and Alien, ...