Creature Features, or Monster Movies, are a sub-genre where a large monster or creature is usually the star and centerpiece of the storyline happening. One of the earliest known monster movies is The Lost World from 1925, where stop motion footage was used to capture the fantasy.
Other early important or pioneering creature features include Mighty Joe Young(1949) and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms(1953), which would become the standard template for inspiration to come in future titles.
Most famously are without a doubt King Kong and Godzilla. The former is a very original monster movie with groundbreaking and astounding special effects back in 1933, and the magic of the film's premise is easy to feel.
Godzilla is one of if not Japan's first response to King Kong and 20,000 Fathoms in the sense that both creatures are gigantic and Godzilla also has a nuclear warfare origin story, being partially created from radioactivity.
While King Kong's sequels would be tame, Godzilla's sequels would be numerous and frankly milked out over the decades to come, but nevertheless, the franchises remain popular to experience, with a recent Godzilla flick being released by an American studio this year.
Other notable giant monsters or daikaiju eiga's are Mothra, a legendary giant moth who guards planet Earth and Gamera, my personal favorite, which is a giant turtle with cool tricks up his sleeve such as being able to fly spinning his wheel around or spitting fire!
The creature feature genre has been critiziced for having too much similar plot progressions, redundant premises and most of the time featuring men in silly suits or unbelievable CGI effects. But one must keep in mind that it takes suspension of disbelief to enjoy these.
Personally, my favorites are with the original creature features starting the franchises.
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