The Best Monster Movies on Free Services

What it's about: When Billy Peltzer is given a strange but adorable pet named Gizmo for Christmas, he inadvertently breaks the three important rules of caring for a Mogwai, and unleashes a horde of mischievous gremlins on a small town.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A scientific expedition searching for fossils along the Amazon River discover a prehistoric Gill-Man in the legendary Black Lagoon. The explorers capture the mysterious creature, but it breaks free. The Gill-Man returns to kidnap the lovely Kay, fiancée of one of the expedition, with whom it has fallen in love.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Paris, 1910. Emile, a shy movie projectionist, and Raoul, a colourful inventor, find themselves embarked on the hunt for a monster terrorizing citizens. They join forces with Lucille, the big-hearted star of the Bird of Paradise cabaret, an eccentric scientist and his irascible monkey to save the monster, who turns out to be an oversized but harmless flea, from the city's ruthlessly ambitious police chief.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, Vudu & IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Count Dracula adjourns to Earth, accompanied by Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolfman, the Mummy, and the Gillman. The uglies are in search of a powerful amulet that will grant them power to rule the world. Our heroes - the Monster Squad are the only ones daring to stand in their way.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle & PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: In search for answers, a mother travels to the enigmatic town of Silent Hill when her daughter begins to suffer recurring nightmares related to the place. It doesn't take long for her to discover its home to beings as equally haunting as the town itself.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: An adventure set in the early part of the 20th century, focused on a popular novelist and her dealings with would-be suitors, the cops, monsters, and other distractions.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Shout Factory TV & Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Shout Factory TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A drive-in favorite, this sci-fi classic follows teenagers Steve and his best girl, Jane, as they try to protect their hometown from a gelatinous alien life form that engulfs everything it touches. The first to discover the substance and live to tell about it, Steve and Jane witness the blob destroying an elderly man and grow to a terrifying size. But no one else has seen the goo, and policeman Dave refuses to believe the kids without proof.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle), stream on a subscription service (The Criterion Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: The year is 1999 and the Earth's monsters have been rounded up and kept on Monsterland. The peace however is broken when a race of she-aliens, the Kilaaks, unleash the monsters across the world.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (Vudu).

What it's about: A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of monsters are hiding from humanity.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Shout Factory TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: When the first manned flight to Venus returns to Earth, the rocket crash-lands in the Mediterranean near a small Italian fishing village. The locals manage to save one of the astronauts Colonel Calder, the mission commander. A young boy also recovers what turns out to be a specimen of an alien creature. Growing at a fantastic rate, it manages to escape and eventually threatens the city of Rome.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Mysterious and unearthly deaths start to occur while Professor Saxton is transporting the frozen remains of a primitive humanoid creature he found in Manchuria back to Europe.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix & Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Fandor, ConTV, Secrets of Cinema & 1 other) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Microsoft).

What it's about: New York police are bemused by reports of a giant flying lizard that has been spotted around the rooftops of New York, until the lizard starts to eat people. An out-of-work ex-con is the only person who knows the location of the monster's nest and is determined to turn the knowledge to his advantage, but will his gamble pay off or will he end up as lizard food?

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, Shout Factory TV & Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Showtime, Shout Factory TV & 1 other), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Looking for any way to get away from the life and town he was born into, Tripp, a high school senior, builds a Monster Truck from bits and pieces of scrapped cars. After an accident at a nearby oil-drilling site displaces a strange and subterranean creature with a taste and a talent for speed, Tripp may have just found the key to getting out of town and a most unlikely friend.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle, PopcornFlix & Tubi), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Set in 1965 New England, a troubled girl encounters mysterious happenings in the woods surrounding an isolated girls school that she was sent to by her estranged parents.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: It is 1879 in the Dakota Territories, a band of men who set out to find and recover a family of settlers that has mysteriously vanished from their home. Expecting the offenders to be a band of fierce natives, but they soon discover that the real enemy stalks them from below.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Young monster kids try to make peace between the world of humans and the world of the monsters.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a subscription service (Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: The Freeling family move in with Diane's mother in an effort to escape the trauma and aftermath of Carol Anne's abduction by the Beast. But the Beast is not to be put off so easily and appears in a ghostly apparition as the Reverend Kane, a religeous zealot responsible for the deaths of his many followers. His goal is simple - he wants the angelic Carol Anne.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The German film director Werner Herzog sets out to the Scottish Highlands to make a documentary, "Enigma of Loch Ness", exploding the myth of the Loch Ness Monster. Meanwhile, another documentary film crew is making a film about Werner Herzog, and we see the production of "Enigma" from their point of view. Shooting on a rented boat, tensions begin to rise as director Herzog and his producer, Zak Penn, find themselves at cross-purposes on the black surface of Loch Ness. Things get very edgy when the film crew starts seeing shapes in the murky water.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 1 service (iTunes).

What it's about: The first segment features an animated mummy stalking selected student victims; the second tale tells the story of a "cat from hell" who cannot be killed and leaves a trail of victims behind it; the third story is about a man who witnesses a bizarre killing and promises never to tell what he saw and the "in-between" bit is the story of a woman preparing to cook her newspaper boy for supper.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: They're not human. But they hunt human women. Not for killing. For mating.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Shudder) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: When Mystery, Inc. are guests of honor at the grand opening of the Coolsville Museum of Criminology, a masked villain shows up and creates havoc before stealing the costumes of the gang's most notorious villains...Could it be that their nemesis, mad scientist Jonathan Jacobo has returned and is trying to recreate their deadliest foes?

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Once again tampering with mother nature to disastrous results, Dr. Herbert West continues his research while serving time in a maximum security prison for his previous exploits. West's limited prison-cell experiments are suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a new prison doctor and the brother of the girl who suffered from West's experiments 13 years earlier.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A documentary filmmaker turns his lens on an enigmatic conspiracy theorist who claims he's found the entrance to a vast underground city populated entirely by monsters.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu & Shudder) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A writer of horror stories is invited to a "monster club" by a mysterious old gentleman. There, three gruesome stories are told to him; between each story some musicians play their songs. In the end, it's recognized he's the greatest monster of all ...

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Shout Factory TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: The Haunted World of El Superbeasto is an animated comedy that also combines elements of a horror and thriller film. It is based upon the comic book series created by Rob Zombie that follows the character of El Superbeasto and his sexy sidekick sister, Suzi-X, voiced by Sheri Moon, as they confront an evil villain by the name of Dr. Satan.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: Underwater deep-sea miners encounter a Soviet wreck and bring back a dangerous cargo to their base on the ocean floor with horrifying results. The crew of the mining base must fight to survive against a genetic mutation that hunts them down one by one.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: The sequel to Monster Hunt. Set in a world where monsters and humans co-exist, the franchise tells the story of Wuba, a baby monster born to be king. Wuba becomes the central figure in stopping an all-out monster civil war.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A rash of bizarre murders in New York City seems to point to a group of grotesquely deformed vagrants living in the sewers. A courageous policeman, a photo journalist and his girlfriend, and a nutty bum, who seems to know a lot about the creatures, band together to try and determine what the creatures are and how to stop them.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, ConTV & ScreamBox) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: On a deep space mining mission to a remote planet, an ancient religious relic - thought to be proof of the existence of God - is unearthed and brought aboard. When the unholy artifact unleashes a long-dormant alien race, its glimpse of Heaven transforms the ship into a living Hell. A prequel to the events of the 2008 video game Dead Space.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: An independent group of researchers called the Godzilla Prediction Network (GPN) actively track Godzilla as he makes landfall in Nemuro. Matters are further complicated when a giant meteor is discovered in the Ibaragi Prefecture. The mysterious rock begins to levitate as it's true intentions for the world and Godzilla are revealed.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle), stream on a subscription service (CBS All Access) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A team of U.S. archaeologists unearths an ancient pyramid buried deep beneath the Egyptian desert. As they search the pyramid's depths, they become hopelessly lost in its dark and endless catacombs. Searching for a way out, they become desperate to seek daylight again. They come to realize they aren't just trapped, they are being hunted.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: An ex-soldier ventures into the Pacific Northwest to uncover the truth behind his fiance's disappearance.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: A shipwrecked sailor stumbles upon a mysterious island and is shocked to discover that a brilliant scientist and his lab assistant have found a way to combine human and animal DNA with horrific results.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: After receiving word about a mysterious carcass/skeleton unearthed in the Arizona desert, a father and his daughter decide to remove it from the burial grounds for further study. Once they do so, they, as well as the town, are besieged by a colony of gargoyles living in some nearby caverns.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, Shout Factory TV & Tubi) & stream on a subscription service (Shout Factory TV).

What it's about: Criminals and a beautiful but cunning hitchhiker must battle a supernatural force known as the Reaper.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 1 service (iTunes).

What it's about: After losing a powerful orb, Kara, Superman's cousin, comes to Earth to retrieve it and instead finds herself up against a wicked witch.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Wealthy big game hunter Tom Newcliffe has tracked and killed practically every type of animal in the world. But one creature still evades him, the biggest game of all - a werewolf.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (SnagFilms), stream on a subscription service (Fandor) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Welcome to Monsterland! A terrifying place where savage beasts, carnivorous creatures, and grotesque abominations are the new normal; and the human race is now at the bottom of the food chain.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A nuclear explosion in the far north unleashes Gamera, the legendary flying turtle, from his sleep under the ice. In his search for energy, Gamera wreaks havoc over the entire world, and it's up to the scientists, assisted by a young boy with a strange sympathic link to the monster, to put a stop to Gamera's rampage.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (SnagFilms), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (Prime Video & FandangoNOW).

What it's about: The warrior Deathstalker is tasked by an old witch lady to obtain and unite the three powers of creation - a chalice, an amulet, and a sword - lest the evil magician Munkar get them and use them for nefarious purposes. After obtaining the sword, Deathstalker joins with other travelers going to the Big Tournament to determine the strongest warrior. The false king holds the true princess in captivity, and plots to have Deathstalker killed, and Deathstalker must fight to free the princess.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: After his family moves to a new house, a young boy discovers a mysterious book that details a curse hanging over the date of Saturday the 14th. Opening the book releases a band of monsters into the house and the family must join together to save themselves and their neighborhood.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: In early 2011, Rich Teachout quit his lucrative job to focus on creating a one-of-a-kind haunted attraction. He and his partner Janel dedicated every moment, ounce of energy, and dollar to making their “Scream Park” a reality. “Monsters Wanted” is the story of their self-proclaimed madness and the industry, culture, and people who share it. We followed Rich and Janel’s efforts from the first day of building beyond the last day of the season. The result is a one-of-a-kind peek into an industry known for its macabre antics and well guarded secrets.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: It's Halloween eve on Shelter Island, and the small town is preparing for a killer storm. But the dark clouds gathering over the island are bringing with them a curse one-hundred years in waiting. As the woods give birth to an ungodly and insatiable creature of fire, bones, and earth, three sisters must scramble to stay alive through the long dark night of the Hollow. For it's not something you can kill. It's only something you can try and survive.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (Google Play, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: A meteor crashes into the rocket-ship in-prisoning Gamera. Hungry for energy, Gamera makes his way back to Japan. Meanwhile, an expedition to retrieve a giant opal results in disaster as the opal is revealed to be an egg. The egg spawns Barugon, an ancient reptilian monster that terrorized the natives of its island. Gamera and Barugon soon collide in a climatic battle.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 1 service (iTunes).

What it's about: A portion of the tail of a prehistoric reptile is discovered in Denmark. It regenerates into the entire reptile, which proceeds to destroy buildings and property and generally make a nuisance of itself. It can fly, swim, and walk, and has impenetrable scales, which makes it difficult to kill.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 1 service (Vudu).

What it's about: Catherine Bomarzini returns to the family castle in Italy after her father's death and gets caught in the web of a mysterious love triangle: a man who is at times repulsive, at others enchanting; and a creature of the night whose gentle eyes and touch reveal his infinitive love and devotion. With the help of Martha, her faithful childhood nanny, and the ghost of a slain young girl, Catherine discovers the medieval curse that threatens their lives and only she can dispel.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Full Moon) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: As midnight falls, all manner of terror invades the Earth. demons, cannibals, killers, ghosts and monsters swarm the world in these tales of the supernatural, the fantastic, and the just plain horrific. Featuring nine stories of horror.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: When an undersea volcano sends tremors throughout the Atlantic, aquatic creatures come out of hiding. Merchant seamen Joe Ryan and partner Sam Slade harness the most unusual of the lot, a massive beast that looks like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The enterprising sailors deliver their quarry to a British circus, but it turns out that the animal is a newborn. And, when his much larger mother arrives in London to rescue her son, the city feels her wrath.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Fandor & ConTV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (Vudu).