Movies with one word in the title only. “The” or “A” do not count.
R
|
86 min
|
Crime, Drama, Thriller
42
Metascore
Colin happens upon a road accident where he finds a dead man, a beautiful woman, and a suitcase full of money. After trying to do the right thing he soon finds himself caught up in a dangerous scheme.
Director:
Craig Lahiff
|
Stars:
Jason Clarke,
Emma Booth,
David Lyons,
Travis McMahon
Votes:
1,919
16+
|
120 min
|
Action, Comedy
75
Metascore
A desk-bound CIA analyst volunteers to go undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent diabolical global disaster.
Director:
Paul Feig
|
Stars:
Melissa McCarthy,
Rose Byrne,
Jude Law,
Jason Statham
Votes:
249,280
| Gross:
$110.83M
6+
|
102 min
|
Animation, Adventure, Comedy
75
Metascore
When the newly crowned Queen Elsa accidentally uses her power to turn things into ice to curse her home in infinite winter, her sister Anna teams up with a mountain man, his playful reindeer, and a snowman to change the weather condition.
Directors:
Chris Buck,
Jennifer Lee
|
Stars:
Kristen Bell,
Idina Menzel,
Jonathan Groff,
Josh Gad
Votes:
636,334
| Gross:
$400.74M
16+
|
93 min
|
Adventure, Drama, Mystery
43
Metascore
Three skiers stranded on a chairlift are forced to make life-or-death choices, which prove more perilous than staying put and freezing to death.
Director:
Adam Green
|
Stars:
Shawn Ashmore,
Emma Bell,
Kevin Zegers,
Ed Ackerman
Votes:
76,262
| Gross:
$0.24M
0+
|
88 min
|
Animation, Adventure, Comedy
99
Metascore
A living puppet, with the help of a cricket as his conscience, must prove himself worthy to become a real boy.
Directors:
Norman Ferguson,
T. Hee,
Wilfred Jackson,
Jack Kinney,
Hamilton Luske,
Bill Roberts,
Ben Sharpsteen
|
Stars:
Dickie Jones,
Christian Rub,
Mel Blanc,
Billy Bletcher
Votes:
151,769
| Gross:
$84.25M
6+
|
115 min
|
Action, Adventure, Drama
66
Metascore
A young Chinese maiden disguises herself as a male warrior in order to save her father.
Director:
Niki Caro
|
Stars:
Liu Yifei,
Donnie Yen,
Gong Li,
Jet Li
Votes:
151,663
0+
|
87 min
|
Animation, Adventure, Comedy
71
Metascore
To save her father from death in the army, a young maiden secretly goes in his place and becomes one of China’s greatest heroines in the process.
Directors:
Tony Bancroft,
Barry Cook
|
Stars:
Ming-Na Wen,
Eddie Murphy,
BD Wong,
Miguel Ferrer
Votes:
296,723
| Gross:
$120.62M
0+
|
69 min
|
Animation, Adventure, Drama
91
Metascore
The story of a young deer growing up in the forest.
Directors:
James Algar,
Samuel Armstrong,
David Hand,
Graham Heid,
Bill Roberts,
Paul Satterfield,
Norman Wright,
Arthur Davis,
Clyde Geronimi
|
Stars:
Hardie Albright,
Stan Alexander,
Bobette Audrey,
Peter Behn
Votes:
146,998
| Gross:
$102.80M
0+
|
124 min
|
Animation, Family, Fantasy
96
Metascore
A collection of animated interpretations of great works of Western classical music, ranging from the abstract to depictions of mythology and fantasy, and settings including the prehistoric, supernatural and sacred.
Directors:
James Algar,
Samuel Armstrong,
Ford Beebe Jr.,
Norman Ferguson,
David Hand,
Jim Handley,
T. Hee,
Wilfred Jackson,
Hamilton Luske,
Bill Roberts,
Paul Satterfield,
Ben Sharpsteen
|
Stars:
Leopold Stokowski,
Deems Taylor,
The Philadelphia Orchestra,
Corey Burton
Votes:
99,180
| Gross:
$76.41M
0+
|
96 min
|
Animation, Adventure, Comedy
67
Metascore
The canine star of a fictional sci-fi/action show that believes his powers are real embarks on a cross country trek to save his co-star from a threat he believes is just as real.
Directors:
Byron Howard,
Chris Williams
|
Stars:
John Travolta,
Miley Cyrus,
Susie Essman,
Mark Walton
Votes:
217,463
| Gross:
$114.05M
6+
|
105 min
|
Adventure, Drama, Family
67
Metascore
When her father unexpectedly dies, young Ella finds herself at the mercy of her cruel stepmother and her scheming stepsisters. Never one to give up hope, Ella’s fortunes begin to change after meeting a dashing stranger.
Director:
Kenneth Branagh
|
Stars:
Lily James,
Cate Blanchett,
Richard Madden,
Helena Bonham Carter
Votes:
181,417
| Gross:
$201.15M
PG
|
113 min
|
Comedy, Family, Fantasy
41
Metascore
A modern movie musical with a bold take on the classic fairy tale. Our ambitious heroine has big dreams and with the help of her fab Godmother, she perseveres to make them come true.
Director:
Kay Cannon
|
Stars:
Camila Cabello,
Billy Porter,
Nicholas Galitzine,
Idina Menzel
Votes:
43,277
PG
|
94 min
|
Animation, Action, Adventure
Tarzan and Jane Porter face a mercenary army dispatched by the evil CEO of Greystoke Energies, a man who took over the company from Tarzan’s parents, after they died in a helicopter crash.
Director:
Reinhard Klooss
|
Stars:
Kellan Lutz,
Spencer Locke,
Les Bubb,
Joe Cappelletti
Votes:
12,811
R
|
158 min
|
Drama, Music
92
Metascore
Set in the international world of Western classical music, the film centers on Lydia Tár, widely considered one of the greatest living composer-conductors and the very first female director of a major German orchestra.
Director:
Todd Field
|
Stars:
Cate Blanchett,
Noémie Merlant,
Nina Hoss,
Sophie Kauer
Votes:
66,913
16+
|
118 min
|
Biography, Drama
69
Metascore
A five-year-old Indian boy is adopted by an Australian couple after getting lost hundreds of kilometers from home. 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.
Director:
Garth Davis
|
Stars:
Dev Patel,
Nicole Kidman,
Rooney Mara,
Sunny Pawar
Votes:
241,531
| Gross:
$51.74M
12+
|
89 min
|
Adventure, Comedy, Family
52
Metascore
The bumbling Mr. Bean travels to America when he is given the responsibility of bringing a highly valuable painting to a Los Angeles museum.
Director:
Mel Smith
|
Stars:
Rowan Atkinson,
Peter MacNicol,
John Mills,
Pamela Reed
Votes:
107,488
| Gross:
$45.32M
6+
|
112 min
|
Adventure, Family, Fantasy
51
Metascore
A young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus, but when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer.
Director:
Tim Burton
|
Stars:
Colin Farrell,
Michael Keaton,
Danny DeVito,
Eva Green
Votes:
78,550
| Gross:
$114.77M
0+
|
64 min
|
Animation, Adventure, Drama
96
Metascore
Ridiculed because of his enormous ears, a young circus elephant is assisted by a mouse to achieve his full potential.
Directors:
Samuel Armstrong,
Norman Ferguson,
Wilfred Jackson,
Jack Kinney,
Bill Roberts,
Ben Sharpsteen,
John Elliotte
|
Stars:
Sterling Holloway,
Edward Brophy,
Herman Bing,
Billy Bletcher
Votes:
135,666
| Gross:
$1.60M
6+
|
128 min
|
Adventure, Comedy, Family
53
Metascore
A kind-hearted street urchin and a power-hungry Grand Vizier vie for a magic lamp that has the power to make their deepest wishes come true.
Director:
Guy Ritchie
|
Stars:
Will Smith,
Mena Massoud,
Naomi Scott,
Marwan Kenzari
Votes:
273,303
| Gross:
$355.56M
0+
|
97 min
|
Adventure, Comedy, Family
64
Metascore
Raised as an oversized elf, Buddy travels from the North Pole to New York City to meet his biological father, Walter Hobbs, who doesn’t know he exists and is in desperate need of some Christmas spirit.
Director:
Jon Favreau
|
Stars:
Will Ferrell,
James Caan,
Bob Newhart,
Zooey Deschanel
Votes:
285,808
| Gross:
$173.40M
6+
|
94 min
|
Animation, Adventure, Comedy
55
Metascore
An alien on the run from his own people makes friends with a girl. He tries to help her on her quest, but can be an interference.
Director:
Tim Johnson
|
Stars:
Jim Parsons,
Rihanna,
Steve Martin,
Jennifer Lopez
Votes:
105,792
| Gross:
$177.40M
18+
|
99 min
|
Horror, Mystery, Thriller
53
Metascore
A lonely woman befriends a group of teenagers and decides to let them party at her house. Just when the kids think their luck couldn’t get any better, things start happening that make them question the intention of their host.
Director:
Tate Taylor
|
Stars:
Octavia Spencer,
Diana Silvers,
Juliette Lewis,
McKaley Miller
Votes:
55,335
| Gross:
$45.37M
117 min
|
Comedy, Drama
43
Metascore
While his mom recovers in hospital from a heart attack, John puts his busy life on hold to fly home and help his elderly dad around the house. John’s son later joins them and they all truly bond for the first and, tragically, final time.
Director:
Gary David Goldberg
|
Stars:
Jack Lemmon,
Ted Danson,
Olympia Dukakis,
Kathy Baker
Votes:
5,114
| Gross:
$19.74M
R
|
92 min
|
Comedy, Drama
A poignant romantic comedy about the quest for love and intimacy in the age of AIDS. A story of a thirtyish gay actor/waiter who decides to become celibate…the risk of AIDS has taken all the joy from sex.
Director:
Christopher Ashley
|
Stars:
Steven Weber,
Michael T. Weiss,
Peter Jacobson,
Tom Cayler
Votes:
6,503
| Gross:
$3.49M
0+
|
94 min
|
Animation, Adventure, Drama
61
Metascore
The last surviving child of the Russian Royal Family joins two con men to reunite with her grandmother, the Dowager Empress, while the undead Rasputin seeks her death.
Directors:
Don Bluth,
Gary Goldman
|
Stars:
Meg Ryan,
John Cusack,
Christopher Lloyd,
Kelsey Grammer
Votes:
128,384
| Gross:
$58.41M
12+
|
110 min
|
Comedy, Drama, Family
32
Metascore
A tribe of cats called the Jellicles must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new Jellicle life.
Director:
Tom Hooper
|
Stars:
James Corden,
Judi Dench,
Jason Derulo,
Idris Elba
Votes:
53,020
PG
|
130 min
|
Action, Adventure, Family
60
Metascore
Bound by a shared destiny, a teen bursting with scientific curiosity and a former boy-genius inventor embark on a mission to unearth the secrets of a place somewhere in time and space that exists in their collective memory.
Director:
Brad Bird
|
Stars:
George Clooney,
Britt Robertson,
Hugh Laurie,
Raffey Cassidy
Votes:
185,483
| Gross:
$93.44M
PG
|
111 min
|
Adventure, Drama, Family
47
Metascore
A military dog that helped American Marines in Afghanistan returns to the United States and is adopted by his handler’s family after suffering a traumatic experience.
Director:
Boaz Yakin
|
Stars:
Thomas Haden Church,
Josh Wiggins,
Luke Kleintank,
Lauren Graham
Votes:
27,379
| Gross:
$42.65M
12+
|
111 min
|
Action, Comedy, Crime
60
Metascore
When his peaceful life is threatened by a high-tech assassin, former black-ops agent Frank Moses reassembles his old team in a last-ditch effort to survive and uncover his assailants.
Director:
Robert Schwentke
|
Stars:
Bruce Willis,
Helen Mirren,
Morgan Freeman,
Mary-Louise Parker
Votes:
314,383
| Gross:
$90.38M
18+
|
115 min
|
Horror, Mystery, Thriller
68
Metascore
After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, a psychiatrist becomes increasingly convinced she is being threatened by an uncanny entity.
Director:
Parker Finn
|
Stars:
Sosie Bacon,
Jessie T. Usher,
Kyle Gallner,
Robin Weigert
Votes:
119,086
12+
|
118 min
|
Adventure, Comedy, Drama
40
Metascore
When Lieutenant General Leland Zevo (Sir Michael Gambon) inherits a toymaking company and begins making war toys, his employees band together to stop him before he ruins the name of Zevo Toys forever.
Director:
Barry Levinson
|
Stars:
Robin Williams,
Michael Gambon,
Joan Cusack,
Robin Wright
Votes:
32,695
| Gross:
$21.45M
PG-13
|
113 min
|
Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
31
Metascore
Because of an unusual disorder that has aged him four times faster than a typical human being, a boy looks like a 40-year-old man as he starts fifth grade at public school after being homeschooled.
Director:
Francis Ford Coppola
|
Stars:
Robin Williams,
Diane Lane,
Brian Kerwin,
Jennifer Lopez
Votes:
61,939
| Gross:
$58.62M
16+
|
88 min
|
Action, Comedy, Horror
73
Metascore
A shy student trying to reach his family in Ohio, a gun-toting bruiser in search of the last Twinkie and a pair of sisters striving to get to an amusement park join forces in a trek across a zombie-filled America.
Director:
Ruben Fleischer
|
Stars:
Jesse Eisenberg,
Emma Stone,
Woody Harrelson,
Abigail Breslin
Votes:
591,235
| Gross:
$75.59M
18+
|
107 min
|
Comedy, Drama, Romance
76
Metascore
In the summer of 1987, a college graduate takes a ‘nowhere’ job at his local amusement park, only to find it’s the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world.
Director:
Greg Mottola
|
Stars:
Jesse Eisenberg,
Kristen Stewart,
Ryan Reynolds,
Martin Starr
Votes:
163,681
| Gross:
$16.03M
PG-13
|
124 min
|
Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
71
Metascore
Two 1990s teenage siblings find themselves in a 1950s sitcom, where their influence begins to profoundly change that complacent world.
Director:
Gary Ross
|
Stars:
Tobey Maguire,
Jeff Daniels,
Joan Allen,
William H. Macy
Votes:
131,860
| Gross:
$40.57M
16+
|
107 min
|
Comedy, Drama, Romance
76
Metascore
A man from Los Angeles, who moved to New York years ago, returns to L.A. to figure out his life while he house-sits for his brother. He soon sparks with his brother’s assistant.
Director:
Noah Baumbach
|
Stars:
Ben Stiller,
Greta Gerwig,
Jennifer Jason Leigh,
Rhys Ifans
Votes:
38,280
| Gross:
$4.22M
126 min
|
Action, Adventure
69
Metascore
The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.
Director:
Tim Burton
|
Stars:
Michael Keaton,
Jack Nicholson,
Kim Basinger,
Robert Wuhl
Votes:
385,032
| Gross:
$251.19M
12+
|
104 min
|
Action, Crime, Fantasy
27
Metascore
A shy woman, endowed with the speed, reflexes, and senses of a cat, walks a thin line between criminal and hero, even as a detective doggedly pursues her, fascinated by both of her personas.
Director:
Pitof
|
Stars:
Halle Berry,
Sharon Stone,
Benjamin Bratt,
Lambert Wilson
Votes:
121,809
| Gross:
$40.20M
16+
|
138 min
|
Action, Sci-Fi
54
Metascore
Bruce Banner, a genetics researcher with a tragic past, suffers an accident that causes him to transform into a raging green monster when he gets angry.
Director:
Ang Lee
|
Stars:
Eric Bana,
Jennifer Connelly,
Sam Elliott,
Josh Lucas
Votes:
271,933
| Gross:
$132.18M
PG-13
|
109 min
|
Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
49
Metascore
A woman is transformed into her younger self at a point in her life when the pressures of adulthood become too much to bear.
Director:
Tina Gordon
|
Stars:
Regina Hall,
Issa Rae,
Marsai Martin,
Justin Hartley
Votes:
13,937
| Gross:
$40.67M
16+
|
137 min
|
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
84
Metascore
Decades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.
Director:
James Cameron
|
Stars:
Sigourney Weaver,
Michael Biehn,
Carrie Henn,
Paul Reiser
Votes:
728,614
| Gross:
$85.16M
6+
|
93 min
|
Animation, Adventure, Comedy
69
Metascore
Determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse.
Directors:
Mark Andrews,
Brenda Chapman,
Steve Purcell
|
Stars:
Kelly Macdonald,
Billy Connolly,
Emma Thompson,
Julie Walters
Votes:
421,142
| Gross:
$237.28M
R
|
98 min
|
Drama, Horror, Mystery
70
Metascore
A recently widowed traveler is kidnapped by a cold blooded killer, only to escape into the wilderness where she is forced to battle against the elements as her pursuer closes in on her.
Director:
John Hyams
|
Stars:
Jules Willcox,
Marc Menchaca,
Anthony Heald,
Jonathan Rosenthal
Votes:
22,644
R
|
92 min
|
Drama, Horror, Thriller
When an outbreak hits, Aidan barricades himself inside his apartment and starts rationing food. His complex is overrun by infected Screamers, and with the world falling apart into chaos, he is left completely alone fighting for his life.
Director:
Johnny Martin
|
Stars:
Tyler Posey,
Summer Spiro,
Donald Sutherland,
Robert Ri’chard
Votes:
3,890
Movies are great. The plot, the action, the actors, etc. But a title can be great too. Sometimes the title is long and sometimes the title is short. This list has movies that have only one word, one single solitary word, in its title. But many of them are still fantastic movies.
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How many of these movie have you seen?
Cinderella (1950)
Twilight (2008)
Gladiator (2000)
Uninhabited (2010)
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Inception (2010)
Tangled (2010)
Frozen (2013)
Watchmen (2009)
Hancock (2008)
Australia
Hop
Dracula (1931)
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Frankenstein (1931)
Wanted (2008)
Triangle
Dread (2009)
Titanic (1997)
Poseidon (2006)
Aladdin (1992)
Armageddon (1998)
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Transformers (2007)
Ratatouille (2007)
Cars (2006)
Oldboy (2003)
Thor (2011)
Vertigo (1958)
Enchanted (2007)
Maleficent (2014)
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Taken (2008)
Milk (2008)
Twins (1988)
Eragon (2006)
Hero (1992)
Tootsie (1982)
Se7en (1995)
Avatar (2009)
Jumanji (1995)
Hook (1991)
RV (2006)
Juno (2007)
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Seen It is a new app from the creators of List Challenges. You can view movies and shows in one place and filter by streaming provider, genre, release year, runtime, and rating (Rotten Tomatoes, Imdb, and/or Metacritic). Also, you can track what you’ve seen, want to see, like, or dislike, as well as track individual seasons or episodes of shows. In addition, you can see the most watched/liked stuff amongst your friends. Learn more at SEENIT.FUN
A list of the best 1 word title movies, ranked by film lovers and fans of economy of words. All the films listed here have a short title, made up of just one word. These one word titled movies cross genres and eras and star many of Hollywood’s most famous faces. From sci-fi classics like Alien and Gattaca, to comedies like Airplane! and Ghostbusters, movies with one word names come in all shapes and styles.
The next time you are browsing Netflix, consider some of these short titled movies, and if you come across one that is not included here, add it for others to vote on. I purposefully have not included Crash on this list at the time of publishing, but you may add it if you feel passionately about that particularly bad Best Picture winner.
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Horror movies appeal to a core, universal emotion: fear. It’s a simple and easy-to-understand feeling, and ultimately what people want from a horror movie. It’s nice to get a safe, direct blast of nervousness or outright terror by way of a movie. Sometimes, that sense of directness towards making the audience feel such a simple emotion carries over into the film’s title.
Enter the one-word horror film title. There’s something eerie about horror films with such short titles, and how they often summarize the specific horror element of such a film so succinctly. The latest of these is Alex Garland’s newest movie, Men, which is receiving acclaim from horror fans the same way his last film was — itself another horror film with a one-word title — 2018’s Annihilation. In celebration of Garland’s most recent simply titled horror movie, here are nine more great horror movies that only have one word in their title.
Us (2019)
Jordan Peele’s second film is an odd, mysterious, and extremely compelling horror film, where the less said about the plot the better (it’s also very hard to describe exactly what happens, but it makes more sense when it plays out on screen). The important thing is it’s very good, and has an incredible lead performance from the always great Lupita Nyong’o.
It’s about as good as Jordan Peele’s first film, Get Out, and cemented Peele as one of the most exciting directors working within the horror genre today. His third film, Nope, is one of the most anticipated horror films of 2022, and similarly, also has a beautifully direct, single-word title.
Hereditary (2018)
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Hereditary is a deeply unsettling and upsetting film, and as great as it is, it’s probably a movie that many will struggle to watch a second time, no matter how much they like it. It’s equally compelling as a downbeat family drama as it is a psychological horror film, and deals with a family being torn apart by grief and unexpected developments regarding their ancestry.
It was the debut feature of Ari Aster, who made Midsommar, another very good horror movie with a solitary word in its title. For his upcoming film, he’s really branching out by having a whopping two words in the title: Disappointment Blvd. It’s also rumored to be approximately 3.5 hours long, and there’s still no word on what the plot is exactly. Exciting stuff.
Titane (2021)
Titane is a French horror film that won the Cannes Palme d’Or in 2021, and received a great deal of acclaim for both its extreme horror elements and its deep, often surprisingly moving insight into identity, family, and masculinity vs femineity. With it, director Julia Ducournau crafted a film like no other.
Its one-word title translates into «Titanium» in English, and the metal (or just metal in general) does play a big role in the film, in ways that are hard to coherently explain. It’s the kind of movie that carries more of an impact if you go into it knowing next to nothing, as the ride Titane provides is tense, unsettling, unpredictable, and wholly engaging (for those with strong stomachs of course).
Jaws (1975)
One of the first huge blockbusters remains one of the best, and also one of the most satisfyingly straightforward. It’s called Jaws, after all, and there’s a big shark on the poster, and the movie itself is about three dudes who go on a boat and try to kill a big shark before it terrorizes their small coastal town any further.
In the hands of Steven Spielberg, such a simple premise works wonders. The technical skill behind the film, and the way it’s put together so incredibly well means it’s an almost timeless movie. It’s just as entertaining in 2022 as it was back in 1975, when it shook the world and made almost everyone afraid of going swimming in the ocean.
Mother! (2017)
Darren Aronofsky is no stranger to tense, uncomfortable, psychologically confronting films. Mother! might be his most horrific, though, which is saying something, considering how crazy something like Black Swan gets as it goes on, and how terrifying drug addiction is shown to be in Requiem For a Dream.
Mother! reflects its simple, one-word title with a simple location for the film’s events (all in one house), and an initially simple premise that gets more surreal and allegorical as it goes on. Whether it’s about social anxiety, a retelling of several Bible stories, or just about a woman who wants to be left alone while crowds of people refuse to let her is up to the viewer, ultimately. What can surely be agreed on, though, is that it’s a dark, nightmarish ride that’s hard to forget, even while some viewers might wish they were able to wipe certain images within it from their minds…
Godzilla (1954)
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The original Godzilla is still seen as the best Godzilla film by many of the series’ fans. While later sequels always had longer titles — usually because they added more monsters for Godzilla to fight — the first Godzilla is all about Godzilla, and as such, his name’s the only thing really needed for the title.
It’s also much more of a horror film than most later Godzilla films, which tended to have a bit more by way of action, humor, or more out-there science-fiction concepts (like aliens, giant robots, and even time travel!). But the original film for the iconic movie monster is just him as a force of nature against Japan as a nation, and it makes for an unsettling and tense science-fiction horror film that’s even a little emotional, in its own way.
Gremlins (1984)
Gremlins is an iconic Christmas film, seeing as it can be enjoyed as both a sincere Christmas film and a somewhat ironic one, given its irreverent comedy and surprisingly bloody violence. It’s a pretty straightforward monster movie about a unique creature that, if not looked after properly, can mutate and multiply, causing catastrophic death and destruction in the process.
It succeeds and holds up as a classic because of how crazy the comedy gets, as well as how expertly done the special effects are. It gets unusually dark in places, and tonally, it feels as chaotic as the creatures that give the film its one-word title. That does admittedly feel appropriate, in its own way.
Psycho (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic horror film Psycho arguably helped push the horror genre as a whole forward. Its story of a young woman on the run and seeking shelter in an unusually deserted and creepy motel unfolded in a way that shocked audiences at the time, and is sure to surprise any modern viewer who’s unaware of what the film is «really» about.
But you get enough of an idea of what to expect from that simple, intoxicating title. There is going to be madness, and the film is going to be extreme in some way or another. It might not feel as extreme nowadays, when it comes to its violence, but it was pretty brutal for its time, and the content of what was shown on screen and the way the story played out was truly revolutionary, to the point where most horror films released after 1960 probably owe something to Hitchcock’s classic.
Saw (2004)
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A lot of people saw Saw, as it was popular enough to get multiple sequels, and it began one of the biggest and most well-known horror franchises of all time. But the first one is the best for sure, and the most direct and non-convoluted. And it’s also one with the simplest title: just «Saw«, with no Roman numerals tacked onto the end.
It was the first of many films to feature a serial killer who put people in horrifying traps that they’d need to endanger themselves to get out of. Here, it was less about: «How disgusting and bloody can we make these scenes?», and more about: «How suspenseful and psychologically intense can we make these scenes?». Its blunt simplicity and the fact it doesn’t over-rely on gory violence means it holds up remarkably well as a horror movie with a one-word title.
NEXT: Great Horror Films for People Who Don’t Like Scary Movies