Nick Danger

Last night we watched Night of the Demon, a moody horror movie. The worst part of the movie is the payoff, when we actually see the demon. It's a cheap rubber puppet which wiggles a bit.

A lot of movies are a letdown when the monster is finally revealed. Forbidden Planet comes to mind.

So, other than some episodes of X-Files, are there any movies where the monster never is clearly shown?

Nick Danger

I forgot to say -- other than the few seconds where the demon was onscreen, Night of the Demon is excellent.

MrN

Final Destination?

UAIOE

I wish there were more movies where you didnt see the monster.

The scariest movie monster is one you see very little of or not at all.

costanza187

Evil Dead?

Caoimhin

The Blair Witch Project

Groucho

Night of the Demon was originally made to not show the monster, but the studio heads would hear nothing of it, and forced the director to add in the puppet at the last minute.

Buttmunker

The Amityville Horror

--unless you consider the house the monster (and it is, sort of)

rennervision

The closest example I can think of is Signs. Technically, I suppose you did get a glimpse of it in the end - but I don't think there was a very revealing shot, and so you had to use a little bit of imagination.

mookyman

Rosemary's Baby

FiveO

This was my first thought also.

Dr. DVD

I wish I could see it, but I have heard a pseudo-bigfoot documentary called The Legend of Boggy Creek employs such tactics.

Rypro 525

Maybe not a "monster" but Seinfeld used this technieque often also where they would talk about something (JFK Jr, the Bubble Boy, ect) but we would never see them.

BT

How about the original Alien? They do reveal the entire creature in the end, but up until that point it's not clear what the heck is killing everyone.

What about The Blob?

-BT

Groucho

Thought of another one: Bambi vs. Godzilla.

You see "The Blob" in the movie of the same name (original and remake).

BernieStolar

Deep Rising is probably the worst revelation of what the monster is. (A bad CGI squid).

Morf

What? You clearly see the in that movie.

gmal2003

Ill second Signs as being CLOSE to what Nick Danger is looking for.

lesterlong

Yes, after seeing this film once you can see the creature from quite a few different angles and shots.

Pants

It Came From Outer Space employed the same tactic of not showing the zenomorph, but, like Night of the Demon, they were forced to insert shots of a lame puppet at the last minute.

As for Rosemary's Baby, you DO see the devil in that movie

milo bloom

IIRC, you never really see the monster only the So you get an idea of the shape, but not the details. In fact, I remember the first time I saw FP a few years ago, I was impressed with the way they didn't implicitly show the critter.

davidlynchfan

Exorcist,poltergeist?

Giantrobo

is this the one where they shoot the demon from far away with lights, smoke and the rattling sound? If it is, that is one of the creepiest moments in horror movies.

Nick Danger

That's the one. There's a very tall demon quite a ways off, with smoke and globs of light and chirruping noises. Very creepy. Then there are short insert shots of a rubber puppet.

In Rosmary's Baby, do we ever get a good look at the devil? I only remember blurry, out-of-focus closeups from the POV of someone who'd been drugged.

Poltergeist and Exorcist are a good suggestions.

davidlynchfan

Psycho and Diabolique are Top-notch material as well.

and wat's up with a spoiler thread w/o the spoiler tag on the
Thread-title!