Dracula

 

First appearance: Dracula (1958)

Dracula's out Drac-ing it up and Dr. Van Helsing's out to put an end to all that. 

While I've never been a huge fan of vampire movies I've always really dug the Hammer Dracula series. Christopher Lee is the Best Dracula. This is my little tribute to him. RIP Christopher Lee.

 

Tobonga

First appearance: From Hell It Came (1957)

Nuclear radiation turns a prince who was executed when he was wrongly accused of murder and buried in a hollow tree stump into a revenge seeking walking tree known as a Tobonga. The Tobonga goes on a rampage killing everyone who gets in his way including the guy who actually committed the murder. Can anyone get close enough to drive the knife protruding from the monsters chest all the way through the monster's heart thus killing it?

I don't think there's enough monsters nowadays that are the result of radiation and revenge.

Paul Webster

First appearance: Alligator People (1959)

Under hypnosis a lady remembers a weird episode from her past where she reveals that she was once married to a man who was turned into an alligator because of science. 

Martian

First appearance: War of the Worlds (1953)

As usual Mars decides to kill a bunch of people on Earth. Why? Probably because we're the closest inhabited planet. Or maybe they're just jerks. Either way they do a really good job of wrecking stuff. Will Earth's military or scientists figure out a way to stop this invasion? 

The eventually remade this movie with Tom Cruise as the main character and in a weird twist decided that the martians had buried their war machines all over the surface of the Earth millions of years ago for some reason instead of sending them down in landing craft disguised as meteors like in every other version of the story.

Glenn Manning

First appearance: The Amazing Colossal Man (1957)
This appearance: War of the Colossal Beast (1958)

In the Amazing Colossal Man, Lt. Col. Glenn Manning was hit with radiation. Instead of contracting cancer and dying he grew to fifty feet tall, went insane and goes on a rampage. The military eventually knocked him off the Boulder Dam, killing him. Or so they believe. Upon receiving reports of strange food truck robberies in Mexico, his sister (who according to the first movie didn't exist), an army guy and a scientist decide that Glenn is alive and committing these crimes. Turns out they are right Glenn didn't die in fact plutonium radiation made him ten feet taller, melted off half his face, stupider and addicted to loaves of bread. Our group of intrepid heroes capture Glenn, drug him and bring him back to the States in order to cure him, or something.
Back home Glenn wakes up and goes on a rampage in Los Angeles. What can stop and Amazing Colossal Man?
Coincidentally (or not) the man who made this movie Burt I. Gordon's initials spell BIG.

Saucer man

First appearance: Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)

A scientist working on a secret rocket project gets contacted by aliens who tell him to "cut it out."
He doesn't listen so the aliens blow up the rocket base. Understandably this angers the scientist so he develops a sonic weapon to fight the aliens. Based on a true pamphlet.
On a side note. I love how the saucers in this movie are stop motion creations from Ray Harryhausen.

The Blob

First appearance: The Blob (1958)

One night a strange rock falls from space. A weird old hermit decides to poke it with a stick. Inside the rock is a weird pulsating ball of goo. Naturally the old man pokes the goo with a stick. The goo, being hungry from its long space voyage, climbs up the stick and proceeds to begin eating the old man's hand.
The hermit stumbles out onto a near by road and proceeds to ruin Steve Andrews' (Steve McQueen in his debut leading man role) evening.
Based on a true story.
Features a theme song written by Burt Bacacharach

Andre Delambre

First appearance: The Fly (1958)

A woman murders her husband in a giant hydraulic press, but why?
Turns out he was doing science and came up with a way to teleport matter from one spot to another, but not without terrible consequences. Consequences like: making the printing in a book be reversed, spreading the atoms of a cat through out a room so that you can hear it meow but will never find it, and if you're unlucky enough to have more than one thing in the chamber, they get parts swapped around.
Interestingly the story takes place in Quebec for some reason.

Ro-Man Extension XJ-2

First appearance: Robot Monster (1953)

A boy named Johnny and his family fight to survive the Ro-man in a world where everyone has been killed by the Calcinator Deathray. Eventually Ro-man decides he wants to experience what life for the Hu-mans is like and is killed by his superiors. Or is he? Maybe its all a dream? I don't know but the Ro-man has a cool bubble machine hidden in a cave.
Weird little movie rumoured to have been shot over 4 days.

The Gillman

First appearance: The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954, although he made an appearance on the Collgate Comedy Hour with Abbott and Costello before the release of the movie)

A group of scientists head down the Amazon river looking for fossils only to be attacked by a Fish-man who's got designs on the lovely Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams). Will the scientist find what they're looking for? What exactly does a walking fish want with a bathing beauty? Find out in 3-D!

Sadly I've never seen it in 3-D.

The Creature is probably my favorite of the Universal Monsters, I really enjoy all three of his  films. I'd really like to see the ones shot in 3-D in 3-D one day. Fortunately  Universal released Creature from the Black Lagoon in 3-D on Blu-ray. Unfortunately I don't have a 3–D capable TV.
So close yet so far.
Oh, well, here's the trailer:

Rhoda Penmark

First appearance: The Bad Seed (1956)

Little Rhoda Penmark is really not happy that she didn't win the "Best Penmanship" medal at school. She's especially not happy Claude Daigle did win it. Sadly, Claude has an accident at the school picnic. So why isn't Rhoda more upset about Claude's accident?

I don't know why it took me so long to get around to seeing this flick. It's great. Patty McCormack is occasionally terrifying as Rhoda. Especially when her control over her mother or the situation starts to slip. The movie ends differently then the novel and play it's based on. The Hays code's "Crime can't pay" attitude forced the movie to change the ending resulting in one of my favorite movie endings ever and one of the goofiest post credit sequences I can think of.

It, the one that came form outer space

First appearance: It Came from Outer Space (1953)

Some weird-looking space monsters accidentally crash on Earth. The commit identity theft on some of the locals, because they know that earth people would attack and kill them because they are weird-looking, in order to repair their space-ship. The locals don't take kindly to the identity theft and attempt to attack and kill the aliens. So the aliens threaten to blow up the planet.
It's kind of like a cross between The Brain from Planet Arous and The Day the Earth Stood Still. Just not as Bizarre as the former and not as preachy as the later.

This movie was originally in 3-D!

Father Harry Powell

First appearence: The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Can't believe it took me so long to get around to seeing this movie.
 It's about a homicidal maniac who believes god is telling him to murder widows and bimbos. He ends up being thrown in jail as a car thief, his cellmate is going to be hanged for killing a couple of people during a bank robbery. One night the man who will be hanged talks in his sleep revealing that the money he stole is hidden somewhere and his children know where. After the ersatz preacher is let out of jail he head straight to the bank robber's home town and seduces his wife. Terror and suspense ensue.

Black Scorpion

 

First appearance: The Black Scorpion (1957)

A volcano erupts unleashing a bunch of giant scorpions in Mexico in this weird "Them"esque monster-movie! Really great stop motion scorpions fight tanks and trains and stuff, but for some weird reason they have really goofy faces in the close-ups. One of my favorite Giant Bug movies just behind 'Them" and "The Deadly Mantis."

An Atomic Mutant

First appearance: The Day the World Ended (1955)

A bunch of jerks and an ass (literally, some guys brings a mule along) muscle in on a Rancher and his daughter's house after a nuclear war. Most of them don't get along and then a mutant (pronounced Mew- TANT) shows up and nobody gets along with him either. In the end almost everyone dies  but the good new is some one in France is still alive so I guess there's hope for the survivors even though they're out of food.
If you didn't like how the aliens were defeated in Signs you'll probably go nuts after you see what kills mutants (and giant clouds of radiation)
It may not look like it from what I've written here but I kinda liked this movie.

Martian leader

First appearance: Invaders from Mars (1953)

What happens when a young boy who wants to be a scientist notices a bright light land in the sand pit behind his house? Martians that's what, and they implant things in peoples brains to control them or give them aneurysms. Fortunately the U.S. army is all set to believe the stories of young kids who mention monsters (see Monster Squad). Fortunately everything turns out OK in the end or does it?!

Alien seed pods

 

First appearance: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Ever have a night where you just can't fall asleep? You should pretend you're in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. That way you can say you're not sleeping in order to prevent an emotionless, vegetable clone of yourself from taking over your life. The next day you can pretend that you ARE the vegetable clone and that's why you're just numbly going about your daily routine. Its fun! Seriously though, this was a pretty creepy movie.  The remakes aren't bad either (except for that Nichole Kidman one).

The Tingler

First appearance: The Tingler (1959)

I always wish I got to see this flick in "PERCEPTO!" Oh, well. The Tingler is that thing that makes your spine tingle when you're afraid. You see its a parasite that feeds on fear. Fortunately its got a severe allergy to screaming, so if you feel your spine tingling scream otherwise your Tingler will snap your spine.

Fiend Without a Face

First Appearance: Fiend Without a Face (1958)

Canadian Air Force scientists experimenting with telekinesis get things mixed up with radiation and create invisible brain monsters that strangle people. Eventually with more radiation from a near by reactor invisible brain monsters become visible then get shot. Features a really gratuitous girl in a towel scene. Great flick with a cool monster. Only available through Criterion for something like the budget for the movie. Why's Criterion always demanding insane amounts of money for cool monster flicks? I cant afford this or the Blob. stupid Criterion.

Gor

First appearance: The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)

How can you not dig the story of a criminal alien brain that comes to earth and possesses a scientist? Especially when another alien brain shows up to arrest the first brain and possesses the dog of the fiance of the scientist! Space Brains, huh, what are you gonna do?