10 More Criminally Underrated Monster Movies You Need To See

In The Deadly Spawn, a horde of carnivorous aliens crash-land on Earth and take residence in the basement of a suburban home. After the parents, Sam and Barb, are eaten by the extra-terrestrials, it's up to their son, Charles, to save the day.

Considering the budget for The Deadly Spawn was a measly $25,000, it's astonishing how impressive the visual effects are, especially the titular monsters. (They resemble Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors if she was designed by HR Geiger.)

With little money to work with, you'd expect the bloodshed to be limited and tacky. Fortunately, SFX whiz John Dods was able to craft some incredibly convincing gore. Even though a lot of the death scenes relied on papier-mâché and puppetry, you can't help but wince when you see an alien tear off someone's face with 3,000 teeth.

Also, it's a nice change of pace to see a child protagonist in a horror movie that's not really, really annoying! Rather than screaming and whining all the time, Charles studies the critters' behaviour, assesses every situation, and devises logical solutions to defeat the space beasts. He's so good at taking these things out, you'd swear he's done it before!

Although alien movies usually centre around a city invasion, the creatures' attack focuses on a single household. Despite the fact this decision was done to keep costs down, it works in the story's favour, since it makes the invasion more personal.