What would you do if you were trapped underground? Apart from the fact that it is pitch black, difficult to exit, and downright creepy, there is an uncomfortable feeling of being cut off from the rest of the world, whether you like it or not. All of these factors combine to create a perfect scenario for a horror creature feature. When we think of the word “subterranean,” we normally think of a portion of the planet that we do not like to think about, but it is always on our minds, and it is the subterranean ecosystem of this world that has created some of the world’s greatest and best monsters.
So prepare yourself for today’s film, in which we will discuss the top 13 underground monsters. Let us take a look beneath the surface, shall we?
Cave Crawlers
Post a tragic accident, Sarah travels to the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina for a spelunking adventure with her friends. They descend to an underground cave only to get trapped inside. Upon finding evidence of previous expeditions gone wrong, the women realize they are not really alone in the cave. Unbeknownst to them, there’s something crawling in the deepest and the narrowest of the holes. To their horror, they eventually discover that they are being stalked by a horde of flesh-eating, super-strong and fast creatures that have bred and evolved in the dark. Now, it is up to the group to fight for their lives as they attempt to find a way out of the cave.
A word of caution here – if you are someone who is prone to nightmares after, the less you know about these creatures, the better! Director and screenwriter Neil Marshall deserves special credits for such a well-acted, accomplished, out-and-out horror flick, a movie that did not waste much time at all especially when it came down to having the lurking, ominous threat on display. The ‘cave crawlers’ are bound to grab your attention the minute you get to see them. The solitary fact that these vicious humanoids have existed underground for so many years, absolutely untouched by the modern world, evolving in isolation and becoming the monsters that they are – makes them all the more terrifying. Of course, it’s a gory confrontation when both the factions get exposed to each other.
While one becomes the potential prey, the other becomes the hunter, and no points for guessing who becomes what here. The crawlers are blind since they have literally zero exposure to the concept of light but hey, that does not make them any less aggressive. They can easily hunt down their prey through sounds and via echolocation, given the fact that these creatures are more than perfectly accustomed to their lives underground – effortlessly climbing walls, having incredible strength, and moving with such great speed. Mind you, while they prefer hunting in packs but you don’t want to run into an individual one because when it concerns taking down their prey, oh they will and they won’t even think twice before ripping throats apart or ravenously devouring their prey. These hairless, deformed-looking, feral monsters will have your eyes glued to the screen till the very credits roll at the end.
Sandworm
To be able to see this creature and then live to talk about it – now that’s one serious task especially if the creature concerned is a sandworm. Well not just any, we are specifically talking about the colossal worm-like creatures, dwelling on the planet Arrakis, the ones that appear in the Dune novels, written by Frank Herbert. Inspired by the dragons of European mythology, who are in charge of safeguarding some kind of a treasure, Herbert made sure that the sandworms of Arrakis should attack anyone who even dared to try to harvest the treasure, in this case, ‘the spice’, from the desert sands as if the beasts were guarding it. The sandworm’s larva generates a drug called ‘melange’, which is otherwise known as the spice and it is highly valued all across the world for its rich medicinal and mystical attributes.
This predominant form of life on Arrakis was vital, lethal, dreaded, and honored – all at the same time. While dwelling underneath the sand, these creatures got attracted to the pulsing vibrations on the surface and since they were highly territorial, it goes without saying that they would breach in pursuit of the vibrations. Even if it’s a singular sandworm sensing the presence of another sandworm, they will let out heavy growls of challenge, bellowing melange-smelling exhaust from their voluminous throats. These creatures were capable of growing to gigantic size; some varieties that were say up to 450 meters long were actually spotted in the Deep Desert.
Also, because of the difficulty of studying these creatures, not much was known about the origin of the sandworms. However, the longevity of the sandworm was believed to be rather extreme, close to thousands of years. Putting stress on their appearance, they weren’t a pretty sight! They were orange in color and their skin was on the rougher and thicker side, comprising of many scales that were intertwined and overlapped to form some kind of armor.
Interestingly, a sandworm’s internal organs bore similarities to a massive blast furnace, generating intense heat and flames, which in turn worked as a supplier of oxygen to the almost plant-less Arrakis. Also, the fact that the creature had its mouth right in the front meant that it could easily devour massive objects like the spice harvesters. You will be surprised to know that this creature could be smelled way before it could be seen. Wondering why? Well, it emits this cinnamon odor coming from its mouth, which was pretty strong and flinty.
Skull Devil
When a Monarch expedition to Skull Island bombs the island with seismic explosives to map out the island as well as the underground world beneath the surface, it inadvertently rouses a group of large lizard-like creatures led by an enormous, insatiable monster. Say hello to Skull Devil, the main antagonist of the 2017 monster flick, Kong: Skull Island. The creature, that’s also addressed as Ramarak or The Big One, is the tyrannical alpha of the Skullcrawlers and the arch-rival of Kong. Having terrorized Skull Island for literally thousands of years, Skull Devil is solely accountable for the death of Kong’s parents, leaving the latter as the solitary survivor of his race in the first place.
A cross between a lizard and a snake, this enormous subterranean monster looks a lot like his kind, only much larger in size. He has this huge serpentine body, two extremely powerful forelimbs with spikes on the elbows, a very long prehensile tail, a long triple-forked prehensile tongue, and a face that looks creepily similar to a crocodile skull. No wonder, Skull Devil is regarded as the most terrifying creature on Skull Island, one that’s feared by all. As the alpha of his kind, the creature is shown to have more self-control than the rest of the skull crawlers.
It does not take him much time to subdue his enemies, even Kong for that matter. The movie boasts a particular scene where Skull Devil is shown nastily licking the face of an incapacitated Kong post getting entangled in a shipwreck’s heavy chain in the midst of their intense face-off against each other. The creature’s penchant for killing and eating human beings has been on display too many times and the fact that he was super intelligent showed when he simply whips away one of the humans who had intentions of blowing himself and the Skull Devil up by having grenades strapped to himself.
His activities showed his malevolent, fierce, and venomous side! Speaking of his powers, this creature is exceedingly powerful possessing incredible strength – he’s great when it comes to grappling and wrestling Kong, and despite the fact that Kong weighed around 158 tons, Skull Devil effortlessly managed to literally throw him away at a considerable distance. Next, comes the fact that the creature was also capable of enduring a heavy boulder getting smashed right on top of his head. That’s not even all, right from getting slapped across the face with a fallen tree to having his throat sliced open with a propeller, the creature has survived it all.
He is fast, he is agile enough to dodge and counterattack most of his rival’s strikes and let’s not forget that he has impeccably high stamina and has hardly ever stopped or say slowed down during his skirmish with Kong. But aren’t we glad to find out that like all other creatures, he too had his weakness? In his case, it was his tongue that was connected to his internal organs. So, if it were to be say ‘pulled out’, that would lead to his organs getting wrenched out too in the process, resulting in his death. Precisely, how Skull Devil met his fated death in the hands of Kong!
Burrowers
Back in 1879, a posse of courageous men ventures out into the unknown territories while looking for a family of settlers who has mysteriously gone missing from their homes. Initially thinking the abductors to be hostile Native Americans, the group gears up to engage in a routine battle but very soon it dawns upon them that the real enemy stalks them from below, and not even in their wildest of dreams, could they even imagine the threat that they were against. What began as a mission to get back people soon turned into an unanticipated, brutal and bloody fight for survival.
To begin with and to clear confusion right away, the ‘Burrowers’ aren’t any tribe of Native Indians. In fact, they are not even humans. It would not be wrong to address their species as critters, ones who are simply a part of the natural food chain. Well, they are driven to hunt their prey, human meat to be more specific after the white settlers depleted their traditional source of food – the buffalo. These hairless, pale-looking, human-sized creatures with hunched backs and gaping mouths move on all fours and the reason they are called ‘Burrowers’ is mainly that they can burrow through the soil as effortlessly as a human being can walk above the ground.
They are attracted to bright lights; their means of communication is through a growling clicking noise and they are also smart enough to not lead themselves into any kind of a trap. The pack of carnivores prefers to strike from all sides and when they do attack, they usually like to attack first with one of their main claws on their forelegs, ones that are coated with a naturally secreted poison. Wondering what the poison does? It ends up forming white pustules on the wound that just cannot be healed.
The pustules further emit some kind of a faint scent that only they can smell and that’s precisely what leads them back to their wounded preys even from a distance of saying a couple of miles. Their next attack on the victim is to puke some kind of a paralyzing goo from their mouths post which they drag their paralyzed prey to a clear patch of land, dig some sort of a shallow grave and bury them. If you thought that the creatures were finally done with their preys, we urge you to think again. The victim will remain buried alive – yes you heard that right and they will remain so till the body starts to decompose. In other words, that’s the cue for these creatures to know that their meal is ready to be eaten.
Queen M.U.T.O.
The Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism which appeared in the 2019 monster film, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, is the strongest of her kind, and is held way above the male and female M.U.T.O.s that Godzilla killed in the 2014 monster flick. This makes Queen M.U.T.O. the third member of her kind to appear in the MonsterVerse. The creature happens to be among the many Titans, who were awakened by Ghidorah’s call. She is initially seen obeying Ghidorah as one of his many minions but eventually swaps her fidelity to Godzilla along with Rodan, Behemoth, Methuselah, and Scylla after Godzilla is seen defeating Ghidorah and becoming the new alpha of the Titans at the end of the movie.
It’s true that very little is said about this creature in the film but upon closer examination, it is understood that the creature concerned is a female with a somewhat different design from its predecessors. Boasting a dark body color, plenty of scythe-like limbs, and red elongated eyes, the six-legged monster also flaunts a newly developed spikey back. If you look at the crown of ridges on her head, it is meant to symbolize her royal status.
Given the fact that she is the queen of the M.U.T.O.s, it just makes all the more sense to consider her way above the other members of her species. Now imagine a situation where she was to put up a fight against Godzilla, she would unquestionably be a much more powerful fighter with advanced strength, durability, electromagnetic pulse, and enhanced combatting skills than the ones that have been featured in the 2019 movie. In spite of the fact that she herself is a queen, she did bow down to Godzilla post the latter’s triumph over Ghidorah without any hesitation and joined the rightful alpha titan in restoring back the planet.
Graboids
Say hello to the main antagonist of the Tremors franchise, who made their first appearance back in 1990 in the small desert town of Perfection, Nevada. These subterranean creatures look like colossal worms, with long serpentine bodies. A fully grown Graboid is about 30 feet long, 6 feet across at its widest point and it takes them about three months to attain this size. Mind you, these creatures aren’t just mindless eating machines with no brains; in fact, they are very smart. While they lack eyes, they have acute hearing and mainly hunt by sensing vibrations in the ground. Inside their mouth, they have a trio of long, powerful, eel-like tentacles that are prehensile and are quite capable of reaching at least 10 feet. They are generally kept retracted in the creature’s throat.
Now, comes the part why they are called Graboids in the first place. Full credits to their prehensile tentacles that grab their prey and suck it down the throat, hence the name. The three tongues, each have a mouth, teeth, and two pairs of horn-like projections both on the upper and lower jaw. Besides grasping, the tentacles similarly act as the arms and hands of the monster. The tentacles also appear to have minds of their own and are often seen writhing and hissing like snakes.
While these subterranean monsters aren’t really reptiles, their skin is thick, leathery, and with an irregular, rocky texture that results in giving them a reptilian look. Their skin is also lined with rows of short spikes, mainly used for pushing themselves through the soil. Naturally, this makes it difficult to kill them, and let’s not disregard the fact that they are extremely powerful, they possess strength enough to be able to topple over homes, drag heavy objects, smash through walls made of brick and even go to the extent of pulling down an entire station wagon underground.
The Graboids are even capable of burrowing faster than a human can run and you will be surprised to know that they are capable of swimming through the soil maintaining a speed similar to a shark’s in the sea. These voracious carnivores are always on the hunt for food and their diet isn’t just restricted to cattle, sheep, horses, and donkeys – it includes humans as well. They will simply swallow whatever sets off their vibration sensors and also spew up anything that doesn’t suit their tastebuds. And, if these ambush predators are not able to break down the hiding spot of their prey, they will continue to circle it just the way sharks do and will stop only when the prey stops making any movements. Well, they generally like to wait for several days so that their prey is unable to do anything either die of starvation or dehydration.
Cooper
The monster that wreaked havoc in the 2011 monster thriller flick, Super 8, is an extraterrestrial alien creature from a different world, making him far more advanced and intelligent as compared to humans. No wonder, Cooper makes use of his advanced technology to build his own spaceship and move through space. As per the events of the film, he crash-landed on Earth in 1958, and upon being captured by the military, he was confined in a cell for further observation and study. But in 1979, on his way to being shifted to another military base, the train got derailed and it goes without saying that Cooper fled in the hopes of rebuilding his lost spaceship.
The giant humanoid alien boasting six limbs can stand up to a height of 12 feet but at the same time is small enough to fit into a train car. Featuring grey skin with white strips, his long-jointed arms are capable of grabbing objects and hurling things at a great distance. Possessing unthinkable strength, he is quite capable of manually upturning a bus in a fit of rage and even ripping apart the metal structure. Although he can breathe on Earth, the creature is subterranean and mostly prefers to live underground. He is also presumed to be nocturnal because, in the movie, he is always seen appearing during the nighttime.
From lifting grown-up humans with one hand to eating them and at times keeping them alive yet unconscious in his underground den, Cooper is a remarkable creature. He also has telepathic skills and can only communicate with humans that he has physically touched.
And, while it’s true that he can comprehend human reasoning, his time in captivity has made him aggrieved and kind of violent towards humans. The fact that he has the ability to telekinetically control weapons and even drive humans to misfire, shows how he cannot be taken lightly. He is also capable of interfering with the electrical fields because every time he is near, the power is usually seen flickering. Creepy, right? But you know what’s more creepy? The fact that all animals are intimidated by him, so much so that most of the local dogs actually ran away from the town.
Sarlacc
No matter what, it is just in plain and simple words, impossible to forget this humongous, immobile creature from the Star Wars universe. The semi-sapient, plant-like creature actually procreates through spores that are dispersed into space and later settle on other life-sustaining planets. The mouth and tentacles were the most visible parts of the creature while the rest of its enormous anatomical features were buried up to at least say hundred meters deep in the ground, keeping all of its vital organs protected from any kind of damage.
The highlight of the creature was its retractable, razor-sharp teeth that surrounded a beak-like tongue and plant-like tentacles in tiers. Its teeth were slanted inward which ensured that its prey would remain trapped inside. You might want to give its tentacles credit for thinking that it was its primary way of capturing its prey but we are going to stop you right there. This creature actually released some sort of an odor that lured herbivores and scavengers close enough for it to make use of its tentacles. Pretty sly, right?
But in spite of its enormous size, the Sarlacc didn’t really need to eat a lot at a time. The fact that these creatures were immobile meant that they had to manage themselves to survive for a longer duration without food. As a matter, they digested pretty slowly. In fact, they were also considered to be telepathic and could gain consciousness from the creatures they devoured by integrating all their thoughts and memories while they digested them.
The lifespan of a Sarlacc has been calculated to be between 20,000 to 50,000 years. As for the younger ones, they could easily move under the sands and catch their preys way faster unlike the older ones who were immobile. Also, the female species grew way larger than the males, to the extent that the process of breeding required the male to attach itself to the female and be completely reliant on the larger companion.
Sand Jellyfish
Post an all-night graduation beach party, a large group of hungover twenty-year-olds finds themselves waking in a secluded private beach. What looks like an otherwise regular spring-break morning, soon turns into a nightmare with the unsuspecting teens realizing that somehow, the sand under their feet is alive and ready to eat literally anything with a heartbeat that touches the sand. As the death toll keeps rising, an unseen carnivorous entity is waiting patiently for their smallest wrong move.
The creature concerned is the Sand Jellyfish, a colossal jellyfish-like predator that appears to be bioluminescent and has multiple fleshy tentacles, which look prehensile if compared to those of a regular jellyfish. The creature remains unseen in its entirety and it’s only during the last scene that one gets to depict the silhouette of what can be aptly described as a giant jellyfish. The monster is literally shown to be able to pull just about anyone under the sand the minute its victim is seen touching the sand in some way or the other.
While it’s unable to attack if the victims happen to be on top of something that separates them from the sand, it’s wicked enough to shift surfboards and even go to the extent of gradually deflating the tires of the car, thus coercing the people inside the convertible to step outside and on the sand itself. Judging by the rising death toll, the creature sure looks like it’s hungry all the freaking time and is in no mood to be satiated.
C.H.U.D.s
A sudden, bizarre sequence of disappearances on the streets of New York City seems to point towards something very evil, dwelling in the sewers. Douglas Cheek’s 1984 sci-fi horror flick centers around a team of people who join hands to probe deeper into the matter only to discover that the people missing have actually fallen prey to a group of grotesquely deformed vagrants living below the city.
No points for guessing that these creatures are the C.H.U.D.s, short for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers, who in reality are hideous looking, flesh-eating creatures, say about six feet tall, featuring large, luminous eyes, exceedingly sharp teeth, large claws, and slimy brown skin. Their mouths bear similarities with the deep-sea fishes, their ears are also quite pointy and they are mostly seen wearing ragged attires. Once human and homeless, these creatures were mutated by radioactive, waste dumped in the very sewers that they used to address as their home. While these subterranean monsters initially preyed on the homeless living in the underground tunnels but a recent drop in the underground population made them come up to the surface through the sewer manholes in order to continue feeding. These monsters will stealthily hunt their prey and once they have captured them, they will hardly waste much time before voraciously consuming them.
Blackout Creatures
Initially residing underneath the surface of the American West Coast, these vehement creatures were set free on the surface by a sequence of some mysterious, seismic activity followed by inexplicable power failures. Say hello to the deadly antagonists of the 2009 science fiction horror flick called The Blackout.
The unnamed species were more like humanoid creatures, boasting pitch black skin, one that was covered in armor plates and quills. They also have this long tail that has a claw attached to its tip – no points for guessing that it’s via this that these beasts are capable of brutally impaling their victims. Given their dark skin, they are anyway very creepy to look at, add to this ahead with anglerfish-like teeth, a pair of glowing pale green eyes, and no pupils.
No wonder their heads are their weaker spots but then again, it’s quite hard to see the creature and then live to talk about it. Speaking of their powers and abilities, they tend to produce some sort of an electromagnetic field around them, this causes lights to go out whenever they are around. Also, you will be amazed to know that the color of their blood happens to be red, which surprisingly indicates the presence of hemoglobin. These aggressive carnivores are inevitably the highlight of the whole film.
Mongolian Death Worms
The 2010 horror sci-fi movie called Mongolian Death Worm introduced us to these deadly, subterranean creatures when an American company ventures to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia in search of shale oil and ends up disrupting a nest of Mongolian Death Worms. These monstrously long, lethal worm-like creatures featuring striped black backs and light cream underbellies have four mandibles around their mouth, and it would not be wrong to say that their mouth resembles a lot like lampreys.
According to the Mongolian nomads, they believe that these colossal worms tend to cover their prey with an acidic substance that turns everything into some corroded yellow color. It’s believed that the creature while attacking elevates its body out of the sand and starts to bloat until it blows up while discharging the deadly poison all over the ill-fated victim. In fact, the poison is so lethal that the prey immediately dies post getting in contact with it. Wondering who is its prey? Mostly livestock and humans!
Also, because Mongolia had been under Soviet control till about 1990, there is very little information about the Death Worm, especially in the West. But it has been in recent years that investigators have been able to find evidence of the beast’s existence. The most prominent Loch Ness Monster detective, Ivan Mackerel, not only studied the region but also questioned many Mongolians about the worm. The fact that there have been quite a number of sightings and some rather odd, inexplicable deaths made him come to a conclusion that the Death Worm was a lot more than just a legend.
While it’s true that nobody for that matter is completely sure of what the worm actually is, there are experts who are of the opinion that it is not an actual worm because a place like the Gobi Desert is way too hot for such creatures to survive in the first place. There are also some who think that they might actually be ‘skinks’ but as per witness accounts, the worm is without its limbs and the body is pretty smooth. In fact, the most feasible elucidation is that the Death Worm is a new species of worm-lizards, a group of burrowing reptiles. And, while the native Mongolians are absolutely convinced of the Death Worm’s nature, it will take probably more years of research to gratify the rest of the world’s scientific community.
Tunnel Stalker
The 2011 Australian found-footage monster horror flick, The Tunnel, introduced us to the highly aggressive, subterranean humanoid creature, the Tunnel Stalker. The creature is quite tall, bony, pale with stringy black hair and very large eyes. Of course, it is carnivorous but while it isn’t necessarily inclined towards preying on humans, the latter eventually became its staple food. You will be surprised to know that literally nothing is known about the creature, who prefers loitering in the dark labyrinth of underground tunnels and railways. But, what’s certain is the fact that it is quite territorial, and whatever enters its realm, could hardly ever make its way out. While the unfortunate homeless who ventured into the dark, dank tunnels were never seen again, victims who managed to flee were left traumatized forever.
Throughout the course of the film, the Tunnel Stalker is shown to be quite smart and crafty. The fact that it’s way too patient, waiting for its prey to be separated from the main group before pouncing shows its level of intelligence. It’s strategically vicious when it comes to devouring its prey; so much so that the creature will remove the eyes of the still-alive victims and also break their limbs to stop all means of escape. There’s no denying that this subterranean monster is sadistic in nature, it likes to torment and terrify its victims before killing them in a slow yet violent manner.
Its unnervingly human-like intelligence is on display when it simply manages to take control of the camera, zooming it in and out just to reveal the faces of every victim. Its habit of gathering its victims’ eyes and storing them in its lair shows how creepy it actually is, highlighting its grisly nature. Its power and skills certainly deserve mention – right from its superhuman speed, stamina, strength to the fact that it is well accustomed to its dark subterranean atmosphere, completely capable of seeing in total darkness and its peculiarly large set of expanded lungs that it uses to hold its breath for stretched periods while it is underwater.