The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

The American film that started the atomic-monster craze: an Arctic bomb test thaws a dinosaur, which heads for New York. It is considered the first live-action film to feature a giant monster unleashed by an atomic bomb, and its lighthouse attack comes straight from Ray Bradbury's story "The Fog Horn." The real star is Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion beast, which still has weight and personality. The human scenes are routine; the roller coaster finale is not.