Actor who have played Superman

Ever since cinema began, film-makers gave played on everyone fear of monster. These are some of the most popular moster films

• Aliens

• Hundreds of films have been made about alien monster attacking earth. The most successful of these was independence day (1996

• Dinosaurs

• One of the first ever cartoons was Gertie (1914). It featured a drawing of a friendly brontosaurus which comes to life. Dinosaur Films Jurassic Park (1993) and its two sequels, The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) and Jurassic Park III (2001), are among the biggest blockbusters of all time. The dinosaur-like creature Godzilla (1998) was also a monster success.

• Egyptian mummies

• The Mummy (1932) featured an Egyptian mummy that comes to life and attacks people. The Mummy was remade in 1999 and its sequel, the comedy-adventure The Mummy Returns (2001), has made more than $433 million.

• Frankenstein's monster

• Frankenstein is the name of the creator of the monster, not the monster itself. The original story was written in 1816 by English writer Mary Shelley, when she and her friends competed to write the scariest story. It was first made into a silent film in 1910 by the inventor Thomas Edison and has been remade many times since. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) is the highest-earning of all the versions.

• Funny monsters

  Some of the most successful cartoon monsters are those in Monsters, Inc. (2001). The monsters are led by Sulley, whose ret is that the monsters are actually scared of children!

  Killer creatures

  Giant ape King Kong is one of the most famous animal monsters and the star of the film King Kong 19331976 and 2005).

  Giant spiders are the subject of many people's worst fears and have featured in films such as Arachnophobia (1990) and Eight Legged Freaks (2002). Harry Potter also meets an army of huge spiders in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002). Other famous killer creatures include sharks (Jaws, 1977), alligators (Lake Placid, 1999) and snakes (Anaconda, 1997 and Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, 2004)

• Vampires

  Irish writer Bram Stoker's vampire novel Dracula was first published in 1897. Since then it has been made into countless films. The version starring Bela Lugosi (1931) is one of the most famous. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and Van Helsing (2004) have been the most successful at the box office.

• Zombies

• Zombies are the "undead" - bodies that come out of their graves and terrorize the living. They have been the subject of many films, including Night of the Living Dead (1968) and the cornedy Shaun of the Dead (2004). This was billed as the first "Rom-Com-Zom" (Romantic Comedy Zombie film).

Bonus:

Actors who have played Superman

• Kirk Alyn (1910-99)

• The Adventures of Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs Superman (1950), both made as cinema serials

• George Reeves (1914-59) Superman and the Mole Men (1951) and the Superman TV series (1953-57)

• Christopher Reeve (1952-2004)

• Superman (1978), Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

• Brandon Routh (1979-) Superman Returns (2006)

• Dean Cain (1966-) Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (TV series, 1993-97)

• Tom Welling (1977-)

• Smallville: Superman the Early Years TV series (2001-) about Superman as a teenager

• .and Supergirl Helen Slater (1963-) Supergirl (1984)