I'll never forget the appearance of the T-Rex in Jurassic Park. Has there ever been a more dramatic, terrifying creature-revelation sequence in a film?

Hmm. Maybe Jaws.

Or Alien.

What's the most startling, gasp-inducing "first glimpse" shot of a creature?

First glimpse of Bob in Twin Peaks

"Too late!"
"What?"
"There it is!"
"Where?"
"There!"
"What—behind the rabbit?"
"It is the rabbit!"

The Descent had an awesome reveal, using a low-light b/w camcorder no-less...

Does John Carpenter's The Thing count?

I do not doubt that some here may nominate The Host, but I was terribly disappointed in that effort...

Oh yeah... I have to cast a vote for The Tingler -- the scene at the projectioner's booth.

I'm not too keen on spiders... I nominate Shelob's entrance in The Return of the King.

The videotaped aliens in Signs.

"You're going to need a bigger boat."

I know Jeffrey referred to Alien, but I think the sequel's reveal of the aliens is much more scary than the chestburster scene in the original--that was just freakishly gross.

In Aliens, after its own chestburster scene, the hapless squad is backlit against the resin covered walls as they reflect on what's just happened.

And then the walls move, turning out to be adult aliens uncurling from their resting places to wreak havoc on the Marines.

Ripleys creature 'child' hybrid in Alien Resurrection (1997) = unsettling

Jeunet directing a creature/sci-fi film = unsettling.

How about The Elephant Man? In a sense it doesn't count, since Merrick's humanity is the major theme. And yet...

How about in the hammer film "Curse of Frankenstein" where the monster pulls away the wrappings, which cover his hideous face, as the camera moves jerkily towards him.

It was a simple scene but Terence Fisher pulled it off in a way that made it entirely creepy.

A few that are somewhat off the wall...

Psycho
The deathstar in Star Wars
Godzilla in the teaser trailer to Godzilla (a fart better piece than the actual film).

Matt

Please forgive me, Matt, but that may be my favorite typo in the history of this board.

oo! oo! Another one!

I so love the jump scare/reveal of that creepy clown doll in Poltergeist.

I love the introduction of Fizzgig in The Dark Crystal. Even if he isn't, properly speaking, "the creature."

lol

Mando, that's one of my all-time favorite "monster introduction" scenes too. And one of the most memorable Muppets ever.

How about the first shot of the stairs in Laurel and Hardy's The Music Box?

(always like to take a strange look at a topic)

The witch in Legend, exploding out of the bog.

Or the devil in Legend, still one of the most fearsome physiques ever brought to life for the screen.

It's really interesting to me that we've been at this for a while now, and... with the exception of The Elephant Man and Fizzgig... all of the "reveals" have related to evil or predatory or nightmarish creatures.

Granted, I set the stage with my three examples.

But the question is What's the most startling, gasp-inducing "first glimpse" shot of a creature?

Can anybody think of a stunning creature revelation in which the creature is benevolent... or at least fairly innocent? Anything that startles with magnificence?

How about the appearance on the water tentacle in The Abyss? I'd been working with some primitive animation programs back in the 80's, also read many magazines and articles on the subject. The one thing that had been stumping programmers for a very long time was convincingly animating water. That scene in The Abyss, when the tentacle emerges from the dive pool, made the entire audience I saw it with collectively gasp.