Halloween may be over but that does not mean we have to stop watching spooky movies! Horror films have been a staple in the film industry since the birth of film and continues to be one of the leading genres in the industry. There are so many sub genres to horror movies, you have your classic slashers, the thriller, mystery, and of course supernatural. But then you have weird sub genres like “Political Horror” and the likes. Anyone who is a lover of horror films has a favorite genre they go to. Sometimes these genres mold together, and we get things like “supernatural horror comedy” or “late night horror mystery” but one thing is for certain, if you search enough, you’ll find a genre for you. We are fortunate enough that our favorite genre is “Sci-Fi Horror” and oh does our cup runneth over with some amazing films that are in this genre. Below is a list of our top 6 horror movies with a sci-fi twist.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
The Thing
Released in 1982 and based on the novella “Who Goes There” written by John W. Campbell Jr. The captain of this glorious ship was none other than John Carpenter (Halloween, They Live, The Fog) and Captain Carpenter did a fantastic job of leaving his fingerprint on this classic. The film takes place in Antarctica where a group of researchers are taken by surprised when a helicopter shows up trying to kill a sled dog and ends up blowing up trying to kill by any means necessary. The film takes a turn when the crew begin acting strange and when they learn that there is a shape shifting creature that can take on the form of any living thing it comes in contact with, things begin to unravel. Considered to be one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, The Thing is an instant classic and should be on any sci-fi lover’s shelf.
Predator (1987)
Predator starts out as your typical action-packed military movie starring one of the 80s greatest action stars, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger’s character, Dutch, and his elite team are tasked with rescuing a hostage in Central America. While hunting down the target the team finds out they are not the only ones doing the hunting. One by one they are picked off and skinned as a trophy hunter may skin his prey. This film was so successful it spawned an entire franchise of films, books, toys and comic books that are still thriving today.
Alien
How could this list have The Thing, Predator and not have Alien on it? Alien was released in 1979, directed by Ridley Scott, and dominated the science fiction genre from the moment it was released. The film takes place on a commercial spaceship named Nostromo where the crew is in stasis until a transmission comes in and the ships AI (mother) wakes them up. The crew take the distress call and land on a nearby moon to see how they can help. What they find there are hundreds of eggs with creatures inside waiting to burst out and infect whatever living creature is around. As the film progresses, the creature evolves and begins stalking each and every crew member. One of the most suspenseful and thrilling science fiction movies ever made, Alien is a must watch!
10 Cloverfield Lane
I am sure this will be the one that is the most controversial on the list, but in the end, it is a fantastic film that fits all the criteria of a sci-fi horror film. The film is about a young woman, Michelle, (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who after a car crash, wakes up in a bunker and is told by the two other occupants (John Goodman, John Gallagher Jr.) that a catastrophic event has taken place and the surface of earth is no longer inhabitable.
As the film progresses Michelle becomes more and more suspicious of her “bunk-mates” especially Howard (Goodman). The film takes a terrific turn when Michelle attempts to escape and finds two dead pigs and a woman covered with lesions begging to come into the bunker. When she finally does escape, she is quickly met with an alien spacecraft and has an entirely new fear to run from. This is the second movie in the Cloverfield series, but many (myself included) claim that it is the better of the two.
28 Days Later
Waking up from a coma in a hospital to a zombie apocalypse sound familiar? No were not talking about the Walking-Dead here, we are talking about the 2002 Danny Boyle film, 28 Days Later. I mean, how could we have a sci-fi horror list and not have a zombie movie somewhere on it? Zombies have always been terrifying but when all one has to do is outrun or dodge the sluggish ghouls, how scary can it be? Well, this film takes the zombies we all know and love, fills them full of rage and gives them strength and speed! One of the things I liked about this zombie film was that you get a back story how everything started. A group of animal activists release some chimpanzees from a medical lab, and it turns out that these chimps are infected with the virus. A fast-paced spin on the traditional zombie film, 28 Days Later is a fantastic film.
Frankenstein
Considered to be one of the first science fiction horror movies ever made, Frankenstein is based on the 1818 novel of the same name written by Mary Shelley. The film was released in 1931 and stared the legend Boris Karloff along side Colin Clive. This is one of the most iconic films ever made and has spawned a number of sequels, spin offs and reboots. The film (for those not familiar at this point) centers around a crazed scientist, Dr. Henry Frankenstein who is obsessed with reanimating a dead corpse. He, along with his hunchback assistant Igor, dig up corpses to assemble various parts into one monster. This is obviously a classic film that still, all these years later, is amazing to watch and can create emotions from the viewer even if they already know the story.
Written exclusively for TheLastPicture.Show by Jacob Ruble
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