Alien Concepts
There are plenty of alien movies out there (Alien movies among them!), lurking in a constellation of scares, chuckles, and social commentary, so let’s look at the best of the lot to see which of these silver-screened species are stuck in low orbit, and which ones are truly out of this world.
The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
It’s the Cold War, so it’s unsurprising a humanoid alien named Klaatu would show up in Washington DC promoting world peace, but he doesn’t quite get the reaction he wanted.
Twentieth Century, The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956)
Giving us the phrase “pod people,” this is a tale of alien plant spores falling from the sky, turning into pods that suck the identity of sleeping victims, and leave just the dull replicas behind.
Allied Artists Pictures, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The Blob (1958)
It was snob vs blob as critics panned this entertaining sci-fi/horror film, introducing Steve McQueen as he led small-town heroes against a scary amorphous man-eating extraterrestrial.
Tonylyn Productions Inc., The Blob (1958)
Village Of The Damned (1960)
It seems an extraterrestrial stork has visited a quiet English village as 10 women give birth to ominously pale offspring—which I guess is one way to parachute in your alien invasion force.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios, Village of the Damned (1960)
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)
Richard Dreyfuss plays an ordinary Joe trying to fathom the grandeur of brightly flashing aliens in this expertly crafted Steven Spielberg classic packed with sci-fi awe and emotional drama.
EMI Films, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978)
In this surprisingly good remake, Philip Kaufman directs Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, and Leonard Nimoy in a tale of alien parasites who replace our loved ones with hollowed-out clones.
Solofilm, Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Alien (1979)
It’s a movie. It’s a classic. It’s Ridley Scott. It’s Sigourney Weaver. It’s just plain terrifying. It’s a surly stowaway who rips through Nostromo, launching a franchise and revitalizing a subgenre.
Twentieth Century, Alien (1979)
ET The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Even if true fans of alien horror won't be left quaking in their space boots, this Steven Spielberg classic has a heartwarming quality to counter all the bad press so many extraterrestrials get.
Universal, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
The Thing (1982)
Kurt Russell heads to Antarctica in this terrifying John Carpenter classic about the search for an alien parasite at a research post. Special effects are great, and not computer generated!
Aliens (1986)
What’s better than one alien, but many! Ripley finds herself fighting an Alien Queen with her various offspring in James Cameron’s slicker, but equally menacing, take on an alien menace.
Twentieth Century, Aliens (1986)
Bad Taste (1987)
Peter Jackson’s first feature has special agents seeking missing townsfolk, abducted to be used as extraterrestrial junk food. It’s a low-budget affair that includes Jackson fighting himself on a cliff.
WingNut Films, Bad Taste (1987)
Predator (1987)
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a commando trying to rescue captives in Central America, only for a horrifying alien to start tracking him and his team down. But don’t worry, a mud bath should help.
Twentieth Century, Predator (1987)
Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988)
Aliens show up as contorted clowns ready to make your head spin like a clown’s bowtie in Stephen Chiodo’s horror comedy—or just horror, depending on how scared you are of clowns.
Chiodo Brothers Productions, Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
They Live (1988)
John Carpenter explores how stumbling across just the right pair of sunglasses will let you see the aliens among us, along with improving your social commentary and conversational wit.
Fire In The Sky (1993)
Alien abduction scenes don’t get much scarier than in this Robert Lieberman movie based on a purportedly true story, told from the perspectives of the abductee and his very worried friend.
Paramount, Fire in the Sky (1993)
Species (1995)
An alien-human hybrid wants to mate with a man, and scientists really want to stop her. Reviews were mixed, but Natasha Henstridge’s state of undress likely helped at the box office.
Independence Day (1996)
There’s nothing like a large-scale alien attack to bring the peoples of the world together, even if Ronald Emmerich’s blockbuster showed character development was not part of the battle plan.
Twentieth Century, Independence Day (1996)
Mars Attacks! (1996)
Tim Burton’s loud and breathless homage to sci-fi B-movies delighted many viewers, but left others so exhausted it might have been titled Burton Attacks! Regardless, it’s now a cult classic.
Warner Bros., Mars Attacks! (1996)
Contact (1997)
Jodie Foster plays a scientist who travels through a wormhole and meets aliens after they radio schematics to Earth. Based on Carl Sagan’s novel, the film isn’t brisk, but it’s still a heady trip.
Event Horizon (1997)
Maybe a black hole swallowed most of the plot, but at least you can revel in all the existential dread of an abandoned experimental spaceship harboring an alien—or something much worse.
Paramount, Event Horizon (1997)
Men In Black (1997)
Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith play government agents who play hide-and-seek with aliens in this lucrative start to a film franchise. Critics liked it despite the decelerated post-chase pace.
Starship Troopers (1997)
Paul Verhoeven intended this sci-fi soldier’s tale as a satire, a point lost on some critics. But in any event, you get to spend lots of quality battle time with big ant-aliens called The Arachnids.
TriStar, Starship Troopers (1997)
The Faculty (1998)
Overly articulate students find high school literally alienating when a star-studded cast discover out-of-this-world parasites infesting teaching staff in Robert Rodriguez’s witty horror film.
Dimension Films, The Faculty (1998)
Pitch Black (2000)
Unlike the jokey sequels, the original makes for an effective horror flick, as a non-bald Vin Diesel wards off aliens stalking hapless humans lost on a strange planet during a solar eclipse.
Interscope Communications, Pitch Black (2000)
Signs (2002)
M Night Shyamalan displays signs of brilliance in a slow-burning suspense thriller as crop circles point to a more insidious menace than alien vandalism for this rural Pennsylvania family.
War Of The Worlds (2005)
Starting off strong, the movie lumbers along once Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning escape to the countryside, but it’s still worth watching for the mesmerizing initial attack of the alien tripods.
Paramount, War of the Worlds (2005)
Slither (2006)
James Gunn’s gross-fest of body horror is redeemed only by its unrelenting silliness as alien parasites provoke seriously antisocial behavior in a South Carolina town, with lurid implications.
Gold Circle Films, Slither (2006)
District 9 (2009)
Bluntly refracting South Africa’s past, Neill Blomkamp tells the fate of aliens who show up with advanced technology, but suffer the same grim fate as the downtrodden of our own species.
The Fourth Kind (2009)
Milla Jovovich plays herself playing a psychologist in reenactments of her hypnotic investigation into alleged alien abductions in Alaska. Box office was fine, but critics were less than entranced.
Universal, The Fourth Kind (2009)
Attack The Block (2011)
When alien meteorites fall, run fast—like John Boyega when green-fanged monsters chase him around the block (and into it), before he gets defensive in director Joe Cornish’s exciting debut.
StudioCanal, Attack the Block (2011)
V/H/S/2 (2013)
In likely a found-footage first, a dog films most of the “Alien Abduction Slumber Party” episode in a V/H/S’ anthology, suggesting that maybe it would be safer to just let sleeping aliens lie.
The Collective Studios, V/H/S/2 (2013)
Edge Of Tomorrow (2014)
Starring eternally youthful Tom Cruise, this action flick features many-tentacled aliens pressing rewind to suit their unfriendly aims. Then, sci-fi soldier Cruise discovers he too can time travel.
Warner Bros., Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Under The Skin (2014)
Scarlett Johansson pretends to be an alien who pretends to be a woman who’s seducing and abducting men in Scotland, in a puzzling film notable for its baffling, disturbing atmosphere.
Arrival (2016)
A linguist, played by Amy Adams, discovers she has to think like an alien to communicate with one, as she finds herself slipping into a reality where past, present, and future are equally real.
Xenolinguistics, Arrival (2016)
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
Rescued from a car crash, Michele wakes up in an underground bunker, with her host telling her the surface is a big, big mess. But the truth is up there, and a DIY hazmat suit just might help.
Paramount, 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
A Quiet Place (2018)
John Krasinksi directs and acts in this critically applauded film about blind aliens with annoyingly sharp hearing. They’ve eliminated most of humanity, but not a family in upstate New York.
Paramount, A Quiet Place (2018)
Save Yourselves! (2020)
A Brooklyn couple thinks fuzz balls are perfect additions to their interior decor: Fuzz balls who float in the air and have dagger tongues. Fuzz balls who are aliens. Fuzz balls who fight back.
Keshet Studios, Save Yourselves! (2020)
Nope (2022)
A Hollywood horse rancher spies something in the sky, so he and his sister set off on a quest that’s told in director Jordan Peele’s simultaneously subtle and stomach-churning cinematic style.
Screening Test
So our alien survey is complete—for now. You never know what planetary and galactic surprises lurk in the unworldly minds of filmmakers, ready at any moment to inflict more mind-bending revelations on an unsuspecting, but hopefully wildly entertained, public.
Paramount, War of the Worlds (2005)
