Friday, October 29, 2010
Top 20 Scary Movies About Aliens or UFOs
Previously, I've posted lists of the best and most interesting UFO movies, but for Hallowe'en, here's a list of the Top 20 Scary Movies About Aliens or UFOs:
1. Alien (Aliens, etc.)
- Well, you kind of have to go with this one. The "boo" factor was at its highest for the first, and declined after that. We'll see how the prequels go.
2. Signs
- Again, mostly for the "boo" factor of waiting for the aliens to break into the house where Mel Gibson and his clan are holed up.
3. The Fourth Kind
- Even though IT DIDN’T REALLY HAPPEN, PEOPLE!, this Paranormal Activity-style film got many viewers riled up over what the aliens do to abductees.
4. The Day the Earth Stood Still
- The classic original film frightened audiences because aliens are unstoppable, all-powerful and wise compared with us humans. But we knew that already.
5. District 9
- So good, I went and found the original short film and was impressed by it, too. Aliens suffer indignities in a South African refugee camp. Like everyone else.
6. The Day of the Triffids
- A meteor storm creates walking plants that want to eat people. ‘Nuff said.
7. Village of the Damned
- The creep factor in this version of the Midwich Cuckoos was high; the scenes where children with weird eyes stare at you are chilling. Every teacher’s nightmare.
8. Knowing
- It’s the end of the world as we know it, but kids don’t seem all that worried for some reason.
9. Communion
- Whitley Strieber goes crazy as aliens haunt his life. Did you even have the feeling you were being watched?
10. Fire in the Sky
- What happened to Travis Walton when he disappeared for several days? He was in an alien goo-filled egg sack, of course.
11. The Mothman Prophecies
- Completing the trifecta of “based on real events” movies (with Communion and Fire in the Sky), this story is the original “Men in Black” tale, done creepy-style.
12. The Abyss
- Close Encounters done underwater. Most of the scariness comes from the crazed human psychopaths trapped with the scientists, but it counts anyway.
13. Dreamcatcher
- Truly awful film that tried to include every alien/UFO meme imaginable, and then some, but many people were scared (maybe for the wrong reasons)
14. The Thing From Another World
- The original film produced shivers (mostly for the Arctic scenes) as tension built. Is the alien’s severed arm moving…?
15. The X-Files
- The first movie found Mulder and Scully battling bureaucracy as well as killer bees, and our heroine ends up in a vat of goo (Note: recurring theme in alien movies).
16. Horror Express
- A frozen “fossil” being transported by train comes back to life, and Telly Savalas stands between it and the rest of world.
17. The War of the Worlds
- The original movie was a Cold War analogue playing on the fear of the Martians who cannot be stopped by good old American know-how.
18. Predator (Predators, etc.)
- An unstoppable alien warrior wants to play war games with CIA and Army Commandos in the Central American jungles. Can Arnie save the human race?
19. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
- The movie that asked the question: “Do your neighbours seem a little strange?”
20. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- The origin of the government cover-up theme, as only the elite must know that aliens want to land in Wyoming.
1. Alien (Aliens, etc.)
- Well, you kind of have to go with this one. The "boo" factor was at its highest for the first, and declined after that. We'll see how the prequels go.
2. Signs
- Again, mostly for the "boo" factor of waiting for the aliens to break into the house where Mel Gibson and his clan are holed up.
3. The Fourth Kind
- Even though IT DIDN’T REALLY HAPPEN, PEOPLE!, this Paranormal Activity-style film got many viewers riled up over what the aliens do to abductees.
4. The Day the Earth Stood Still
- The classic original film frightened audiences because aliens are unstoppable, all-powerful and wise compared with us humans. But we knew that already.
5. District 9
- So good, I went and found the original short film and was impressed by it, too. Aliens suffer indignities in a South African refugee camp. Like everyone else.
6. The Day of the Triffids
- A meteor storm creates walking plants that want to eat people. ‘Nuff said.
7. Village of the Damned
- The creep factor in this version of the Midwich Cuckoos was high; the scenes where children with weird eyes stare at you are chilling. Every teacher’s nightmare.
8. Knowing
- It’s the end of the world as we know it, but kids don’t seem all that worried for some reason.
9. Communion
- Whitley Strieber goes crazy as aliens haunt his life. Did you even have the feeling you were being watched?
10. Fire in the Sky
- What happened to Travis Walton when he disappeared for several days? He was in an alien goo-filled egg sack, of course.
11. The Mothman Prophecies
- Completing the trifecta of “based on real events” movies (with Communion and Fire in the Sky), this story is the original “Men in Black” tale, done creepy-style.
12. The Abyss
- Close Encounters done underwater. Most of the scariness comes from the crazed human psychopaths trapped with the scientists, but it counts anyway.
13. Dreamcatcher
- Truly awful film that tried to include every alien/UFO meme imaginable, and then some, but many people were scared (maybe for the wrong reasons)
14. The Thing From Another World
- The original film produced shivers (mostly for the Arctic scenes) as tension built. Is the alien’s severed arm moving…?
15. The X-Files
- The first movie found Mulder and Scully battling bureaucracy as well as killer bees, and our heroine ends up in a vat of goo (Note: recurring theme in alien movies).
16. Horror Express
- A frozen “fossil” being transported by train comes back to life, and Telly Savalas stands between it and the rest of world.
17. The War of the Worlds
- The original movie was a Cold War analogue playing on the fear of the Martians who cannot be stopped by good old American know-how.
18. Predator (Predators, etc.)
- An unstoppable alien warrior wants to play war games with CIA and Army Commandos in the Central American jungles. Can Arnie save the human race?
19. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
- The movie that asked the question: “Do your neighbours seem a little strange?”
20. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- The origin of the government cover-up theme, as only the elite must know that aliens want to land in Wyoming.
# posted by rutkows @ 9:10 AM 
Comments:
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Can't believe you put The Fourth Kind in there. I found that to be absolutely dreadful, as a supposedly-based-on-true-events-film, as total fiction, as anything.
Day the Earth Stood Still is not scary (nowadays) but is still suspenseful. I had never seen it before so I bought the DVD when I saw it at a good price.
I don't have a TV, so I brought it to school and showed it to my students as a treat. They were Asian teens wanting to get some English immersion before applying to North American university. I wondered if they'd be be bored or might mock the S/Fx but they were spellbound.
There was unintended laughter when the doctors are conferring in the hospital -- both of them smoking!
I don't have a TV, so I brought it to school and showed it to my students as a treat. They were Asian teens wanting to get some English immersion before applying to North American university. I wondered if they'd be be bored or might mock the S/Fx but they were spellbound.
There was unintended laughter when the doctors are conferring in the hospital -- both of them smoking!
+1 for putting the fourth kind on here. That movie freaked the heck out of me. Knowing was really bad though.
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