Plot: A down and out young punk gets a job working with a seasoned repo man, but what awaits him in his new career is a series of outlandish adventures revolving around aliens, the CIA, and a most wanted 64 Chevy.

KBZ’s Take: Repo Man is a cult classic with its satire of governmental politics of the time and amazing punk rock soundtrack. But underneath the hood (pun intended), there’s a great subgenre film here with its depiction of a conspiracy involving a heat-emitting alien and the shadowy government agents tracking Bud (Harry Dean Stanton) and Otto (Emilio Estevez) from one strange encounter to another.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: Astronauts and a NASA scientist (Darren McGavin) expose a White House staffer’s (Robert Vaughn) cover-up of an occupied UFO.

KBZ’s Take: Hangar 18 fits all the criteria for our list with a crashed UFO and government forces covering up the aliens found within the ship. While the film can be a bit melodramatic at times, it does have an interesting story involving the newly discovered aliens and their relationship with humankind.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: Two British men buy footage of the infamous 1947 Roswell alien autopsy, but they damage the film and render it unwatchable. Undeterred, they decide to film their own re-enactment of events and try to pass it off as the original tapes.

KBZ’s Take: Alien Autopsy is unlike most of the films on our list as it’s a comedy focused on a hoax involving the discovery of an alien lifeform. The film is based on an actual documentary of the fake event called Alien Autopsy: Face or Fiction (1995) and infuses some hilarious British humor into a hoax that is hard to believe was taken seriously at the time.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: After deciphering a message found in a satellite, genius cryptographer Alex Jacobs finds himself being stalked by government agents and otherworldly beings.

KBZ’s Take: Kyle Gallner has carved out quite the acting niche in vastly underrated horror gems including The Cleansing Hour (2019) and Strange Darling (2023). But one of his overlooked earlier efforts is the conspiracy-laden Alien Code (aka The Men) which involves deciphering an alien message, shadowy government agents and time manipulation via time loops and time travel.

If you’re a fan of The X-Files and Fringe television series and enjoy more cerebral sci-fi, we would highly recommend giving Alien Code a watch.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: In 1979 Ohio, several youngsters are making a zombie movie with a Super-8 camera. In the midst of filming, the friends witness a horrifying train derailment and are lucky to escape with their lives. They soon discover that the catastrophe was no accident, as a series of unexplained events and disappearances soon follows. Deputy Jackson Lamb, the father of one of the kids, searches for the terrifying truth behind the crash.

KBZ’s Take: JJ Abrams channels his inner Steven Spielberg to bring this tale of unsuspecting teens coming across an alien conspiracy. While it’s one of the more popular films on our list with its nostalgia factor and coming-of-age themes, it does include a decent story about a government conspiracy to cover up an alien let loose in a small town.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: An astrophysicist receives message of extraterrestrial origins and starts to unravel a cosmic conspiracy.

KBZ’s Take: Written and Directed by the great David Twohy (Riddick Franchise), The Arrival has all the elements of a classic conspiracy film. A lone man uncovers the origins of the conspiracy, nobody believes him, he investigates and finds the conspiracy is even bigger than he imagined. And in this instance, it involves aliens.

While some people reading this list have probably already seen this film, it’s a film that shouldn’t be missed as it’s not only one of the best films about an alien conspiracies but also one of the best Films About Alien Invasions.

Additional Lists: Top Films About Alien Invasions You Haven’t Seen #6, Top Films About Conspiracies You Haven’t Seen #6, Best Alien Invasion Films #19

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: Amalgamated Dairies hires David Rutherford, an FBI man turned industrial saboteur, to investigate a popular new product called ‘the Stuff’ – a new dessert product that is blowing ice cream sales out of the water. Nobody knows how it’s made or what’s in it, but people are lining up to buy it. It’s got a delicious flavor to die for!

KBZ’s Take: If you’ve read some of our other horror subgenre lists, you’ve likely seen other Larry Cohen films featured including God Told Me To (1976) and Q: The Winged Serpent (1982). While those are decent horror films from their respective subgenres, The Stuff is arguably Cohen’s best film and one that has all the best elements of sci-fi and eco-horror.

While the film also sits within the Horror Comedy subgenre, the comedy is satirical in nature skewering villains of eco-horror including the FDA, corporations and consumerism. And though the satire is prevalent throughout the film, it’s also a horror film with elements of Body Horror, Films About Zombies and even conspiracy-related Alien Invasion Films.

Additional Lists: Top Eco-Horror Films You Haven’t Seen #1

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: Two conspiracy-obsessed men kidnap the CEO of a major company when they become convinced that she’s an alien who wants to destroy Earth.

KBZ’s Take: We were all set to include Save the Green Planet! (2003) in this spot on our list until Bugonia was released. However, after reviewing the 2025 U.S. remake of the 2003 South Korean film, we had to begrudgingly accept that this was one of the few instances where the remake surpassed the original film.

Both are comedies with Bugonia offering more dark humor (related to the alien conspiracy) and with amazing performances from Emma Stone (as the abductee) and Jesse Plemons (as the abductor). This is one instance where we would advise watching both versions of the story to see how different forms of comedic tones are used to tell this wildly inventive sci-fi tale.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: Mulder and Scully, now taken off the FBI’s X Files cases, must find a way to fight the shadowy elements of the government to find out the truth about a conspiracy that might mean the alien colonization of Earth.

KBZ’s Take: There wasn’t any doubt that The X-Files film would make our list, it was just a question of how high it would appear on our list. With a cult following and massively successful tv series, the first film version of The X-Files doesn’t disappoint with its trademarked alien conspiracies, shadowy government agents and great chemistry between skeptic Sully (Gillian Anderson) and conspiracy-minded Mulder (David Duchovny).

Even if you haven’t seen the television series, it’s well worth checking out the film as it has a self-contained conspiracy tale that’s easy to follow.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: Nada, a wanderer without meaning in his life, discovers a pair of sunglasses capable of showing the world the way it truly is. As he walks the streets of Los Angeles, Nada notices that both the media and the government are comprised of subliminal messages meant to keep the population subdued, and that most of the social elite are skull-faced aliens bent on world domination. With this shocking discovery, Nada fights to free humanity from the mind-controlling aliens.

KBZ’s Take: Readers of our list know we have an almost clinical obsession with John Carperner films. Despite our self-confessed subjective view of his films, there’s little doubt that They Live is the best film involving alien conspiracies. Even the uneven acting from Roddy Piper can’t derail this film involving everything from human-skinned aliens to subversive messages spread throughout society to one of the best (and longest) alley fights in the history of film.

It’s a fun film with a unique and inventive sci-fi narrative that no fan of this subgenre should miss.

Additional Lists: Best Alien Invasion Films #11

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon