Plot: The six-member crew of the International Space Station is tasked with studying a sample from Mars that may be the first proof of extra-terrestrial life, which proves more intelligent than ever expected.

KBZ’s Take: Of all the horror films set in space and ‘inspired by’ Alien (1979), this is the best one. Though any film featuring a space crew trapped on a ship with an alien presence will inevitably lead to Alien comparisons, Life does more than enough to differentiate itself for ranking as one of the best films of the subgenre.

The special effects are excellent in the film as are the acting performances from Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds, Rebecca Ferguson and Hiroyuki Sanada. However, it’s the film’s third act and ending that propel it to ‘must-see’ status.

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Plot: Long inhabited by human settlers, the Red Planet has become the manifest destiny of an over-populated Earth. Nearly 640,000 people now live and work all over Mars, mining the planet for its abundant natural resources. But one of those mining operations has uncovered a deadly mother lode: a long-dormant Martian civilization whose warriors are systematically taking over the bodies of human intruders.

KBZ’s Take: As we’ve noted before, we’re huge fans of John Carpenter’s films. Though Ghost of Mars isn’t one of his best, it’s still better than most Space Horror films with a special emphasis on horror.

The film is essentially a hybrid Sci-Fi Western and Horror Western set in space and utilizes many of the claustrophobic themes of Carpenter’s horror classic Assault on Precinct 13 (1976). Will every horror fan enjoy this film? No. There are some plot holes and varying levels of acting from good to poor. But the film is rife with tension, suspense and great ‘alien’ designs that are consistent hallmarks throughout most of Carpenter’s storied career in horror. And, you can’t have a horror Best Of list without one of the true Masters of Horror.

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Plot: Fifty years into the future, the sun is dying, and Earth is threatened by arctic temperatures. A team of astronauts is sent to revive the Sun – but the mission fails. Seven years later, a new team is sent to finish the mission as mankind’s last hope.

KBZ’s Take: Sunshine is a film with two great acts and a third act where the genre and tone completely change. The first two acts feature some of the best Hard Sci-Fi and technical details of space travel in the Films Set in Space subgenre. However, the film derails a bit when you get to the third act. Sci-Fi turns to Horror with a subplot that is a bit hard to believe.

The film’s horror elements are divided between Slasher and Psychological Horror themes. The psychological horror plays out throughout the film especially as the astronauts think their mission might fail. In our opinion, these are the best horror sequences in the film. However, the third act transitions to slasher elements that seem out of place and don’t really work.

With that said, Sunshine is still one of Danny Boyle’s best films with many great performances from Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Chris Evans, Michelle Yeoh, Benedict Wong and Hiroyuki Sanada. It’s not only one of the best films of the subgenre but the best film about how we often take the Sun’s rays of life for granted.

Additional Lists: Best Films About Space #10

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Plot: Set in the future, the story follows a young soldier named Johnny Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry. Rico’s military career progresses from recruit to non-commissioned officer and finally to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an arachnoid species known as ‘The Bugs’.

KBZ’s Take: A cult classic of both the Alien Invasion film and Sci-Fi Military film subgenres that excels in three specific areas. First, the special effects and action are top notch (for the time period) and feature numerous battles between the human military and ‘the bugs’. This is essentially a sci-fi war film showing military recruitment to actual in theater war.

Second, though the film is primarily about an alien invasion and human retaliation, there are many horror sequences in the film that come suddenly, unexpectedly and are quite shocking when transposed against the satirical tone of the film.

Third, the film satirizes multiple areas including Fascism, media propaganda and the military’s role in society. Paul Verhoeven used similar satire in Robocop (1987) but here he turns the satire level to 11 as an underlying element within the film’s excessive violence and gore.

The film received generally negative reviews upon release, but over time has become a cult classic and one of the best films of multiple subgenres including this one.

Additional Lists: Best Military Sci-Fi Films #3, Best Alien Invasion Films #4

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Plot: A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

KBZ’s Take: I think everybody would agree that the Alien franchise rules this entire subgenre and it’s only a question of how you rank each film when considering all Space Horror films. Though Alien Resurrection (1997) and Alien: Covenant (2017) are considered the weakest films in the franchise, there is an argument to be made against Alien³ (1992) and Prometheus being the third best film.

When considering Alien³, however, it would need to be the Assembly Cut version of the film which is a vast improvement over its theatrical counterpart. However, even with the improved Alien³ version, it’s still not a better film than Prometheus.

Prometheus gave us an alternate look into the Alien franchise and the origins of the Xenomorph. Plus, it had Ridley Scott returning to the helm to recreate much of the horror found in his original 1979 film. It might not be considered the best of the Alien franchise, but it’s certainly one of the best subgenre films.

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Plot: When their ship crash-lands on a remote planet, the marooned passengers soon learn that escaped convict Riddick isn’t the only thing they have to fear. Deadly creatures lurk in the shadows, waiting to attack in the dark, and the planet is rapidly plunging into the utter blackness of a total eclipse. With the body count rising, the doomed survivors are forced to turn to Riddick with his eerie eyes to guide them through the darkness to safety. With time running out, there’s only one rule: Stay in the light.

KBZ’s Take: In 2000, Pitch Black seemed to come out of nowhere. Vin Diesel was just coming off co-starring roles in Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Boiler Room (2000) and wasn’t yet a household name. That all changed with Pitch Black and the introduction of anti-hero Riddick into the world of Space Horror.

The initial film of the Riddick franchise is the most horror-centric from its opening sequence of a spaceship tearing itself apart while landing to the eventual reveal of the alien creatures that only come out at night. Pitch Black was a genuinely scary film playing off the age-old themes of creatures lurking in the dark that you cannot see and can attack at any time. That’s the stuff nightmares are made of…

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Plot: Two crewmembers wake up on a spaceship and realize they’re not alone.

KBZ’s Take: Another film where the less said about its plot, the better. Needless to say, Pandorum has a somewhat unique premise in the Survival Horror in Space subgenre. The film has enough genuine scares that make it easier to overlook some of the film’s obvious plot holes. Plus, it gets added bonus points for an ending that few will see coming.

This is a great Cosmic Horror film with Lovecraftian elements intertwined with Survival Horror. It’s also a very original film with three core components. First, the existential dread of the two crew members as they wake up in a spaceship without knowing who or where they are. Second, the pivotal reveal of what they discover on the ship (and how they soon become hunted). Third, the final reveal which we admittedly did not see coming. It’s one of the better “Survival Horror Films in Space” and one of the best of this subgenre.

Additional Lists: Top Survival Horror Films You Haven’t Seen #5, Top Cosmic Horror Films You Haven’t Seen #7

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Plot: When Ripley’s lifepod is found by a salvage crew over 50 years later, she finds that terra-formers are on the very planet they found the alien species. When the company sends a family of colonists out to investigate her story, all contact is lost with the planet and colonists. They enlist Ripley and the marines to return and search for answers.

KBZ’s Take: Aliens trades the suspenseful dread of the first film for more action-oriented thrills in its sequel. And while Alien (1979) is first and foremost a horror film, Aliens still has a solid horror foundation even with the upgrade from blowtorches to pulse rifles.

Because Aliens is such an action-packed thrill ride from beginning to end, it’s easy to dismiss its horror cred. But make no mistake, Aliens has a different type of horror from its predecessor with swarms of unrelenting Xenomorphs, numerous alien acid baths and the appearance of the Queen Xenomorph herself. The main horror theme that stayed consistent between the two films (and entire franchise) is of a human nature – the Weyland-Yutani corporation’s nefarious goal to obtain the Xenomorph as a weapon no matter the cost.

Additional Lists: Best Sci-Fi Military Films #2

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Plot: In 2047 a group of astronauts are sent to investigate and salvage the starship Event Horizon which disappeared mysteriously 7 years before on its maiden voyage. With its return, the crew of the Lewis and Clark discovers the real truth behind the disappearance of the Event Horizon – and something even more terrifying.

KBZ’s Take: Of all the Space Horror films on our list, Event Horizon is considered one of the classic films of the Cosmic Horror subgenre. In fact, the film is also one of the top films of the Body Horror, Psychological & Medical Horror and Films About the Devil, Demons & Hell subgenres. Regardless of the subgenre, Event Horizon is a truly bloody and scary film.

While the film deftly combines all these different horror subgenre elements, its greatest strength is layering these elements throughout its unique plot – the discovery of hell in another dimension. For all the great films in this subgenre, most rely on physical aliens as the greatest fear humans will encounter in the cosmos. Event Horizon, however, shows that humankind’s mortality and fear of an unforgiving hell is our greatest fear – even in the vastness of space.

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Plot: During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.

KBZ’s Take: We couldn’t leave Alien off our list as it’s THE film that defined Space Horror as a subgenre. Alien was so popular at the time that it spawned numerous subpar knockoffs including Inseminoid (1981), Forbidden World (1982) and Creature (1985). None of those films could recreate the deep space horror that Ridley Scott so expertly crafted.

Though the film is mostly known for its gut-wrenching horror and infamous Xenomorph (The Alien), it also featured some surprisingly accurate details of space travel. The industrial design of the ship fits in with the film’s advancement of deep space mining as an industry, the hibernation pods would also make sense for years or decade-long space travel and the inclusion of dated (Mother) and advanced (Ash) artificial intelligence fits with a corporate controlled, yet commoditized, business.

As for horror, it redefined the entire subgenre with its claustrophobic suspense and novel use of the Ten Little Indians film trope. There’s no better Space Horror film than the one that inspired countless others and established the best sci-fi/horror franchise of all time.

Additional Lists: Best Films About Space #8, Best Future Noir Films #20

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