Horror From Another World: What Are The Best Scary Alien Invasion Movies?

If we ask people from the surrounding about their main fears, it is likely that the number of people who will answer that they are scared the most of alien invasion will be relatively small: After all, our world has much more tangible, or even proven, threats. Still, the fear of an alien invasion is present in our lives, and of course has its place in the cinema, from science fiction films to horror movies.

The reason may be our anxiety about the unknown, which is familiar to many people. After all, the world outside Earth is infinite, we cannot understand precisely what lies there, and the threat of the “others” – non-human beings, who may have strange or even hostile motives towards us – certainly exists. Horror and science fiction films have popularized these fears, in part because they presented the scenario of alien invasion, destruction, devastation, penetration into the human body to take over it, enslaving humanity, and more.

Alien invasion movies do not exist in a vacuum. Throughout history, alien invasion films have resonated with deep social fears, and we know that portraying societal concerns is one of the main functions of horror films. Among other things, these alien films have expressed anxieties about the Cold War, the atomic bomb, dangerous weapon experiments, the rise of communism, and also famous incidents that may or may not have happened (depending on who you ask), such as the Roswell incident, in which a spacecraft with an alien allegedly crashed near the town of Roswell in New Mexico. There were reports of the appearance of spaceships in the sky, or at least unidentified objects (UFOs), and these reports have increased since the 1940s.

Unsurprisingly, horror movies don’t ignore this subject. There are some scary alien invasion movies: Classics and cult films, blockbusters and indie films, and films combining different genres or sub-genres like western, found-footage film and even comedy.

Best Alien Invasion Movies – Our Choices

Throughout history, we have seen many films centered on an alien invasion of Earth. We’ll review a few of these films here, but note: our focus is on films that take place primarily on Earth, or at least feature an alien invasion of our planet as a starting point for the plot. We won’t be covering science fiction films that feature some alien entity in space, like most “Alien” films, but you don’t want to miss those films.

The good news is that the list of alien invasion movies includes films from different subgenres: from thrillers and action films with a touch of horror, through found-footage films to wild and silly comedies. Due to brevity and the desire to avoid reviews of tens of thousands of words, we also won’t be covering films that offer more action and science fiction and less horror, like the films “Independence Day,” “Doom,” or “Battleship,” which is based on the board game with the same name.

Here are some of the scary alien invasion movies out there:

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956, 1978)

“Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is one of the best alien invasion movies of all time, or rather, several separate productions, whose starting point is the foundation of the book “The Body Snatchers” by American novelist Jack Finney. The principle is that extraterrestrials contact Earth, take over the bodies of humans, and replace them with doppelgangers who look almost identical. Well, except for the fact that their behavior is insensitive, and that their ultimate goal is to take over the planet we live on.

It began in 1956, with a classic B-Movie by Don Siegel (“Dirty Harry”, “Escape from Alcatraz”, “The Shootist”) starring Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, King Donovan, and others. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” in black and white and with a minimal budget, presented a pessimistic ending, which, a few decades later, in the context of a re-screening of the film in theaters, got a frame story that made it a little more optimistic and gentle.

In 1978, the most famous version of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” arrived, with a legendary Donald Sutherland (who recently passed away), Brooke Adams, Veronica Cartwright, Jeff Goldblum, and others. The film became a cult and is still considered one of the most important in the science fiction and horror genres, with some unforgettable scenes and a very pessimistic twist at the ending.

“Body Snatchers” from 1993 and “The Invasion” starring Nicole Kidman in 2007 presented roughly the same idea, but were mediocre.

The Thing (1982)

“The Thing,” John Carpenter’s masterpiece from 1982, is a remake of Howard Hawks and Christian Nyby’s 1951 film “The Thing From Another World,” or rather an adaptation of the novella “Who Goes There?” by John W. Campbell, which was the inspiration for the 1950s film.

The plot of “The Thing” follows a team of researchers in Antarctica who encounter a parasitic alien entity that assimilates and replaces living creatures. The hero is helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady (the excellent Kurt Russell), who confronts alongside the rest of the team with a bloody nightmare, during which they cannot tell who is real and who has already become the impersonating alien. The film featured excellent and quite revolutionary effects, partly related to an unforgettable scene of something coming out of someone’s body. It was a box office flop, but has become a horror and science fiction classic over the years.

In 2011, a not-so-bad remake of “The Thing” was released, essentially a prequel to Carpenter’s 1981 film. Although it suffered from comparisons to the original movie, which led to mixed reviews and a box office flop, it can still be worth your time thanks to a great cast – including horror queen Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsenn and the actor named Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, which make me thank God for the option to copty and paste words. “The Thing” had some decent atmosphere and tense scenes that may not have reached the heights of the original, but were successful in their own right.

Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988)

“Killer Klowns from Outer Space” by The Chiodo Brothers is undoubtedly a cult film. It sounds ridiculous on paper – and feels that way – but has stood the test of time and is now considered a classic, or at least a cult film. What else can you expect from a movie whose plot is an alien spaceship that crashes in a peaceful town, and from which aliens that look like clowns emerge, who use strange weapons to attack and kidnap people? We get some young people who understand the magnitude of the danger and try to stop the clowns/aliens, equipped mainly with an ice cream truck.

“Killer Klowns From Outer Space” introduced us to several clown characters who became bloody famous in the catalog of movie villains, such as Jojo the Clown, Shorty, and others. It has unforgettable scenes, some of which we have already referred to on the site, such as the scene where the pizza tray comes out of it… Something that is not pizza. The film became a cultural phenomenon, and to this day, you will find countless products that refer to the characters and prominent scenes from the movie.

Species (1995)

Based on the somewhat familiar image of aliens, it is difficult to claim that they are sexy creatures: how sexy can white, large, and cumbersome creatures with an oversized head be? And yet, in the 90s, there was someone who turned aliens into a sexual object. This person is Natasha Henstridge, one of the great sex symbols of the 90s, who got her fame primarily as the great discovery of “Species”.

In the erotic thriller series, Henstridge played Sil, an Extraterrestrial human hybrid creature (by the way, Michelle Williams played the younger version of Sil). The woman, who comes with alien DNA and “operating instructions”, escapes from the government facility and is revealed to be an alien version of “Femme Fatale, who seduces men to murder them. A team of experts tries to stop her, including well-known actors Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Forest Whitaker, and Alfred Molina. The film deals with themes such as evolution, genetic engineering, and the fear of the unknown. It represents the 90s cinematic approach to the genre, which combines horror, special effects, and explicit sexuality.

The first “Species” film, produced on a budget of approximately $35 million (mainly because of the cast), was a great success, earning more than $113 million worldwide. It got three sequels: the mediocre “Species II” (1998) and “Species III” (2004), and the terrible “Species: Awakening” (2007), the only one in the franchise without Natasha Henstridge.

Mars Attacks! (1996)

“Mars Attacks!” is one of the most deranged horror sci-fi comedies we’ve seen, as you’d expect from a film by the genius Tim Burton. The plot here, which is unusually based on trading cards (!) from the 1960s, concerns small aliens with big brains who come to Earth, ostensibly for peaceful purposes. Everything changes when they see a stray pigeon, shoot it, and begin their attempt to destroy humanity in creative and crazy ways. The movie shows Burton’s developed imagination and unique sense of humor for the thousandth time.

“Mars Attacks!” is, in my opinion, one of the underrated alien invasion movies. It is a sharp parody, making fun of science fiction films and the United States. For example, it criticizes the hesitant foreign policy of the American president (Jack Nicholson, who played a dual role here), who thinks mainly about public opinion, negotiates with the aliens even when they cause mass killings, and hesitates to use the advanced tools at his disposal (sound familiar?).

The film’s crazy cast also includes names like Glenn Close, Pierce Brosnan, Martin Short, Danny DeVito, Michael J. Fox, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tom Jones, Jack Black, and even Natalie Portman in a small role. It didn’t do too well at the box office but became a cult film over the years.

Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County (1998)

Oh, how I grew up on this movie. “Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County” is the movie I have always wanted to see as a kid because someone saw it one night on the late Movie Channel and said it was one of the scariest movies he had ever seen. A few years later, while still in high school, I finally got my hands on the film.

At first, I was excited by the originality of “Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County,” but it’s hard to argue that it has stood the test of time. This is a found-footage film made for television that came out a year before “The Blair Witch Project,” perhaps the film that brought the genre to the mainstream (and no, it’s not the film that invented the found-footage genre). “Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County” is a mockumentary film, which is a remake of an even lower-budget film made by director Paul Chitlik in 1989, supposedly featuring authentic footage of the McPherson family being attacked by aliens during Thanksgiving (the original title of the film was “The McPherson Tape”). The youngest son, Tommy, documents the stressful events on his old-fashioned video camera.

When the film got to television in 1989, many viewers were said to have thought it was real. The confusion was somewhat reminiscent of Orson Welles’ famous 1938 radio drama “War of the Worlds,” which, according to legend, caused a panic because people thought the incident was real. It was eventually revealed that “Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County” was entirely fictional. Still, it is important because it raised questions about our ability to distinguish between real and imaginary, before found-footage films became too formulaic.

Signs (2002)

In the early 2000s, M. Night Shyamalan was at the peak of his career, three years after he had stunned the world with the excellent “The Sixth Sense” and two years after his success with “Unbreakable.” “Signs” is about one family, forced to deal with an alien invasion of Earth: the Hess family from Pennsylvania, which includes Graham, a former pastor who lost his faith after the death of his wife (Mel Gibson, before he got drunk and became an anti-Semite), his lovable brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix) and their two children, Morgan (Rory Culkin. He is Macaulay Culkin’s brother, but not the brother Kieran who recently won an Oscar for “A Real Pain”) and Bo (Abigail Breslin, once a child sensation and now someone who has made quite a few nice horror films).

“Signs” is a suspenseful film, which Shyamalan builds gradually and correctly, so we are exposed to the threat of the aliens as the film progresses. It has some great scenes, including a jump scare that is considered one of the most successful in horror cinema, which made me jump and scream my way almost to Brazil.

So it’s true that the film has some serious flaws, including a disappointing ending that shows that a twist can ruin an entire plot, but it’s still a great alien invasion movie, which solidified Shyamalan’s status as one of the most important creators in horror cinema in recent decades.

The Fourth Kind (2009)

“The Fourth Kind” refers to the fourth level (out of six) of the Heinke classification, a method for classifying reports of encounters with extraterrestrials and unidentified objects proposed by Dr. J. Allen Hynek, an astronomer and UFO researcher. If in the first type of encounters we only notice UFOs, in the second type physical findings are also added in the field, and in the third we notice unhuman figures, encounters of the fourth kind describe the abduction of people against their will by extraterrestrial or unidentified entities.

“The Fourth Kind”, starring the wonderful Milla Jovovich (“Resident Evil”, “The Fifth Element”), deals with cases of abduction of people by various creatures, which allegedly occurred in Alaska in 2000. In this case, there were quite a few people who thought the film was real: the film combines “documentary footage” of supposedly real cases (with actors playing the real victims) alongside dramatic scenes that recreate the events, with Milla Jovovich playing Abbey Tyler, a psychologist investigating the cases.

Although the story here is fictional, this film is suspenseful, stressful, and frightening. It’s a favorite among horror fans, some say it’s one of the most realistic alien invasion movies. So if you missed it, catch up soon.

Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

As its name suggests, “Cowboys & Aliens” is an original mix of a traditional Western and an alien invasion story. The film, directed by Jon Favreau (“Iron Man” and “Iron Man 2,” “The Jungle Book,” “The Lion King”) and based on a graphic novel by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, is set in 19th-century Arizona. Aliens invade a small Arizona town and kidnap people, intending to enslave them. We follow Jaken (Daniel Craig, aka James Bond), a robber who suddenly discovers that he has no memory, but he has what looks like an alien weapon in his palm. He collaborates with his enemy, Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford, aka Indiana Jones), and other supporting characters played by Olivia Wilde (in one of the sexiest scenes involving an alien, or something like that), Sam Rockwell, and Paul Dano.

Despite the impressive cast and the skilled director behind the camera, “Cowboys & Aliens” was considered a colossal flop. It received negative reviews and grossed about $174 million, which might have been considered an impressive achievement if the film’s budget had not exceeded $163 million. It has some fascinating ideas, mainly around the mixing of genres, and of course reasonable effects, but the overall feeling is one of a miss.

The Watch (2012)

“The Watch” is a science fiction comedy, directed by Akiva Schaffer (“Hot Rod”, “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping”, and the upcoming “The Naked Gun”), which should have been much better if you considert the distinguished team of comedians starring here, which includes Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill and Richard Ayoade. The plot of “The Watch” is about four tax collectors who, after a mysterious murder in the neighborhood, decide to form a neighborhood watch. You probably guessed correctly that they will very quickly discover that aliens are behind the killings, and the fate of the town (or the world) is in their hands.

“The Watch” received rather negative reviews, which criticized the plot, which is too stupid (even in terms of a science fiction comedy), the low and rather average humor, and the fact that the film doesn’t exactly work in terms of the chemistry between the actors. From a box office perspective, the film was quite a failure, barely managing to recoup its investment.

Dark Skies (2013)

“Dark Skies”, from Jason Blum and “Blumhouse Production”, is a science fiction horror film that focuses on the intimate experience of an alien invasion at the individual family level. The members of the Barrett family – parents Lacy (Keri Russell) and Daniel (Josh Hamilton), and two children Jesse (Dakota Joyo) and Sammy (Kedan Rockett), begin to experience disturbing events, such as a loss of sense of time, marks on their bodies, such as banging their heads in the wall. They realize they are under attack by creatures called “The Greys”, which is one of the most prominent representations of aliens in popular culture. These aliens, you guessed it, are trying to abduct humans to conduct experiments on them.

“Dark Skies” is a compelling film, turning the alien story into a metaphor for common parental fears and the parents’ struggle against external forces that threaten their children. It works mainly on the psychological level, with less on effects and cheap scares, and it’s a good choice. It’s hard to say that it left a significant mark over time, including at the box office, but it’s an enjoyable film worth watching.

The World’s End (2013)

If you like good alien movies mainly for their humor, “The World’s End” is a must-see. Edgar Wright’s science fiction comedy is the third in the “Three Flavours Cornettoy,” which includes two other films you should not miss: the brilliant zombie movie parody “Shaun on the Dead” (2004), and my personal favorite “Hot Fuzz” (2007), which takes the detective crime story in hilarious directions.

Like the other films in the trilogy, in “The World’s End” you’ll find comedians Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in the lead roles, alongside other actors who have returned in all the films, such as Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy, and Rafe Spall. The plot centers on a hedonistic alcoholic (Peg) who decides to recreate the pub crawl they used to do decades ago with four of his friends, only to discover that while they’re drinking, robot aliens have taken over the town. These aliens have malicious plans for humanity, which unfortunately don’t include drinking alcohol.

Annihilation (2018)

“Annihilation” by Alex Garland (who wrote the screenplay for “28 Days Later” and “28 Weeks Later,” and also directed the excellent “Ex Machina” and the too-weird “Men”) is considered one of the most outstanding horror thrillers of recent years. Based on the novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer, the film follows a group of scientists who arrive in a mysterious zone called “The Shimmer,” a place where the laws of nature do not operate as we know them. As the film progresses, we understand exactly why, but you probably already understood that it has to do with the presence of aliens.

“Annihilation” is a great film in several ways. The work of Garland is excellent, the cast (which includes Natalie Portman in the lead role, and alongside her names like Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, Jenna Rodriguez and also Oscar Isaac, who is a man but that’s okay because he plays “her husband” here and goes through a rather complex experience) does a great job. There are some very effective scenes here, which take the film in the direction of body horror.

A Quiet Place (2018)

If aliens with a developed sense of hearing were to invade Earth and hunt down everything that makes a sound, the obvious step would be to be quiet to stay alive. This is the general plot of the “A Quiet Place” films, some of the finest in horror cinema in recent years.

The first “A Quiet Place” was directed by John Krasinski in 2018, based on a script he co-wrote. He also stars in one of the leading roles alongside his wife (Emily Blunt, excellent as always), in the story of the Abbott family trying to survive in complete silence on an isolated farm. Not an easy task when there are children at home and when the woman is pregnant.

“A Quiet Place” was a great film that received very positive reviews thanks to the fact that it is truly suspenseful, has a very creative use of sound (perhaps the main villain in the film), and, of course, the acting. It was a massive success at the box office: revenues of more than $ 340 million, compared to a budget of only $ 17 million.

“A Quiet Place 2” (2020) again presented the family’s attempts to survive, this time without the character who did not survive the first film (who appears here only in flashbacks). It didn’t have the quality of the first film, at least in this writer’s opinion, but it still received positive reviews and grossed almost $ 300 million.

In 2024, “A Quiet Place: Day One” arrived, a prequel and spin-off of the original film. The film depicts the early days of the invasion of blind but hearing aliens in New York, through the character of cancer patient Sam (Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave,” “Black Panther,” “Us”) and several other characters trying to help her survive, including one returning from the previous film.

Nope (2022)

What would happen if Earth had white alien invaders who behaved in a nasty way towards the pure black population? Well, that’s not exactly the plot of Nope, at least not directly, but I admit that was my expectation when I heard that Jordan Peele (“Get Out,” “Us”) was directing this alien invasion film.

“Nope” combines science fiction, horror, western, and family drama elements. It is about two brothers, nicknamed “O.J.” (Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”, “Black Panther”) and “M.” (actress and singer Keke Palmer), who own a horse ranch that supplies animals to Hollywood productions. One day, they notice a mysterious presence in the sky above their isolated ranch, try to document the phenomenon and realize that they must deal with an unexpected entity – and especially the alien known as “Jean Jacket”, which is also a metaphor for themes such as exploitation, showmanship and the dangers of publicity (and probably also black-white relations, because after all, this is a Jordan Peele film).

“Nope” received much praise from critics, including its presentation of the villain and the threat, the cinematography, and the acting. It grossed over $170 million worldwide, making it one of the highest-grossing horror films of 2022. It didn’t receive a single Oscar nomination, but you’ll find it on respectable lists of the best sci-fi films of the 21st century, and even ranked fourth on IndieWire’s list of the scariest sci-fi films of all time.

No One Will Save You (2023)

“No One Will Save You”, one of the recent alien invasion movies, is also one of the most talked-about horror films of 2023, and rightfully so. The film by Brian Duffield (romantic horror comedy “Spontaneous”) is about a young girl (Kaitlyn Dever, “Short Term 12”, “Booksmart,” “Dear Evan Hansen”), who lives alone in her childhood home. One day, she discovers that aliens are threatening to invade her house, and as the film’s title suggests, she has to deal with them alone.

The main feature of “No One Will Save You” is that the film is devoid of dialogue, which means that we rely mainly on Dever’s facial expressions and body language to present the horror, and she does a great job in these challenging conditions. Duffield manages to build tension effectively, and even horror at times, but ultimately falls into a trap of his own making. The lack of dialogue hinders our ability to connect with the character even more and raises specific unanswered questions about her past and the events taking place in the present. It’s a refreshing and original film, dealing with critical issues such as trauma, loneliness, and redemption. Not everyone will connect with it, but you should give it a chance.

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