View Full Version : Really good alien/UFO films
WiseOldTabbyCat
06-06-2009, 5:13 PM
Since a young age, alien and UFO films are the only films which are capable of traumatising the shit out of me.
And as any horror-fan will tell you, being scared is fun :)
But now I am at a loss. All the films of such no longer scare me now. Alien, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (not scary, but still) and The Thing just don't do it for me. Maybe because I've seen them so many times.
What I'm looking for is an alien film with believable aliens that actually makes you jump. Like Signs, before it got shit about 45 minutes in.
Alcoholic
06-06-2009, 5:36 PM
I'm pretty sure you'll want to watch Plan 9 from Outer Space. Great writing, excellent character development, and truly horrifying aliens. The special effects are also pretty awesome!
DubiousCow
06-06-2009, 5:50 PM
Signs. Good writing, good directing, good storyline that completely makes sense and it has Benjamin Martin in it.
Intestiny Destiny
06-06-2009, 6:09 PM
Independence Day. When the alien killed the scientists it was pretty intense.
A serious suggestion: Try Contact, because it was actually, you know, good.
Granted, I haven't seen it in about 8 years, so if you hate it don't come bitching to me. Though I'm fairly certain that movie was fucking solid.
Clerlic
06-07-2009, 4:22 AM
A serious suggestion: Try Contact, because it was actually, you know, good.
Granted, I haven't seen it in about 8 years, so if you hate it don't come bitching to me. Though I'm fairly certain that movie was fucking solid.
It was written by Carl Sagan, therefore it was good.
"Sphere" didn't contain any aliens as far as I can remember, but it has an alien ship and freaky shit.
"The Invasion" has alien algae or bacteria or whatever.
"The Mist" is about aliens from another dimension and people hiding in a mall.
Assassin
06-07-2009, 5:06 AM
It's the same deal for me with horror movies, so this is a good thread.
Fire In The Sky. It's about a couple of woodchucks who see a UFO in a forrest, and one of them gets kidnapped. The movie is mostly about their struggle against being believed etc. but the last 15 minutes are really scary.
WiseOldTabbyCat
06-07-2009, 6:20 AM
Signs. Good writing, good directing, good storyline that completely makes sense and it has Benjamin Martin in it.
Signs could have been a fantastic film if it didn't have the religious side-plot and more focus on the invasion, i.e. scenes of actual alien damage and destruction.
The aliens in it are quite frankly awful. they kill people with jets of poison gas they have built into their hands, they camouflage by touching people and are allergic to water?! Talk about scraping the barrel.
The part that really made me jump was the Mexican kid's party scene. After that, it just got crap. I think that was about an hour in.
SizzlingNickel
06-07-2009, 9:32 AM
This one movie called Independence day, and War of the worlds. both had great renderings of the UFO which i find great!
E.T. you asshats.
But I guess we're going for scary, in which case I have no fuckin' clue.
THe original the day the earth stood still is kind of scary, not really.
Signs could have been a fantastic film if it didn't have the religious side-plot and more focus on the invasion, i.e. scenes of actual alien damage and destruction.
Yeah aside from the fact that the style of that movie was anything but that. He didn't show that shit on purpose. That's like saying, "well i liked this movie but I really would have rather stayed in and read."
Signs sucked for a whole different reason. Mainly the factual errors, in that if the aliens could be destroyed by water, they would have been torn to shreds by the water in our air alone. Also in that the aliens didn't really do anything but arbitrarily walk through streets and jump on roofs and shit.
The new Day the Earth Stood still is a decent watch, in as far as alien invasion movies go as of late. It's not the worst thing to ever be turned out. It's solid from an entertainment perspective. Doesn't really have the emotional impact it wanted to have, and isn't extremely memorable or scary. But still, a good watch.
Signs sucked for a whole different reason. Mainly the factual errors,
It's called science fiction for a reason you know. I thought that fact was very poetic, and was my favorite aspect of the film.
edit: imo signs, the reason people didn't like it, is because they expected action and just got suspense. I thought it was good suspense, I thought the village was good too.
Frobes
06-07-2009, 8:19 PM
I liked War of the Worlds, wasn't great but wasn't bad either. Independence Day kicks ass!
Casalen
06-07-2009, 9:50 PM
in that if the aliens could be destroyed by water, they would have been torn to shreds by the water in our air alone.
There are a lot of poisonous things that are fine in small doses, many of them end up getting in our air. Maybe it takes a certain concentration to cause them harm. Condensation and mist could even hurt, but not so much that it kills them. And don't say they could have picked a better planet, we don't know how many choices they had.
Signs I don't recommend just because it's not a movie about aliens. And that's why it gets so much crap; because it was marketed as something completely different than it was.
Sphere I saw when it first came out, so my age undoubtedly changes my perception, but it stuck with me for being good at what it set out to do. Seconded, but with the note that it's been a while.
Sphere scared me. And that's hard to do. Especially with jellyfish.
If I was an alien I'd just come to earth and walk around on streets and jump on roofs n shit.
I'm pretty sure you'll want to watch Plan 9 from Outer Space. Great writing, excellent character development, and truly horrifying aliens. The special effects are also pretty awesome!
See it in the newly released, fully restored color version too. Probably the best film of the 50s.
KaOzWomBaT
06-08-2009, 3:37 AM
Aye ive seen two posts about sphere and i will admit i was young when i watched it however i remember it scaring the living shit out of me and it most of the fear wasn't even on screen it just built it up through tension, very well written (if i remember correctly :D).
spacemonkey187
06-11-2009, 3:51 PM
http://www.clubdesmonstres.com/xtro.jpg
Xtro
http://www.pollsb.com/photos/o/36379-martian_war_worlds.jpg
War of the Worlds
Seriously though tabby, how could http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Film/Pix/pictures/2007/06/26/thething460.jpg
not do it for you?
Hickabod
06-12-2009, 11:49 AM
Alien is wicked awesome! Probably be best to skip AVP though. Signs is ok too.
spacemonkey187
06-12-2009, 1:08 PM
Just remembered:
http://www.ibiblio.org/samneill/pictures/eh/510beautiful1.jpg
Event Horizon
WiseOldTabbyCat
07-14-2009, 3:42 AM
Saw the last clip of Fire In The Sky as Assasin recommended. The plot was indeed shit, I was bored for the best of it but that last 15 minutes....Jeeezus.
Probably one of the scariest scenes I've ever witnessed.
SizzlingNickel
07-14-2009, 9:08 AM
District 9 is coming along nicely.
<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VjihaK7HfGs&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VjihaK7HfGs&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>
hollywood_maggot
07-14-2009, 11:38 PM
Just remembered:
http://www.ibiblio.org/samneill/pictures/eh/510beautiful1.jpg
Event Horizon
That was a terrible movie.
Homemaster
07-22-2009, 1:50 AM
District 9 is coming along nicely.
<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VjihaK7HfGs&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VjihaK7HfGs&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>
All I can say is "Fuck. Yes."
gabe1222
07-26-2009, 2:11 PM
3 words.i am legand
Desssert
07-26-2009, 2:13 PM
Just remembered:
http://www.ibiblio.org/samneill/pictures/eh/510beautiful1.jpg
Event Horizon
That looks more like The Matrix.
Plan 9 from outer space
I'm pretty sure you'll want to watch Plan 9 from Outer Space. Great writing, excellent character development, and truly horrifying aliens. The special effects are also pretty awesome!
God damn you
spacemonkey187
08-01-2009, 6:13 AM
That was a terrible movie.
Each to their own I guess!
Sweepy
08-02-2009, 10:11 AM
Saw the last clip of Fire In The Sky as Assasin recommended. The plot was indeed shit, I was bored for the best of it but that last 15 minutes....Jeeezus.
Probably one of the scariest scenes I've ever witnessed.
This is a late reply, but I'd like to add that this movie ruined my childhood. I get freaked out really easily, and Fire in the Sky was beyond disturbing. Needless to say, I'm not a fan of these movies.
Tjeuke
08-02-2009, 10:34 AM
Hmm i got 6 recommendations for you...
1: Mars Attacks! But it is more a comedy alien movie.
2: The Time Machine. a little retro in some way but very nice. but its not really alien, but it has some wicked stuff in it wich would remind you of aliens :P
3: Red Planet. The scariness factor is a bit low, but still a nice sf movie.
4: Pitch Black. Highly recommended. If you haven't seen it, drop what you are doing, go rent/download.
5: Chronicles of Riddick. Sequal of Pitch Black, but a little too much action for a SF-fan i believe. But i like action and SF, so it suits for me.
6: Serenity. Als action/SF. Very nice movie anyway.
SquidWard
08-03-2009, 6:41 AM
I watched one when I was younger called Pitch Black. I think it had Vin Diesel in it and to be honest, it was probably one of the best alien movies I've seen. You should check that out although it aint scary. Some parts did startle me though.
Savaril
08-04-2009, 6:53 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taken_(mini_series)
Taken. Technically a series and not a film, but that doesn't change the fact that it's good, about aliens, and worth watching.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taken_(mini_series)
Taken. Technically a series and not a film, but that doesn't change the fact that it's good, about aliens, and worth watching.
You can watch pretty much the whole thing on youtube, although a couple of 10min blocks here and there have inevitably been taken down.
I watched it fairly recently - decent and well made although the last four episodes seem to drag a little, probably due to the fact that decades/generations fly by in the first six whereas the last ones just turn into x-files-style episodes.
rory785
08-04-2009, 11:21 AM
3 words.i am legand
Fuck that films good. Like a future vision of swine flu.
Mustache
08-04-2009, 3:28 PM
Fuck that films good. Like a future vision of swine flu.
Or a virus that turns people into zombies... Yeah that's it.
And I'm not really a fan of alien movies. Although, there are a few I liked.
astronaughty
08-04-2009, 4:35 PM
The Thing and Event Horizon are two of my favorites, and if you're gonna watch'm sit in the dark alone. It's cliche to even say alone in the dark but it still works. Watching any scary movie in the middle of the afternoon with your phone ringing everyonce in a while etc. keeps you from even getting into it.
And on that note any movie besides a comedy with a friend or a romance with a girl, most movies are better when you can just chill and take'm in.
vBulletin® v3.6.8, Copyright ©2000-2010, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.