Top 10 Horrors in Space

The concept of setting a horror film in space is sort of a lazy joke most of the time, thanks to sequels like Jason X, Leprechaun 4, Critters 4, and one of the entries on this list. Running out of ideas for your long-running franchise? Set that fucker in space! Sometimes the move away from Earth is disastrous and nonsensical, but there are plenty of examples where it works just fine. The idea of “space,” after all, is ripe for terror: it’s a location about which humanity knows very little, leaving plenty of opportunities to encounter inexplicable nightmares that don’t conform to our expectations of reality. (And its pure aesthetics are appropriate, too; it’s really, really goddamn dark!) When discussing horror films set in space, it’s easy to get bogged down in a debate over genre classification. If the movie involves space exploration, doesn’t that mean it’s inherently science fiction? No. If the intent of the movie is to elicit fear, it’s horror. Cool? So anyway, this is a list of 10 great horror movies set in space. Outside of one film that’s sort of skirting the rules, none of these take place on Earth, which eliminates many of the great sci fi horror movies focused on a crash-landing or invasion of extraterrestrials (like John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) or Philip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)).

10. Hellraiser: Bloodline (1995; dirs: Kevin Yagher, Joe Chappelle)

This sequel is often shat upon, but it’s stuffed with intriguing ideas about how the cenobites might function in a distant future. The film (sometimes poorly) balances three timelines in the past, present, and future, attempting to lay out the complex history of LeMarchand’s puzzle box. I might be alone, but I consider it one of horror’s greater tragedies that original director Kevin Yagher wasn’t allowed to complete the film on his terms. But as it exists, Bloodline is a fascinating mess with some spectacularly grotesque effects work and a provocative attempt to spin the franchise in a new direction.

9. Saturn 3 (1980; dirs: Stanley Donen, John Barry)

Hey, it’s another frequently belittled movie with a director that was fired and replaced midway through production. Like, Hellraiser: Bloodline, Saturn 3 didn’t turn out the way anyone had planned. Though the cast basically comprises just three actors, all three were pains in the ass in their own way, making filming incredibly difficult. The screenplay was rewritten extensively. The director who finished the film didn’t like science fiction and had mainly worked on musicals. But despite literally every aspect of this film being a giant mess, it manages to be interesting and produce a few really unsettling moments, and its eccentricities impart a unique flavor.

8. Creature (1985; dir: William Malone)

There’s really no gentle way to spin this: Creature is a cheap imitation of Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979). But William Malone’s much smaller-budget film does a lot of things, if not well, at least interestingly. Its murky, drab aesthetic works to build its modestly effective scares and the alien looks kind of cool, even though it’s just a more lumbering incarnation of H.R. Giger’s design. Klaus Kinski is the standout, though. He’s doing some kind of crazy performance here that really adds some colorful insanity. Diane Salinger also provides a unique screen presence. All in all, this is a very satisfying ‘80s monster movie.

7. Forbidden World (1982; dir: Allan Holzman)

Forbidden World is another in a huge glut of space-based horror movies intended to cash in on the success of Alien. There’s not much here in terms of haughty things like plot, characterization, symbolism, or nuance, but, as one might reasonably anticipate from a Roger Corman flick from this era, there is a plethora of titillation. Sure, it’s generously filled with the requisite ooey-gooey gore and gratuitous nudity, but Forbidden World is also surprisingly artistic in spots, positioning it slightly above the fray. It checks a lot of satisfying boxes, even if “originality” isn’t one of them.

6. Event Horizon (1997; dir: Paul W.S. Anderson)

When I first saw Event Horizon in the theater, it kind of blew my teenage mind. It showed up during a pretty dry patch for the genre, when theatrical horror was starting to go down the self-aware road paved by Wes Craven’s Scream. But here was Paul W.S. Anderson, prior to ruining his name with a thousand Resident Evil films, putting out what was essentially Hellraiser in space just a few years after the Hellraiser franchise itself failed to do the space thing (see: Bloodline). Filled with nightmarish imagery and a pretty good cast, this movie is one of the better theatrical releases to emerge from the ‘90s. In retrospect, it feels quite a bit heavier on style than substance, but it’s still very solid.

5. Sunshine (2007; dir: Danny Boyle)

Not long after their success with 28 Days Later (2002), director Danny Boyle and star Cillian Murphy teamed up again for this less-lucrative psychological horror film. Its captivating premise — a crew of scientists are sent to reignite the sun after it starts burning out, leaving humanity facing imminent extinction — is leveraged mostly as a straightforward sci fi movie until it turns horrific in its final third, when the weight of the crew’s mission begins to take its toll. But Boyle and company do a fine job illustrating the maddening solitude of space compounded with the immense responsibility for humanity’s survival.

4. Life (2017; dir: Daniel Espinosa)

Everything about Daniel Espinosa’s big-budget killer martian flick is unassuming except its cost and cast: The title is incredibly dull; its plot is lifted from a hundred Alien ripoffs; the alien itself is an amorphous, indistinct thing that vaguely resembles a facehugger; and even the high-profile cast portends a movie that’s going to play it safe. But this is a surprising little gem: it’s vicious, it’s not afraid to brutally kill off its stars, it’s fast-paced and tense the whole way through, and it’s got a cruel, Tales from the Crypt-style ending to rival The Mist (2007). It’s way better than you’d ever expect.

3. Lifeforce (1985; dir: Tobe Hooper)

This one’s a slight cheat, since about two-thirds of the movie takes place on Earth. But a good portion does occur off planet, so here it is. Though Lifeforce is not often cited among Hooper’s best movies, it’s my favorite besides The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. It’s a very creative and ambitious flick about space vampires with a lot of really fun practical effects, that kicked off Hooper’s really interesting but financially disastrous three-picture deal with Cannon. And it’s impossible to talk about this movie without mentioning that the absolutely gorgeous Mathilda May is completely naked for the entire thing.

2. Aliens (1986; dir: James Cameron)

There are very few movies I’ve watched more than James Cameron’s entry for the Aliens franchise. It’s essentially a perfect movie, with its stellar casting and memorable characters, the xenomorphs (perhaps the pinnacle of creature design in film), its nonstop action and extremely effective set pieces, James Horner’s wonderful score, and just really fantastic production design. It solidified Ellen Ripley as one of the genre’s most enduring heroes. It would be at the top of any list of extraterrestrial horror if it weren’t a sequel to the space horror movie that inspired a hundred clones.

1. Alien (1979; dir: Ridley Scott)

Horror movies really don’t get better than Ridley Scott’s 1979 masterpiece, and it just happens to be set in space. Though Scott’s direction is of course superb, and the film is expertly paced to ratchet intensity before revealing its monsters, the vital organs of the movie are Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, a character who embodies the agency women should have had in film all along, and the production design of H.R. Giger. Giger’s retro-futuristic biomechanical designs were stunningly unique at the time and have since informed the aesthetic of dozens and dozens of imitators.