(Photo by Disney/Courtesy Everett Collection. ALIEN: ROMULUS.)
“In space, no one can hear you scream.” Yeah, you knew we were gonna hit you with that Alien tagline in a guide to the best space horror movies of all time, and can you blame us? It’s the best one-liner fused to the best movie of this breed, perfectly encapsulating the far-flung cosmic terror that draws horror hounds and audiences to the subgenre.
So what defines space horror? The first rule is a biggie but ought to be obvious: Most of the movie cannot be set on this island Earth, so nothing about space vampires walkin’ on Ventura Boulevard, even if it’s got a killer opening riff or first act set off-world. Then with Alien setting the standard, the label of space horror calls forth a fleet of spacecraft from movie history, like the Nostromo or Covenant or Prometheus, the Event Horizon, and the Icarus II from Sunshine. Often, the way they confine and trap their passengers elevate these interstellar ships as characters in their own right.
And space horror can also go planetside. Within Alien, the sequel was quick to kick Ripley and her Colonial Marine pals off ship and onto a moon colony where the terror xenomorphed into new dimensions. And you can’t run in a straight line in Prometheus if you’re not outside with lots of room around. Predators had unsavory folk waking up in mid-air hurtling towards a hostile game planet, and not even Pitch Black‘s three suns could cool off Vin Diesel.
We ranked our space horror guide by Tomatometer score, with Certified Fresh films first, including Prospect, which maximized its low budget, and High Life, a surprising joint effort from Robert Pattinson and director Claire Denis.
#1
Adjusted Score: 109150%
Critics Consensus: While Alien was a marvel of slow-building, atmospheric tension, Aliens packs a much more visceral punch, and features a typically strong performance from Sigourney Weaver.
#2
Adjusted Score: 114857%
Critics Consensus: A modern classic, Alien blends science fiction, horror and bleak poetry into a seamless whole.
#3
Adjusted Score: 91280%
Critics Consensus: Fueled by character development and setting instead of special effects, Prospect is a sci-fi story whose style is defined – and enriched — by its limitations.
#4
Adjusted Score: 94824%
Critics Consensus: High Life is as visually arresting as it is challenging, confounding, and ultimately rewarding – which is to say it’s everything film fans expect from director Claire Denis.
#5
Adjusted Score: 94310%
Critics Consensus: Honoring its nightmarish predecessors while chestbursting at the seams with new frights of its own, Romulus injects some fresh acid blood into one of cinema’s great horror franchises.
#6
Adjusted Score: 83074%
Critics Consensus: Claustrophobic and stylish, Europa Report is a slow-burning thriller that puts the science back into science fiction.
#7
Adjusted Score: 83608%
Critics Consensus: Danny Boyle continues his descent into mind-twisting sci-fi madness, taking us along for the ride. Sunshine fulfills the dual requisite necessary to become classic sci-fi: dazzling visuals with intelligent action.
#8
Adjusted Score: 88289%
Critics Consensus: Ridley Scott’s ambitious quasi-prequel to Alien may not answer all of its big questions, but it’s redeemed by its haunting visual grandeur and compelling performances — particularly Michael Fassbender as a fastidious android.
#9
Adjusted Score: 77235%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#10
Adjusted Score: 76358%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#11
Adjusted Score: 72987%
Critics Consensus: Dazzling, but a little dull, ANIARA‘s impeccable production design is undermined by its underwhelming philosophical pondering.
#12
Adjusted Score: 81285%
Critics Consensus: Life is just thrilling, well-acted, and capably filmed enough to overcome an overall inability to add new wrinkles to the trapped-in-space genre.
#13
Adjusted Score: 87911%
Critics Consensus: Alien: Covenant delivers another satisfying round of close-quarters deep-space terror, even if it doesn’t take the saga in any new directions.
#14
Adjusted Score: 73070%
Critics Consensus: After a string of subpar sequels, this bloody, action-packed reboot takes the Predator franchise back to its testosterone-fueled roots.
#15
Adjusted Score: 64243%
Critics Consensus: Despite an interesting premise (and a starmaking turn from Vin Diesel), Pitch Black is too derivative and formulaic to fully recommend to sci-fi or action fans.
#16
Adjusted Score: 33996%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#17
Adjusted Score: 66402%
Critics Consensus: While Sigourney Weaver’s feral performance as a resurrected Ripley restores some fun to the Alien franchise, the acid blood running through this fourth entry’s veins corrodes whatever emotional investment audiences had left.
#18
Adjusted Score: 58389%
Critics Consensus: Brazenly strange and uneven in its execution, Lifeforce is an otherworldly sci-fi excursion punctuated with off-kilter horror flourishes.
#19
Adjusted Score: 55562%
Critics Consensus: Alien³ takes admirable risks with franchise mythology, but far too few pay off in a thinly scripted sequel whose stylish visuals aren’t enough to enliven a lack of genuine thrills.
#20
Adjusted Score: 31704%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#21
Adjusted Score: 16757%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#22
Adjusted Score: 41087%
Critics Consensus: Despite a strong opening that promises sci-fi thrills, Event Horizon quickly devolves into an exercise of style over substance whose flashy effects and gratuitous gore fail to mask its overreliance on horror clichés.
#23
Adjusted Score: 33762%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#24
Adjusted Score: 32020%
Critics Consensus: While it might prove somewhat satisfying for devout sci-fi fans, Pandorum‘s bloated, derivative plot ultimately leaves it drifting in space.
#25
Adjusted Score: 30962%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#26
Adjusted Score: 29543%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#27
Adjusted Score: 21500%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#28
Adjusted Score: 25281%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#29
Adjusted Score: 26347%
Critics Consensus: A boring, suspense-free Paranormal Activity rip-off that feels long even at just 90 minutes.
#30
Adjusted Score: 26613%
Critics Consensus: John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars is not one of Carpenter’s better movies, filled as it is with bad dialogue, bad acting, confusing flashbacks, and scenes that are more campy than scary.
#31
Adjusted Score: 24044%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#32
Adjusted Score: 30197%
Critics Consensus: Brilliant casting is overshadowed by a muddled mix of genres and storylines that scratch more heads than sci-fi itches in The Cloverfield Paradox.
#33
Adjusted Score: 22780%
Critics Consensus: The FPS sections are sure to please fans of the video game, but lacking in plot and originality to please other moviegoers.
#34
Adjusted Score: 20017%
Critics Consensus: Neither intelligent enough to work as thought-provoking sci-fi nor trashy enough to provide B-movie thrills, The Last Days on Mars proves as cinematically barren as the titular planet.
#35
Adjusted Score: 14365%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#36
Adjusted Score: 12898%
Critics Consensus: This is an insult to the Sci-fi genre with no excitement and bad FX.
#37
Adjusted Score: 154%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.