100 Greatest sci fi films of ALL TIME according to drystyx
by drystyx | created - 09 Mar 2012 | updated - 09 Mar 2012 | PublicWhat makes a great film? Obviously, most people are fascinated the most by "credible characters in incredible circumstances". That especially holds true for great sci fi. It defines great sci fi. Here are what I humbly call the 100 greates sci fi films ever. I've seen most sci fi films. Sorry, but I haven't seen Avatar. Some are borderline. I put the LOTR trilogy under "fantasy" insteaad of sci fi, for example, so the hobbit movies just make another list.
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1. Them! (1954)
Not Rated | 94 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness
Votes: 24,194
This has to be #1. The two romantic leads are not the two leads here. We follow basically six characters in this mystery, and it's best to view this without knowing the plot, as it begins as a mystery in the desert.
2. The War of the Worlds (1953)
G | 85 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A small town in California is attacked by Martians, beginning a worldwide invasion.
Director: Byron Haskin | Stars: Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne, Robert Cornthwaite
Votes: 38,541 | Gross: $4.36M
The most iconoclastic hero you'll ever see. Not only does he lose a fist fight, but our male romantic lead is nearsighted. A miracle that this got past the true censors on the baord of directors. Great action, thrilling spectacles, characters you will care about. This is amazing!
3. First Spaceship on Venus (1960)
Unrated | 79 min | Sci-Fi
When an alien artifact discovered on Earth is found to have come from Venus, an international team of astronauts embarks to investigate its origins.
Director: Kurt Maetzig | Stars: Yôko Tani, Oldrich Lukes, Ignacy Machowski, Julius Ongewe
Votes: 3,143
Talk about your hidden classics, if you forget this is Venus, then this still is relevant today. The characters are fascinating in this space travel story, and it tells of the chaotic way horror can envelop people in the void of space. The most dramatic and moving space film ever.
4. RoboCop (1987)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox
Votes: 283,162 | Gross: $53.42M
Great blend of action, wit, humor, and originality in a story of a corporation making a robot policeman. The "in your face" directing is fantastic.
5. Tarantula (1955)
Approved | 80 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A spider escapes from an isolated Arizona desert laboratory experimenting in gigantism and grows to tremendous size as it wreaks havoc on the local inhabitants.
Director: Jack Arnold | Stars: John Agar, Mara Corday, Leo G. Carroll, Nestor Paiva
Votes: 10,777 | Gross: $1.10M
Immortalized by the Rocky Horror Picture Show itself, this sci fi crosses over into Horror with some of the greatest horror scenes ever as a giant tarantula attacks nameless characters. Moving humanity. This is horror to the max, and a great story.
6. Aliens (1986)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Decades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser
Votes: 763,164 | Gross: $85.16M
This story of killer aliens can make the list on one word alone: Hudson.
7. The Lost Continent (1968)
G | 97 min | Adventure
The captain, crew, and passengers of an old freighter-all of them with dark secrets to keep-find themselves adrift in a mysterious land full of monsters, conquistadors, and killer seaweed.
Directors: Michael Carreras, Leslie Norman | Stars: Eric Porter, Hildegard Knef, Suzanna Leigh, Tony Beckley
Votes: 2,255
Great characters in this story of a ship stranded in the Saragosa Sea, beset by seaweed monsters and barbarians. The balloon Girl made this a cult classic. Lots of iconoclastic scenes that slipped by the censors.
8. Night of the Big Heat (1967)
GP | 94 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
While mainland Britain shivers in deepest winter, the northern island of Fara bakes in the nineties.
Director: Terence Fisher | Stars: Christopher Lee, Patrick Allen, Peter Cushing, Jane Merrow
Votes: 2,336
Isolated group of people attacked by monsters. It begins as a mystery. Cushing and Lee are the "thinkers" here, but the story revolves around others. Lots of twists from what you usually expect to happen to film characters.
9. Superman II (1980)
PG | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.
Director: Richard Lester | Stars: Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Ned Beatty
Votes: 114,648 | Gross: $108.19M
Unlike sequels of other genres, we often see good sci fi sequels. Maybe because people already know the story. Here, Kal-El battles super evil and Earth evil. Lots of humor, lots of little things that add up to a great film.
10. Jurassic Park III (2001)
PG-13 | 92 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A decidedly odd couple with ulterior motives convince Dr. Grant to go to Isla Sorna for a holiday, but their unexpected landing startles the island's new inhabitants.
Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Téa Leoni, Alessandro Nivola
Votes: 341,070 | Gross: $181.17M
The best of the dinosaur trilogy, probably because it works just as well as a drama, with the best overall characters. Unlike the others, there are no "throw away" characters here. All have faults, and all have some degree of dignity in their fight for survival. Add all the great action, and you've got a complete package here.
11. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
G | 92 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
An alien lands in Washington, D.C. and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe
Votes: 85,768
Gentler forms of aliens than we often see, come to Eath, but they have a message. It's the "matter of fact" way of every day life, and how our alien mingles that makes this fascinating.
12. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
PG | 143 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
While playing, Lucy and her siblings find a wardrobe that lands them in a mystical place called Narnia. Here they realize that it was fated and they must now unite with Aslan to defeat an evil queen.
Director: Andrew Adamson | Stars: Tilda Swinton, Georgie Henley, William Moseley, Skandar Keynes
Votes: 428,100 | Gross: $291.71M
I finally decided to classify this as science fiction. It is allegory, too, but science fiction first. Entering another world through a closet-well, that makes it sci fi. It's the ability to show how the smallest fault can be made into somethng large, as a young boy struggles through humiliation before his siblings. Can he be redeemed
13. 12 to the Moon (1960)
74 min | Sci-Fi
An international team embarks on an expedition to the moon in an uncommonly spacious rocketship. There they encounter a faceless alien intelligence who conclude that the human race is too immature and dangerous and must be destroyed.
Director: David Bradley | Stars: Ken Clark, Michi Kobi, Tom Conway, Anthony Dexter
Votes: 1,390
Begins as a narrative, and goes straight into action. Great idea: a voyage into space which combines many nations in a unified effort. The sidebar stories make this great, particularly the one of the drawing of straws at the end. An obvious inspiration for "Armageddon".
14. They Live (1988)
R | 94 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
They influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, George 'Buck' Flower
Votes: 145,490 | Gross: $13.01M
A film waiting till 1988 to finally happen. This alien conspiracy film is Carpenter's finest achievement. Hard hitting and iconic, a cult classic from day one.
15. A Canterbury Tale (1944)
Not Rated | 124 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Three modern-day pilgrims investigate a bizarre crime in a small town while on their way to Canterbury.
Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger | Stars: Eric Portman, Sheila Sim, Dennis Price, John Sweet
Votes: 6,486
Great to see a great actor like Eric Portman portray a benevolent character. This film is tough to classify. Like "Brazil", it has many angles. Interpret it as you will. I saw it as a sci fi film on the order of "Between Two Worlds", even made in the same year.
16. Superman (1978)
PG | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando
Votes: 187,552 | Gross: $134.22M
Fortunately, this film stayed close to the golden age comic book Superman, with the same likable characters, the same story line of Kal-El attaining super powers on this planet.
17. Unknown World (1951)
Approved | 74 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
Scientists use a gigantic drilling machine for an expedition to the center of the earth.
Director: Terry O. Morse | Stars: Bruce Kellogg, Otto Waldis, Jim Bannon, Tom Handley
Votes: 1,296
Scientists have a super drilling vehicle to take them deep into the Earth's crust. It isn't feasible, but the story is the characters. One of the best action dramas ever in which characters change convincingly.
18. Island of Terror (1966)
Unrated | 89 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
An isolated remote island community is threatened by an attack by tentacled silicates which liquefy and digest bone and tissue.
Director: Terence Fisher | Stars: Peter Cushing, Edward Judd, Carole Gray, Eddie Byrne
Votes: 3,957
Isolated group of people against man made killer monsters. What's special here is the way it begins with the status quo. Cushing and MacGinnis lead the way. Don't want to spoil it too much. Just enjoy the ride.
19. Starship Troopers (1997)
R | 129 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Humans, in a fascist militaristic future, wage war with giant alien bugs.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, Jake Busey
Votes: 321,212 | Gross: $54.81M
I'm not big on special effects, but when you have what is possibly the best modern director in films, you get clever wit and action mixed together for a romp like this. Giant insects menace mankind, and we have a return to the old basic sci fi format of the comraderie of likable people. Think "All Quiet on the Western Front" meets sci fi.
20. Brazil (1985)
R | 132 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond
Votes: 211,236 | Gross: $9.93M
This remake of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" would probably not be sci fi if not for what happens to Tuttle. Fascinating fantasy, with great visuals.
21. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Votes: 1,449,742 | Gross: $322.74M
Full of iconic images, most notably the image of young Luke stranded on the farm, looking to the sky at dusk. Fantastic space adventure is full of iconic scenes, if these are the droids you are looking for.
22. The Stand (1994)
Not Rated | 90 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
After a deadly plague kills most of the world's population, the remaining survivors split into two groups - one led by a benevolent elder and the other by a malevolent being - to face each other in a final battle between good and evil.
Stars: Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Jamey Sheridan, Laura San Giacomo
Votes: 38,419
At first, it seemed silly, bur once you stop laughing about the scene where the guy screams about the "dark man", it really gels into a multi dimensional story about a possible time of Revelation. Lots of grat characters sell this.
23. It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)
Approved | 69 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
The first manned expedition to Mars is invaded by an unknown life form, which stows away on the rescue ship.
Director: Edward L. Cahn | Stars: Marshall Thompson, Shirley Patterson, Kim Spalding, Ann Doran
Votes: 6,270
Those of us who saw this on TV, we knew how Alien would turn out. This came first, so it has bragging rights about a space ship crew fighting an indestuctble monster on board the vessel.
24. The Sixth Sense (1999)
PG-13 | 107 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, starts treating a young boy, Cole, who encounters dead people and convinces him to help them. In turn, Cole helps Malcolm reconcile with his estranged wife.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams
Votes: 1,051,484 | Gross: $293.51M
Mystery or sci fi? I say sci fi. Saying more is, of course, a spoiler.
25. The Boys from Brazil (1978)
R | 125 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A Nazi hunter in Paraguay discovers a sinister and bizarre plot to rekindle the Third Reich.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier, James Mason, Lilli Palmer
Votes: 30,578 | Gross: $19.00M
What would happen if a maniac like Dr Mengele cloned Hitler? That's the subject here. That's the sci fi angle. The rest is a cross between horror and drama, with many remarkable scenes that will stay with you.
26. Jurassic Park (1993)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A pragmatic paleontologist touring an almost complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park's cloned dinosaurs to run loose.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough
Votes: 1,067,257 | Gross: $402.45M
The first of the dinosaur trilogy. Its best asset are the iconic scenes. It could've been a dull story behind effects, but some good supporting characters pull it out.
27. The Beast (1996)
PG-13 | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
Mysterious things happen at the coast of Graves Point: An empty boat lies at the shore, divers vanish. The sea biologist Dr. Talley thinks he knows the solution of the mystery: In the depth there is a gigantic squid.
Stars: William Petersen, Karen Sillas, Charles Martin Smith, Ronald Guttman
Votes: 2,909
This underwater tentacled terror is more sci fi, while Jaws is more action. Actually, this is the better film, because we care more about the characters on the final voyage. Draws from some golden age sci fi films like The Beast from 20,000 fathoms.
28. Day the World Ended (1955)
Approved | 79 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
In a post-Apocalyptic world after an atomic war seven disparate people find themselves in a protected valley in the home of a survivalist and his beautiful daughter.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Richard Denning, Lori Nelson, Adele Jergens, Mike Connors
Votes: 2,609
Very clever story line that could work just as well on stage. 7 people isolated after a nuclear holocaust, who don't know if they're the only survivors of the human race, but mutants may be close by.
29. Gremlins (1984)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
A young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, John Louie
Votes: 247,827 | Gross: $148.17M
Simplistic story, and more of a sci fi comedy, or at least a light hearted sci fi. Small creatures must be handled with care, or else they become dangerous. It becomes a story of "following instructions", of handling stewardship. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and is very amusing.
30. Curse of the Demon (1957)
Approved | 96 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
American professor John Holden arrives in London for a parapsychology conference, only to find himself investigating the mysterious actions of Devil-worshipper Julian Karswell.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, Maurice Denham
Votes: 15,508
This is a classic "darkest before the dawn" plot. A skeptic is given a piece of paper that he must force someone else to take, or he will be killed by a demon. The film covers all that takes place that turns him from skeptic to believer.
31. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Thriller
A ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the Northeast of the United States.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman
Votes: 139,145 | Gross: $0.09M
Cult classic about zombies has drama and humor.
32. This Is Not a Test (1962)
Not Rated | 73 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
A deputy sheriff stops motorists on a mountain road after police dispatch reports of a possible nuclear attack.
Director: Fredric Gadette | Stars: Seamon Glass, Thayer Roberts, Aubrey Martin, Mary Morlas
Votes: 893
A macho policeman takes control over several motorists during a nuclear scare. What follows is all too realistic, except possibly for the convenient psychotic killer. People who don't think they could panic like this, or make these mistakes, are probably the most likely to make these mistakes.
33. Silent Running (1972)
G | 89 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In a future where all flora is extinct on Earth, an astronaut is given orders to destroy the last of Earth's botany, kept in a greenhouse aboard a spacecraft.
Director: Douglas Trumbull | Stars: Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, Jesse Vint
Votes: 31,469 | Gross: $0.69M
Don't be misled. In 1972, even high schoolers knew that if plant life died, human life would die out. Here, Bruce Dern is a scientist trying to save Earth's doomed plant life in a space dome, but incredibly almost everyone else wants to destory plant life and live on chemicals. Dern's reasons are far fetched, as he cites only the beauty of forests, instead of practicality, but he is opposed by people even more insane than he is. This moves very briskly, and makes it look like there is more action than there is, probably because of the directing. A must see.
34. The Unknown Terror (1957)
Unrated | 77 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A millionaire leads an expedition into a remote jungle to find his wife's long-lost brother, but instead the group finds a mad scientist who has created a fungus monster that feeds on the local inhabitants.
Director: Charles Marquis Warren | Stars: John Howard, Mala Powers, Paul Richards, May Wynn
Votes: 412
Very iconoclastic story of spelunkers finding slimy monsters. Our hero is even disabled. Great imagery, great cinema.
35. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
PG | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After rescuing Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, the Rebel Alliance attempt to destroy the second Death Star, while Luke struggles to help Darth Vader back from the dark side.
Director: Richard Marquand | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,121,533 | Gross: $309.13M
The truth lies somewhere between those who think it is perfect, and those who denounce it. The end of the Luke Skywalker space hero saga, where he faces off with his evil father, Darth Vader, is fairly predictable, but still thrilling. The prequels-now they were disappointments.
36. Planet of Dinosaurs (1977)
PG | 84 min | Sci-Fi, Drama
A space-ship gets lost and is forced to make an emergency landing on an unknown planet. Soon the crew discovers that there are dinosaurs on the planet. The crew have to survive until they hopefully are found and rescued.
Director: James K. Shea | Stars: Mary Appleseth, Harvey Shain, Derna Wylde, Max Thayer
Votes: 1,944
This actually suffers from a contrived start, but that's only a few minutes. After crash landing on a planet, it moves very well, and it works great as drama. You could simulate off camera dinosaurs, and still have the great story, because it deals with how the characters react to being there. Some realize they will have to make it a home. Only one "throw away" character, and even he isn't one dimensional. More than meets the eye here.
37. Back to the Future (1985)
PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
Votes: 1,307,002 | Gross: $210.61M
More comedy than sci fi, but this is very clever. Well done.
38. Unknown Island (1948)
Approved | 75 min | Adventure, Horror, Romance
An adventure seeker and his fiancée visit an uncharted island, only to find that it is inhabited by deadly dinosaurs and other creatures ready to attack.
Director: Jack Bernhard | Stars: Virginia Grey, Phillip Reed, Richard Denning, Barton MacLane
Votes: 790
As we go down the list, I rate them more on "watchability" and "rewatchabiltiy". You can never tire of watching this, unless you're an effects dork. The effects are "yesterday", but the story is good. Expedition to island of dinosaurs. Some unexpected character twists make this exciting.
39. The Time Machine (2002)
PG-13 | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Hoping to alter the events of the past, a 19th century inventor instead travels 800,000 years into the future, where he finds humankind divided into two warring races.
Director: Simon Wells | Stars: Guy Pearce, Yancey Arias, Mark Addy, Phyllida Law
Votes: 130,411 | Gross: $56.68M
This remake about Time Travel actually works very well. A lot of clever little things help out, but mostly it works because the characters are all identifiable and interesting.
40. Alien (1979)
R | 117 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 950,901 | Gross: $78.90M
Remake of the Marshall Thompson film about battling an indestructable alien aboard a space ship has great characters, but the effects and gore seem much too contrived and made simply for beavis and butthead in the room to guffaw. Still, it works because it begins the series of a blend of horror with fairy tale. This one is "Beauty and the Beast".
41. Day of the Dead (1985)
Not Rated | 101 min | Horror, Thriller
As the world is overrun by zombies, a group of scientists and military personnel sheltering in an underground bunker in Florida must decide on how they should deal with the undead horde.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato, Jarlath Conroy
Votes: 74,377 | Gross: $5.80M
Another film that actually would have been better without all the effects and gore. Lost in the goofy gore is a great story of a fight against zombies in a compound in which the characters, including what may be the last woman on Earth, as pawns between a mad scientist rehabilitating the zombies, and a young militant officer who is tired of seeing his men butchered.
42. Silver Bullet (1985)
R | 95 min | Horror
In a small town, brutal killings start to plague the close knit community. Marty Coslaw, a paraplegic boy, is convinced the murders are the doings of a werewolf.
Director: Daniel Attias | Stars: Gary Busey, Everett McGill, Corey Haim, Megan Follows
Votes: 31,519 | Gross: $5.40M
A werewolf story with some interesting, clever touches, and some striking scenes. It is a bit before its time. Good story line, good characters.
43. Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)
Unrated | 83 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Extraterrestrials traveling in high-tech flying saucers contact a scientist as part of a plan to enslave the inhabitants of Earth.
Director: Fred F. Sears | Stars: Hugh Marlowe, Joan Taylor, Donald Curtis, Morris Ankrum
Votes: 9,112
We have evil aliens in this film. It's the drama that makes this flow. Again, it just seems to be full of action, and that's a good sign.
44. The Thing (1982)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard Masur
Votes: 466,717 | Gross: $13.78M
Mesmerizing film about an alien invader who takes over bodies, and is very dangerous. Owes it success probably to the best use of sound effects you'll ever find in a film, but also to very well written characters.
45. In the Year 2889 (1969 TV Movie)
Unrated | 80 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In a post nuclear Earth, survivors are stuck in a valley and have to protect themselves from mutant human beings, and each other in some cases.
Director: Larry Buchanan | Stars: Paul Petersen, Quinn O'Hara, Charla Doherty, Neil Fletcher
Votes: 1,179
Remake of "The Day the World Ended" is not much different. The lead character isn't as interesting as the original, but the half human mutant seventh character is much better.
46. Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)
R | 92 min | Action, Fantasy, Horror
High-level demons collect low-level demons as warriors in attempt to obtain a key containing the blood of Christ. The key is guarded by immortal warriors called Demon Knights.
Director: Ernest R. Dickerson | Stars: Billy Zane, William Sadler, Jada Pinkett Smith, Brenda Bakke
Votes: 26,314 | Gross: $21.09M
Begins with the classic chase scene, where you know the guy who looks like the good guy and the guy who looks like the bad guy are not what they seem. It works great because they really seem like flip sides of a coin in this supernatural quest thriller.
47. The Time Machine (1960)
G | 103 min | Adventure, Romance, Sci-Fi
A man's vision for a utopian society is disillusioned when travelling forward into time reveals a dark and dangerous society.
Director: George Pal | Stars: Rod Taylor, Alan Young, Yvette Mimieux, Sebastian Cabot
Votes: 44,850
Very entertaining story of time travel, and obviously the best movie the lead actor ever did.
48. This Island Earth (1955)
Passed | 86 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Aliens come to Earth seeking scientists to help them in their war.
Directors: Joseph M. Newman, Jack Arnold | Stars: Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue, Rex Reason, Lance Fuller
Votes: 10,678
Very entertaining alien invasion film, with some good characters.
49. The Shining (1980)
R | 146 min | Drama, Horror
A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers
Votes: 1,106,806 | Gross: $44.02M
One of those "very watchable" films, with great imagery, as we follow a family isolated in a haunted hotel.
50. Life in a Day (1999 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 89 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A scientific experiment in rapid-cell growth goes awry when a lab assistant steals the developed serum and injects it into his pregnant girl friend. The result is a child that grows through... See full summary »
Director: Eleanore Lindo | Stars: Michael A. Goorjian, Chandra West, Linda Kash, Wayne Best
Votes: 277
Very clever script, much like an old Twilight Zone story, so I won't ruin it, but it's a think piece.
51. Predator (1987)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Kevin Peter Hall, Elpidia Carrillo
Votes: 454,944 | Gross: $59.74M
This story of an alien who hunts game was extremely well done. A good idea, well written.
52. Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
Approved | 129 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
An Edinburgh professor and assorted colleagues follow an explorer's trail down an extinct Icelandic volcano to the earth's center.
Director: Henry Levin | Stars: James Mason, Pat Boone, Arlene Dahl, Diane Baker
Votes: 19,571 | Gross: $10.00M
"Atmosphere" is the key. We care about these characters who travel inside the Earth. Great imagery. If only the inside of the Earth was that splendid. And James Mason rocks in this role
53. Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956)
Not Rated | 80 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A 400-foot (122-meter) dinosaur-like beast, awoken from undersea hibernation off the Japanese coast by atomic-bomb testing, attacks Tokyo.
Directors: Ishirô Honda, Terry O. Morse | Stars: Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kôchi, Akira Takarada
Votes: 8,829
Japanese movie about a large, large monster. Actually, the narrative of the added American, though it is obviously added later, helps to clarify the plot.
54. The 27th Day (1957)
Approved | 75 min | Sci-Fi
Aliens take five people, give them small capsules which can kill mankind without additional damage, with the understanding they will colonize Earth only if they use the weapons.
Director: William Asher | Stars: Gene Barry, Valerie French, George Voskovec, Arnold Moss
Votes: 1,839
Excellent story line. Aliens pick 5 Earth people, and test them by giving them vials which can cause great destruction. The ending is silly, but until then, it is a good story. The landmark scene involves a self sacrifice of a likable scientist.
55. Planet of the Apes (1968)
G | 112 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
An astronaut crew crash-lands on a planet where highly intelligent non-human ape species are dominant and humans are enslaved.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans
Votes: 193,260 | Gross: $33.40M
One of those "easy to watch" movies, about a planet of apes, based on the short story "By the Waters of Babylon". Owes its place here to the iconic scenes and lines, so get your hands off me, you d... dirty ape.
56. Mysterious Island (1961)
Not Rated | 101 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
During the Civil War a group of Union soldiers, a Confederate and a civilian escape the stockade using a hot-air balloon and end up on a strange Pacific island.
Director: Cy Endfield | Stars: Michael Craig, Joan Greenwood, Michael Callan, Gary Merrill
Votes: 8,543
The original is easy to watch, with great visuals of the perils on Nemo's island, and a more three dimensional Nemo than the remake.
57. The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Approved | 81 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
After Scott Carey begins to shrink because of exposure to a combination of radiation and insecticide, medical science is powerless to help him.
Director: Jack Arnold | Stars: Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, April Kent, Paul Langton
Votes: 19,969
Unlike most movies, no explanation is given for why he shrinks, other than it has something to do with a phenomenom he witnesses. A lot of open endedness here makes this sort of avant garde sci fi.
58. The Mummy (1932)
Approved | 73 min | Fantasy, Horror
A resurrected Egyptian mummy searches Cairo for the girl he believes to be his long-lost princess.
Director: Karl Freund | Stars: Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Arthur Byron
Votes: 30,135
The Mummy is one of the more interesting of horror-sci fi monsters. This one is very entertaining.
59. Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)
Approved | 62 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A backwoods game warden and a local doctor discover that giant leeches are responsible for disappearances and deaths in a local swamp, but the local police don't believe them.
Director: Bernard L. Kowalski | Stars: Ken Clark, Yvette Vickers, Jan Shepard, Michael Emmet
Votes: 4,856
The absolute king of cheese. The ultimate still scene photo, with the muscular hero holding a gun in one hand and a skimpily clad long haired beauty in the other, and he's a scientist? This movie belongs to Yvette Vickers, who steals the entire show. It's quite scary, too.
60. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
G | 79 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A strange prehistoric beast lurks in the depths of the Amazonian jungle. A group of scientists try to capture the animal and bring it back to civilization for study.
Director: Jack Arnold | Stars: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno
Votes: 34,432 | Gross: $1.30M
Scientists find a creature in a lagoon, but not before he finds their female. Cult classic has a formula plot, but it is very exciting.
61. Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)
Not Rated | 110 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
Stranded on Mars with only a monkey as a companion, an astronaut must figure out how to find oxygen, water, and food on the lifeless planet.
Director: Byron Haskin | Stars: Paul Mantee, Victor Lundin, Adam West, The Woolly Monkey
Votes: 7,156
An astronaut is alone on Mars. His struggle for survival matches his struggle for sanity. It's almost too bad it becomes more sci fi with the addition of other creatures later, but it still is a great psychological sci fi thriller.
62. Frankenstein (1931)
Passed | 70 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Dr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.
Director: James Whale | Stars: Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff, John Boles
Votes: 79,721
You surely know the story. Frankenstein plays God, and makes a monster.
63. Dreamscape (1984)
PG-13 | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A man who can enter and manipulate people's dreams is recruited by a government agency to help cure the President of the United States of his nightmares about nuclear war but stumbles upon an assassination plot.
Director: Joseph Ruben | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Max von Sydow, Christopher Plummer, Eddie Albert
Votes: 18,156 | Gross: $11.48M
Visually stunning piece about dreams becoming alive.
64. Total Recall (1990)
R | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
When a man goes in to have virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars implanted in his mind, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real - or is he?
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, Rachel Ticotin
Votes: 354,624 | Gross: $119.39M
Probably more confusing than it should be, but still an excellent action piece about futuristic mind altering in a lavish space base.
65. The Fly (1958)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A scientist has a horrific accident when he tries to use his newly invented teleportation device.
Director: Kurt Neumann | Stars: David Hedison, Patricia Owens, Vincent Price, Herbert Marshall
Votes: 25,667 | Gross: $3.00M
A man become half fly half man because of his invention. But that's the middle of the story. It is a police investigation of a bizarre event. Cleverly done.
66. Conquest of Space (1955)
Approved | 81 min | Sci-Fi
An American-led team of International astronauts leave their space station on the first mission to Mars, but the captain's religious beliefs may get in the way.
Director: Byron Haskin | Stars: Walter Brooke, Eric Fleming, Mickey Shaughnessy, Phil Foster
Votes: 1,785
Falls under the category of "exciting, watchable, humorous, action packed, and very watchable" instead of "reality based". A journey through space in which the commander goes insane.
67. The Abominable Snowman (1957)
85 min | Adventure, Horror
A kindly English botanist and a gruff American scientist lead an expedition to the Himalayas in search of the legendary Yeti.
Director: Val Guest | Stars: Forrest Tucker, Peter Cushing, Maureen Connell, Richard Wattis
Votes: 4,961
Merantile Forest Tucker and scientist Peter Cushing on an expedition to find the Yeti. Action packed and works well as drama, too.
68. King Kong (2005)
PG-13 | 187 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
A greedy film producer assembles a team of moviemakers and sets out for the infamous Skull Island, where they find more than just cannibalistic natives.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann
Votes: 446,944 | Gross: $218.08M
The first one was too Republican, the second one too Democrat. This story of the giant ape is somewhere between, more moderate, less preachy.
69. It Came from Outer Space (1953)
Approved | 81 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A spaceship from another world crashes in the Arizona desert and only an amateur stargazer and a schoolteacher suspect alien influence when the local townsfolk begin to act strangely.
Director: Jack Arnold | Stars: Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake, Joe Sawyer
Votes: 11,051
This alien invasion film is one of the most Shakespearean in nature. Lee van Cleef resmebles a Shakespearean king descending into madness.
70. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
Approved | 80 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A ferocious dinosaur awakened by an Arctic atomic test terrorizes the North Atlantic and, ultimately, New York City.
Director: Eugène Lourié | Stars: Paul Hubschmid, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, Kenneth Tobey
Votes: 8,725 | Gross: $5.00M
Iconic scenes include the diving bell and the ultra brave policeman with a pop gun against a dinosaur. It follows three characters throughout, with a fourth interchanging one, ending with Lee van Cleef in the mix. I'd rather the mariner gone along with them on their quest, which would have given us the classic sci fi group of four.
71. Maximum Overdrive (1986)
R | 98 min | Action, Comedy, Horror
A group of people try to survive when machines start to come alive and become homicidal.
Director: Stephen King | Stars: Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington, Yeardley Smith
Votes: 35,840 | Gross: $7.43M
Machines come to life. Trucks are undriven, but run over people. Roughly the same plot as "Killdozer", but with more humor and wit interjected. We follow a motley group of people, mostly likable, in a struggle to survive.
72. The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
G | 92 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
The sole survivor of a fishing boat recounts sightings of hairy giants. A scientist investigates, revealing mutated creatures, growing from remains of a previous monster. Nearly indestructible, they battle in Tokyo until only one remains.
Director: Ishirô Honda | Stars: Russ Tamblyn, Kumi Mizuno, Kenji Sahara, Nobuo Nakamura
Votes: 3,535
Good monster or bad monster? Both. One of the first to do this.
73. Last Woman on Earth (1960)
Not Rated | 71 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Ev, her husband Harold, and their friend Martin go scuba diving while on vacation in Puerto Rico. When they surface, they find that everyone on the island has died.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Betsy Jones-Moreland, Antony Carbone, Robert Towne
Votes: 2,149
Two men and one women are all that are left, maybe. They don't know for sure, but everyone around them is dead, and no one responds on the radio. Great drama, and the only film Carbone ever did that didn't suck big time. Ends with a great finale.
74. The Amazing Colossal Man (1957)
Approved | 80 min | Action, Drama, Horror
A military officer survives a nuclear blast, only to begin to uncontrollably grow into an increasingly unstable giant.
Director: Bert I. Gordon | Stars: Glenn Langan, Cathy Downs, William Hudson, Larry Thor
Votes: 2,844
A genuinely good guy becomes a giant monster after a nuclear accident. His stature cause brain damage. Some very good cinema, and very exciting story.
75. Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Approved | 97 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A mysterious artifact is unearthed in London, and famous scientist Bernard Quatermass is called in to divine its origins and explain its strange effects on people.
Director: Roy Ward Baker | Stars: James Donald, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley, Julian Glover
Votes: 11,513
Falls under the category of "mesmerizing" and cult classic. It's a think piece, so I won't spoil it. But scientists are baffled by uneplained going ons and a possible alien invasion of Earth millions of years in the making.
76. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
PG | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
With the assistance of the Enterprise crew, Admiral Kirk must stop an old nemesis, Khan Noonien Singh, from using the life-generating Genesis Device as the ultimate weapon.
Director: Nicholas Meyer | Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan
Votes: 129,229 | Gross: $78.91M
The first movie was a bore, so they went back to basic action, which is what Kirk does best.
77. Logan's Run (1976)
PG | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A police officer in the future uncovers the deadly secret behind a society that worships youth.
Director: Michael Anderson | Stars: Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan, Roscoe Lee Browne
Votes: 61,042 | Gross: $25.00M
One of the "clever plot" types, where a futuristic society is brainwashed into thinking they can die and regenerate at age 30. Some characters have reason to think otherwise.
78. Fantastic Voyage (1966)
PG | 100 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
When a blood clot renders a scientist comatose, a submarine and its crew are shrunk and injected into his bloodstream in order to save him.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasence
Votes: 20,834
Clever idea. Peole are shrunk in size to enter a human body to operate on it. They made this as exciting as they could, because it probably was tough to make an exciting film out of this.
79. Between Two Worlds (1944)
Approved | 112 min | Mystery, Drama, Fantasy
Passengers on an ocean liner can't recall how they got on board or where they are going yet, oddly enough, it soon becomes apparent that they all have something in common.
Director: Edward A. Blatt | Stars: John Garfield, Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet, Eleanor Parker
Votes: 2,348
After a bomb raid, some peple find themselves mysteriousy on a boat. Yes, they died. So what awaits them now?
80. The Death Wheelers (1973)
PG | 85 min | Adventure, Horror
An amiable, psychopathic leader of a violent teen motorbike gang is spurred by his mother, a Satan-worshiping spiritual medium, into committing suicide and returning to life as an "undead".
Director: Don Sharp | Stars: George Sanders, Beryl Reid, Nicky Henson, Mary Larkin
Votes: 3,148
In order to achieve immortality, a biker convinces some of his group that they have to die.
81. Visit to a Small Planet (1960)
Not Rated | 85 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
The weirdest alien of the galaxy pays a visit to Earth...
Director: Norman Taurog | Stars: Jerry Lewis, Joan Blackman, Earl Holliman, Fred Clark
Votes: 1,458
Good old fashioned alien fun
82. The Andromeda Strain (1971)
G | 131 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Top scientists work feverishly in a secret, state-of-the-art laboratory to discover what killed the citizens of a small town and how the deadly contagion can be stopped.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: James Olson, Arthur Hill, David Wayne, Kate Reid
Votes: 40,446 | Gross: $3.42M
Scientists looking for what caused the death of a town. This one is slow paced, and more of a think piece, so be forewarned.
83. Forbidden Planet (1956)
G | 98 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
A starship crew in the 23rd century goes to investigate the silence of a distant planet's colony, only to find just two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilization.
Director: Fred M. Wilcox | Stars: Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens
Votes: 53,216 | Gross: $3.00M
Cult classic status for this one, loosely based on a Shakespear comedy, but this is no comedy. The mosnter from the id is a killer.
84. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961)
PG | 105 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
When the Earth is threatened by a burning Van Allen Radiation Belt, U.S. Navy Admiral Harriman Nelson plans to shoot a nuclear missile at the Belt, using his experimental atomic submarine, the Seaview.
Director: Irwin Allen | Stars: Walter Pidgeon, Joan Fontaine, Barbara Eden, Peter Lorre
Votes: 6,664
Film makers learned early that submarine movies were tedious and hard to make exciting. Here, we have an element of sci fi involved, and sabotage to make things move along.
85. The Thing from Another World (1951)
Approved | 87 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Scientists and American Air Force officials fend off a bloodthirsty alien organism while at a remote arctic outpost.
Directors: Christian Nyby, Howard Hawks | Stars: Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, James Arness, Robert Cornthwaite
Votes: 33,359
This one looks simple, about an alien unfrozen and come to life, but that's the atmosphere that makes this entertaining. A mad scientist makes life tough for the humans there.
86. The Mole People (1956)
Approved | 77 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Horror
A party of archaeologists discovers the remnants of a mutant five-millennia-old Sumerian civilization living beneath a glacier atop a mountain in Mesopotamia.
Director: Virgil W. Vogel | Stars: John Agar, Cynthia Patrick, Hugh Beaumont, Alan Napier
Votes: 3,997
Good imagery and scenery as scientists go deep into the Earth to find people and creatures unknown to man.
87. Tremors II: Aftershocks (1996 Video)
PG-13 | 100 min | Action, Comedy, Horror
Earl Bassett, now a washed-up ex-celebrity, is hired by a Mexican oil company to eradicate a Graboid epidemic that's killing more people each day. However, the humans aren't the only one with a new battle plan.
Director: S.S. Wilson | Stars: Fred Ward, Chris Gartin, Helen Shaver, Michael Gross
Votes: 32,748
This sequel about underground monsters was a bit better than the original, probably because Bacon's character just didn't have any likability in the original. Here, we care more about these people, and are given a bit better comic relief.
88. Lake Placid (1999)
R | 82 min | Action, Comedy, Horror
Four people attempt to stop a gigantic crocodile, who is terrorizing residents in Black Lake, Maine.
Director: Steve Miner | Stars: Bridget Fonda, Bill Pullman, Oliver Platt, Brendan Gleeson
Votes: 65,551 | Gross: $31.77M
Giant freshwater crocodile eats people. Well, he's hungry. Any way, pretty good comic relief and identifiable characters make this watchable, but the Betty White character never should've been in it, nor the contrived bit with the bear. Take those two out, and you've got a top film.
89. Humanoids from the Deep (1980)
R | 80 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Humanoid sea creatures start killing a fishing town's residents, and raping their women. It's up to the townsfolk and a visiting biologist to fight back and fend them off.
Directors: Barbara Peeters, Jimmy T. Murakami | Stars: Doug McClure, Ann Turkel, Vic Morrow, Cindy Weintraub
Votes: 10,513
This was rockem sockem scary stuff, and still is. These are bad ass creatures, and lots of iconoclastic fates you won't expect.
90. Fantastic Four (I) (2005)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A group of astronauts gain superpowers after a cosmic radiation exposure and must use them to oppose the plans of their enemy, Doctor Victor Von Doom.
Director: Tim Story | Stars: Ioan Gruffudd, Michael Chiklis, Chris Evans, Jessica Alba
Votes: 343,895 | Gross: $154.70M
The story of four super heroes who attain their powers from cosmic rays in outer space. It stays very close to the comic book. Reed and Sue are Reed and Sue. The story depends on Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm. The interplay with these two could've been more, but it was fairly close to the original comic stories, so this is a good movie.
91. Zone Troopers (1985)
PG | 86 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In Italy, during World War II some American soldiers find an alien UFO.
Director: Danny Bilson | Stars: Tim Thomerson, Timothy Van Patten, Art LaFleur, Biff Manard
Votes: 1,828
There have been several like this since 1985, but this was a pioneer of the style in which we return to the golden age sci fi mixed with war and some modern characterizations that don't get too modern.
92. Son of Kong (1933)
Passed | 70 min | Adventure, Family, Horror
The showman who brought Kong to New York returns to Skull Island and finds Kong's son, a spunky 12-footer with a winning personality and his dad's awesome strength.
Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack | Stars: Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack, Frank Reicher, John Marston
Votes: 5,290 | Gross: $1.34M
Robert Armstrong was one of the most charismatic and underrted actors ever. We probably have no famous charismatic actors in the filtered market of today. Here, he atones for a weak orignial Kong with a better story about the son of Kong.
93. Red Planet (2000)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Astronauts, and their robotic dog AMEE (Autonomous Mapping Evaluation and Evasion), search for solutions to save a dying Earth by searching on Mars, only to have the mission go terribly awry.
Director: Antony Hoffman | Stars: Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss, Tom Sizemore, Benjamin Bratt
Votes: 59,924 | Gross: $18.00M
The action isn't much, but the characters make this space travel film worth watching. Lots of introspect mixed with emotion.
94. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Not Rated | 75 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Mary Shelley reveals the main characters of her novel survived: Baron Henry Frankenstein, goaded by an even madder scientist, builds his monster a mate.
Director: James Whale | Stars: Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson
Votes: 53,263 | Gross: $4.36M
Has become more of a cult classic than Frankenstein himself.
95. Nightflyers (1987)
R | 89 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Professor hires a spaceship to get to the source of weird signals from deep space. The trip is cut short however when the ship's computer gets jealous because the captain is in love with one of the female passengers and it gets homicidal.
Director: Robert Collector | Stars: Catherine Mary Stewart, Michael Praed, John Standing, Lisa Blount
Votes: 1,389 | Gross: $1.15M
Eerie, but creative story of a ship that lives and thinks, and a crew caught in its trap.
96. Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)
Approved | 63 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Scientists become trapped on a shrinking island with intelligent, murderous giant crabs.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Richard Garland, Pamela Duncan, Russell Johnson, Leslie Bradley
Votes: 3,807
Good old fashioned fun, full of excitement. One of the better films from this studio.
97. Trog (1970)
GP | 93 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A sympathetic anthropologist uses drugs and surgery to try to communicate with a primitive troglodyte who is found living in a local cave.
Director: Freddie Francis | Stars: Joan Crawford, Michael Gough, Bernard Kay, Kim Braden
Votes: 3,210
Basic sci fi, old fashioned entertainment. Something to eat popcorn, have a soda, and enjoy.
98. The Day It Came to Earth (1977)
PG | 88 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A glowing meteor falls into a secluded pond into which Mafia hitmen have dumped the body of one of their victims. Students from the local college use the pond for a swimming hole. Then the fun begins.
Director: Harry Thomason | Stars: Wink Roberts, Roger Manning, Robert Ginnaven, Delight De Bruine
Votes: 283
Now this is truly back to basics fun, with the old time small town comradeire you want to see, some lines that should be famous today, and perhaps this will achieve the cult status it deserves.
99. Invaders from Mars (1953)
Approved | 78 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A young boy learns that space aliens are taking over the minds of earthlings.
Director: William Cameron Menzies | Stars: Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Jimmy Hunt, Leif Erickson
Votes: 8,836
Of these "imagination" movies from a kid's point of view, this is probably the one that communicates the idea best.
100. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
R | 100 min | Comedy, Horror, Musical
A newly-engaged couple have a breakdown in an isolated area and must seek shelter at the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-n-Furter.
Director: Jim Sharman | Stars: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O'Brien
Votes: 166,938 | Gross: $139.88M
Because #100 should be something special. Great Scott!
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