10 Most Disturbing Sci-Fi Horror Movies, Ranked

Science fiction and horror are two of the most well-liked genres in cinema, and the pair often go hand in hand. There may be at all times one thing horrifying concerning the extraterrestrial or unknown, and most monsters are the results of scientific curiosity. Plenty of movies have successfully combined the two genres, among the most well-known being Alien, Event Horizon and Cloverfield.

These movies ship otherworldly thrills, however there are a very good variety of sci-fi horror motion pictures that transcend typical conventions with a purpose to craft one thing actually disturbing. They’re typically tough to look at, problem viewers each thematically and visually, and go away an impression that lasts lengthy after the credit roll.

10 ‘The Mist’ (2007)

Directed by Frank Darabont

Based mostly on the novella by horror icon Stephen King, The Mist is a dismal story that highlights how people may be simply as monstrous as aliens. After a freak storm, a mysterious mist is launched on a small city, which brings about bloodthirsty creatures. David (Thomas Jane) and his son Billy (Nathan Gamble) turn out to be trapped inside a grocery store with different residents, and tensions rise as they battle for his or her lives.

Regardless of the creatures being on the surface, the within of the grocery store appears much more harmful, as individuals’s concern slowly turns into chaos and violence. Nonetheless, what’s most stunning about The Mist is its notorious closing scene. It’s a daring alternative which will go away viewers polarized, and one of the vital grim in cinematic historical past. Due to this, it’s greatest to enter the film completely blind.

Rent on Apple TV+

9 ‘The Factor’ (1982)

Directed by John Carpenter

John Carpenter is the horror maestro who created the Halloween franchise, however it’s his 1982 movie The Thing that actually leaves a mark. It follows a analysis crew in Antarctica that options Kurt Russell’s MacReady, as they’re hunted by a shape-shifting alien creature. What’s most horrific is that the creature can take the type of its victims. The Factor is known for its sensible results and physique horror, which have been extremely groundbreaking on the time.

Though among the results could also be outdated, Carpenter’s macabre and detailed photographs of gore, blood, flesh are nonetheless onerous to abdomen. All types of goo and ooze are on show, and in essentially the most ugly means doable. Those that are squeamish and battle with physique horror ought to keep away from this one, although it stays the very best of its type.

Rent on Apple TV+

8 ‘Splice’ (2009)

Directed by Vincenzo Natalia

As Frankenstein first warned us, any residing factor created in a lab ought to be thought-about a hazard. That is the premise of the 2009 movie Splice, starring Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley. The pair play two scientists who create an animal-human hybrid by splicing DNA. They title the creature Dren (Delphine Chanéac), who slowly good points intelligence and proves to be a risk.

The disturbing bodily look of Dren is sufficient to frighten audiences, and Chanéac’s efficiency pushes this additional. Nonetheless, the movie goes to traumatizing locations in its exploration of morals and ethics, with one scene standing out. At a degree within the film, Clive (Brody) truly has intercourse with Dren. It’s sufficient to shock anyone, proving that Splice is a movie that isn’t afraid to be controversial or push boundaries.

Watch on Max

7 ‘The Platform’ (2019)

Directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia

Netflix’s The Platform makes use of horror and sci-fi components to explore themes surrounding class warfare. The movie is about in a jail in a dystopian future, the place inmates are fed by a descending platform. The rich prisoners on the higher ranges get all of the meals they need (and greater than they want), whereas the poor ones on the decrease ranges are solely left with scraps.

When a prisoner named Goreng (Iván Massagué) fights again, chaos ensues. Whereas offering efficient social commentary, The Platform dissects the savage and barbaric measures people are pressured to succumb to with a purpose to keep alive in excessive conditions. With not sufficient meals to go round, many prisoners resort to cannibalism and eat their fellow inmates. It’s as darkish and repulsive because it sounds.

Watch on Netflix

6 ‘Possessor’ (2020)

Directed by Brandon Cronenberg

As the son of body horror iconDavid Cronenberg, Brandon Cronenberg had a lot to dwell as much as as a director, and adopted in his father’s deranged filmmaking footsteps. He cemented his expertise with the 2020 movie Possessor, starring Andrea Riseborough. She performs Tasya Vos, a company murderer who can take management of different individuals’s our bodies by mind implant expertise, which is how she pulls off her hits.

The son of Cronenberg takes a leaf out of his father’s e book, delivering visceral and unnatural imagery that may actually hang-out viewers. An instance of this can be a scene the place that reveals somebody jamming a needle into their very own scalp. That’s not even within the uncut model, which does exist and is much more of a gore-fest than the unique minimize.

Watch on Tubi

5 ‘Crimes of the Future’ (2022)

Directed by David Cronenberg

Because the king of physique horror, David Cronenberg has directed many movies that blur the strains between sci-fi and horror, with a few of his most acclaimed being The Fly and Videodrome. Nonetheless, it’s certainly one of his more moderen efforts, Crimes of the Future, that really solidifies the filmmaker’s twisted mind. Set in a dystopian future, the movie sees Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen) and his associate Caprice (Léa Seydoux) carry out dwell surgical procedure on stage as a type of leisure.

The movie options abdomen churning mutations of the human physique, together with a person that has ears throughout his physique. Our bodies are drilled into, mutilated and extra. What’s most unsettling is how the movie sometimes presents this in a sexual method, with surgical procedure seemingly being a ‘activate’ for individuals. Crimes of the Future is unquestionably just for a choose viewers.

Watch on Hulu

4 ‘Beneath the Pores and skin’ (2013)

Directed by Jonathan Glazer

Earlier than director Jonathan Glazer explored the real-life horrors of the Holocaust in Oscar-winner The Zone of Interest, he made certainly one of A24’s earliest hits, the creepy and compelling Under the Skin. The movie stars Scarlett Johansson, who performs an alien entity who takes the type of a younger girl in Scotland. She seduces lonely males who’re unaware of her true id, and takes them into an otherworldly dimension the place they’re consumed.

Whereas Beneath the Pores and skin might not be as ugly or outwardly stunning as another sci-fi motion pictures, it nonetheless manages to be one of the vital unnerving as a result of temper and ambiance it creates. From the haunting rating to the infinite black void the lads discover themselves in, it’s the means the movie is crafted that actually leaves a darkish impression.

Rent on Apple TV+

3 ‘Infinity Pool’ (2023)

Directed by Brandon Cronenberg

Brandon Cronenberg adopted up the depravity of Possessor along with his subsequent characteristic, Infinity Pool. Alexander Skarsgård and Cleopatra Coleman play a pair on a seashore trip on an island, lured there by a mysterious girl performed by scream queen Mia Goth. They turn out to be concerned in an accident that exposes them to the island’s violence and hedonism, and should select whether or not to be executed or purchase a clone and watch themselves die.

Infinity Pool is a movie that’s much more jarring and difficult to look at than Possessor, with extreme and exploitative scenes that characteristic physique horror, intercourse, torture and extra. It creates a nightmarish world stuffed with visuals which might be onerous to unsee. Like Possessor, there may be additionally an uncut model of Infinity Pool, however the authentic minimize is sufficient to make anyone sick.

Watch on Hulu

2 ‘Annihilation’ (2018)

Directed by Alex Garland

Ex Machina director Alex Garland delivers one of the most striking and horrifying sci-fi films ever with Annihilation. The movie stars Natalie Portman as Lena, a biologist who is distributed on a secret expedition with a crew to an environmental catastrophe zone. They discover themselves in an surroundings the place the principles of nature don’t apply, as they discover mutated crops and animals, and ultimately begin mutating themselves.

Annihilation options many surreal visuals which might be as mesmerizing as they’re horrifying. From a bloody mutated bear to a morphing alien creature, the film creates cosmic horror of terrifying proportions and summary photographs which might be tough to grasp. It’s a movie that manages to disturb on each visible and thematic ranges, and is relentless in its execution.

Rent on Apple TV+

1 ‘Excessive Life’ (2018)

Directed by Claire Denis

Claire Denis directs the unconventional and arthouse sci-fi horror High Life, starring Robert Pattinson. The movie sees a bunch of criminals join a mission in house the place they turn out to be topics in a human copy experiment. When a storm wipes away your entire crew, Monte (Pattinson) is left along with his child daughter, who’s a product of the experiment. He should discover a method to save them each.

At first glimpse, Excessive Life looks like your standard A24 sci-fi horror flick, with existential themes and an avant-garde model to separate it from common house motion pictures. Nonetheless, the movie options extended and detailed sexual imagery that’s offensive, unnatural and arguably pointless. There may be one specific scene that includes a personality performed by Juliette Binoche which will mentally scar viewers, and have them questioning Denis’s intentions.

Watch on Max

NEXT:From ‘The Batman’ to ‘Tenet’, Robert Pattinson’s Best Performances