Movies
Ranking the ‘Alien’ Movies in a Way That Will Make Everyone Angry
Full disclaimer, this article is 100% biased, and you are fully invited to fight over this ranking of the Alien movies on social media!
The best alien movie is Alien (1979).
Ridley Scott’s Alien is one of the greatest, most iconic movies of all time, and several key elements make Alien so timeless.
First, Swiss artist H.R. Giger’s design of the Xenomorph purposely melds phallic and yonic imagery to create a terrifying creature that can impregnate basically anyone. The very concept of motherhood is divorced from gender all throughout the movie, which gives Alien a unique flavor of body horror while also subverting gender.
Second, though the story is set far into the future, the technology available to these characters does not save them. In fact, the tech often endangers them. Their weapons are useless, and the ship often provides convenient hiding spots for the xenomorph.
Finally, though the xenomorph is indeed very scary, the true terror of Alien lies in the infinite greed of Weyland Industries, the corporation that sends the ship off course in the first place. The crew is betrayed by their own computer (named “Mother”) and a fellow crewmate. The nightmare of Alien is that even if they survive the xenomorph, they don’t have a home to go back to. They have been sacrificed.
The 2nd best alien movie is Alien Resurrection (1997).
The 4th alien movie, Alien Resurrection (directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet) is, from a thematic standpoint, the second-best Alien movie out there. PLEASE HEAR ME OUT. Putting aside the incredibly campy performances, the very dated Dutch angles, and the wildly oversaturated colors, Alien Resurrection picks up many of the threads laid out in Alien. The greedy corporation is now a greedy government – they do insane shit with xenomorph DNA in their unending quest to weaponize the lifeform. Their technology fails to contain the xenomorphs in spectacular ways, and the ship turns into an incubator for hundreds of newborn face huggers.
Ripley is not quite human anymore, and she teams up with a gang of outlaw misfits as they all fight to survive. She shamelessly flirts with Winona Rider’s character Call (who is also not-quite human), and in the aftermath of the film’s events, the two are left to make a life of their own. The visceral nightmare of motherhood, especially the non-consensual kind, is at the heart of this story. Ripely expresses palpable anger at the system that co-opts her body in order to breed violence, which feels strangely relatable 25 years later. Alien Resurrection culminates around Ripley’s struggle to control a very violent, very slimy lifeform. It’s chaotic, it’s brutal, and it’s very, very gooey.
The 3rd best alien movie is Alien3 (1992) – specifically The Assembly Cut.
David Fincher famously disowned Alien3, and who could blame him? The production was cursed long before the first-time director signed on. The Assembly Cut, released on DVD alongside the theatrical cut, is supposedly a better representation of Fincher’s intent, but mainly it just includes important context to the strange prison planet on which the 3rd installment is set. Alien3 is a difficult watch. Its pacing is a mess, and there’s a pervasive threat of sexual violence throughout the first half that I think no one needs to experience. The fluid gender dynamics in Alien and Resurrection are absent.
Instead, we get a very binary situation where Ripley is specifically a woman, and it’s specifically her womanness that puts her in danger. This particular gang of misfits aren’t exactly sympathetic, which makes it difficult to care when they die. However, the abandoned prison colony setting does fit with the institutional violence present in the other Alien movies, and the lack of modern weapons and technology poses a unique challenge for the characters that the franchise sadly never revisits. The film’s final act is dark and intense. The ending gives us one last taste of cruelty from Weyland Industries, which pushes Ripley to reject motherhood in a very metal way. Alien3 is messy, but it tries.
The 4th best alien movie is Aliens (1986).
There are so many rich themes, motifs, and details that Ridley Scott sets up in 1979. There’s a genderfucked alien species and a genderless crew, an ominous all-powerful corporation, and a bunch of useless tech and weapons. But what does James Cameron do with these things in Aliens? NOTHING. Ripely is no longer a genderless crewmember, she’s a grieving mother (the only way to flesh out a female character, I guess?) who immediately bonds with a lost, traumatized child. Cameron introduces a queen xenomorph, making the characters specify that she is female. Cyborgs aren’t scary weapons anymore who sabotage on behalf of the corporation, they’re nice and helpful!
There are lots of weapons, lots of bullets, lots of flamethrowers, and they sort of work! In fact, Ripley uses a machine at the end to fight off the queen xenomorph, setting up a literal Mom (Ripley) versus Bitch (the queen) fight, which feels so antithetical to the agender vibes of Alien. In Aliens, the prevailing source of tension comes from the battle between humans and xenomorphs instead of the oppressive weight of Weyland Industries. And though the corporation is ultimately revealed to be up to no good, we go into the movie expecting them to be shady, which takes the sting out of the film’s final twist.
Compared to the deep, ominous shadows of Alien, the sepia-toned desolation of Alien3, or the green, gooey chaos of Resurrection, the aesthetics of Aliens feel empty and clinical. Many entries in the Alien franchise stray from the original blueprint (how do you think Prometheus or Covenant compare? Or the AvP movies?), but it’s Aliens that fundamentally misunderstands everything that makes Alien so iconic.
Two of today’s most celebrated horror luminaries, Jordan Peele and Zach Cregger, launched their careers with sketch comedy. David Gordon Green directed big-budget comedies like Pineapple Express before polarizing fans with his Halloween reboot trilogy. And after John Krasinski played a beloved sitcom character for nine years before he made his directorial debut with A Quiet Place, kickstarting one of the genre’s most durable franchises.
It’s no wonder a slew of modern horror creators got their start in comedy. Horror and comedy are two sides of the same screaming mutant baby. Both genres deal in extremity. They both rely on the build-up and release of tension. They both inspire physical and often visceral reactions in viewers. Since the 2000s ’ American Psycho and 2004’s Shaun of the Dead, the horror comedy genre – once anathema to play-it-safe Hollywood executives – has exploded in popularity. Here are the best horror comedies of the last two decades, guaranteed to inspire shrieks of laughter and revulsion.
The Best Horror Comedies of the Last 20 Years
10. In Fabric (2018)
Peter Strickland’s giallo-inspired arthouse oddity about a killer dress is “every frame a painting” gorgeous – and totally bonkers. The first half follows Marianne Jean-Baptiste, whose charisma quotient grows the more she works to downplay it, as demure divorcee Sheila, who purchases a mysterious red dress that wreaks havoc on her humdrum middle-class existence.
In the second half, the dress falls into the possession of working class repairman Reg (Leo Bill), who possesses the odd ability to lull people into a trance whenever he drones on about washing machines. In Fabric is a droll yet unsettling send-up of fashion, consumerism, and how capitalism weaponizes desire. Like a flowing wrap dress and dazzling statement clutch, this movie perfectly pairs with this year’s fashion-fixated ghost tale, Mother Mary.
9. Drag Me To Hell (2009)
In terms of pure popcorn-munching thrills, this unhinged Sam Raimi yarn remains an undeniable banger. A wealth of horror comedies, including many on this list, code-switch between horror and comedy: funny scenes are funny, scary scenes are scary. The tonalities take turns politely. Drag Me to Hell is of the rare breed in which the horror and comedy are intertwined like DNA helices.
As Christine (Alison Lohman) finds herself under more and more extreme attacks from evil forces, Raimi’s signature Evil Dead-style frenetic direction – including coked-up camerawork, slam-bang edits, and gotcha-good haunted-house jump scares – are designed to leave viewers laughing while watching through splayed fingers. It all coalesces into one of the genre’s most stunning and sidesplitting finales.
8. Climax (2018)
This dance-driven horror excursion comes from the mind of Gaspar Noé, so you know it’s going to be unhinged. But is it a comedy? That depends on you. You might not find anything funny about a troupe of excitable dancers drinking from a punch bowl spiked with LSD during a rehearsal and inflicting total mayhem and brutality onto each other. But for the gleeful sadists and masochists out there, this experimental film isn’t not a comedy. There’s something mordantly witty about the way Noé first celebrates the art of dance (and by extension art) as the product of humans working in concert with each other to create magic… and then turns the equation on its head by reveling in nightmarish entropy brought on by unseen circumstances.
Climax perches itself on the blurred line between collaboration and chaos: it’s no coincidence that this en masse maniacal breakdown looks like one extended piece of bizarre modern dance in and of itself, inviting the viewer to ponder the film on a meta-textual level: how much of Climax’s comedy of grave errors was choreography, and how much of it truly was pure unplanned chaos?
7. Jennifer’s Body (2009)
Time has been merciful to Jennifer’s Body, despite the emo aesthetics, pop culture references, and presence of Adam Brody as a would-be teen heartthrob, all of which plant this horror comedy firmly in the late 2000s. A box-office bomb castigated by viewers and critics upon release, it’s since gained cult status as a seminal text in the modern queer horror canon. Writer Diablo Cody regards the central relationship between Needy (Amanda Seyfried) and Jennifer (Megan Fox) as seriously as a devil’s pact. As their friendship descends into its inevitable breakdown, the horror lies not so much in the newly demon-possessed Jennifer ripping her unsuspecting paramours to shreds – that’s just good-natured fun!
The true terror lies in how Needy’s world destabilizes as she works to decipher how once-bestie Jennifer now codes in her life: Friend in need? Social threat? Object of desire? The movie might be named after Jennifer’s body, but the real thrill ride here is Needy’s mind – and these two actresses do wonders in embodying this tender and toxic friendship. Seyfried is heartbreaking with every uncertain glance and stutter, and Fox loads her performance with a captivating undercurrent of guilt and quiet woe.
6. You’re Next (2011)
A wealthy family gathers at a cabin in the woods, where they’re besieged by masked intruders wielding crossbows and gnarly booby traps galore. You’re Next doesn’t spend too much time pausing the blood-soaked action to hit the viewer with didactic satire, unlike future “eat the rich” horror narratives such as The Menu. Instead, director Adam Wingard relies on his nimble improv-forward cast to deliver grounded performances that both humanize and skewer these characters to killer effect. Sharni Vinson commands every moment as fish-out-of-water Erin, who must endure a tense first meeting with her boyfriend’s family.
Genre icon Barbara Crampton is a hoot as the family’s wound-up matriarch. The stalwart supporting cast also includes mumblecore auteur Joe Swanberg and horror favorite Ti West. Some Letterboxd reviewers mistakenly believe You’re Next has nothing to say, that the story ends without ramping up to a “point.” Those critics may do well to consider: perpetrators don’t always need to write on the wall for us to understand their motives. Consider this movie as a sort of pre-Succession romp, with amplified bloodshed. The humor and horror lie in poisoned family dynamics that mutate cutthroat behavior into literal cut throats.
5. The Substance (2023)
Jordan Peele nabbing the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Get Out punched desperately needed holes in the Academy’s historical exclusion of horror comedies. The Substance made those holes even bigger as it poured through them like a wild, unstoppable geyser, with Demi Moore leading a fiery Best Actress campaign (ultimately losing to Mikey Madison) and the effects team picking up a statue for Best Makeup thanks to the film’s crowning achievement, the beautiful abomination Monstro Elisasue. Coralie Fargeat’s ribald exegesis on aging subverts the “fountain of youth” trope. The story’s cardinal sin (for every great horror narrative is built around sin) isn’t Elisabeth Sparkle’s obsession with youth, but that of a broken culture that debases anyone who falls outside its cruel and unusual beauty standards.
The psychological horror of Elisabeth waging war on her own self has serious resonance in today’s modern society that leaves us toggling between fractured selves (online self vs. IRL self, work self vs. home self). But this movie’s true miracle is how it managed to garner accolades from the Academy, despite its gut-busting finale that mocks the timeworn ritual of media professionals dressing up in spiffy formalwear to gather and self-congratulate.
4. Obsession (2026)
Horror comedy’s newest buzzy darling on the block is also one of the subgenre’s best. Curry Barker’s debut feature doesn’t necessarily dazzle on its premise alone: the idea of wishing a crush into reciprocating romantic feelings against their will has been explored everywhere from The Twilight Zone to Buffy to The Fairly OddParents. Yet similar to The Substance (see above), Barker’s crackerjack script interrogates the insidious implications of the narrative “magic bean” that fulfills the protagonist’s greatest desire. Lead actor Michael Johnston has the unenviable task of embodying a main character whose demise many in the audience will clamor for – but he fulfills the assignment with aplomb.
As his character Bear caves deeper into his own cowardice, his regrettable actions come off as disturbingly human. But the real star is Inde Navarrette as Nikki. Her swing-for-the-fences performance is akin to a modern-day conjuring of Isabelle Adjani’s epic turn in Possession. See this one with an audience for the complete horror comedy experience: you’ll likely witness the crowd’s nervous laughter growing more raucous as the story grows more disturbing. Obsession pulls no punches as it forces viewers to contend with what we really want out of our partners – and how much we’re willing to take from them to get it.
3. Get Out (2016)
View Jordan Peele’s contemporary classic from one angle, and there’s not much funny about it. The movie doesn’t play this hellish meet-the-parents scenario for overt laughs. Once Daniel Kaluuya’s Chris discovers the terrible secrets of his partner’s family the Armitages, the movie coaxes the viewer into his mounting dread, starting with an unnerving (and visually arresting) depiction of the so-called Sunken Place, followed by his encounters with the Armitages’ other victims (all displays of brilliant work from the supporting cast), and eventually his heartpounding effort to escape from the Armitages’ secluded property. Yet in a grim gallows-humor kind of way, Get Out is a laugh a minute – and not only because of its scenes of comic relief from Lil Rel Howery as Chris’s exuberant buddy Rod.
Get Out is one of the most rollicking social satires of the 21st century. Ten years on, the phrase “would have voted Obama for a third term” remains in our cultural lexicon as a wry bit of shorthand for a well-to-do white liberal who over-fancies themselves “one of the good ones” – perhaps the most potent sign of this movie’s enduring legacy. Too many filmmakers have since tried and failed to play in the “social horror” subgenre popularized by this movie; their hearts might be in the right place, but they lack Peele’s deft understanding of how to build tension – and humor – with visual composition, editing, and especially music to bring horrific social satire to bear.
2. Cabin in the Woods (2011)
Drew Goddard’s send-up of the horror genre itself is a stuffed cornucopia for horror comedy lovers: with fierce wit and so-clever-it-hurts story machinations, Cabin in the Woods embraces and explodes shopworn horror tropes before throwing everything into the kitchen sink and burning everything down in a blaze of glory. Five years before Bradley Whitford’s turn as the sinister patriarch in Get Out, he leads a winning cast here as a project manager with corny “corporate dad” swagger who has to deliver results – or the whole world will pay the price.
15 years after its release, the genre commentary of Cabin in the Woods doesn’t feel dated: in fact, it feels prescient. Goddard’s pristine script argues that horror will remain forever essential to culture, but creators mustn’t be afraid to discard shortsighted cliches in favor of bold new storytelling ventures. A mere three years after this movie’s release, the genre did indeed experience a kind of evolution with the simultaneous rise of prestige horror, social horror, and horror comedy – proving that the genre has power beyond stories about horny teenagers getting hacked to pieces at a cabin in the woods.
1. Beau Is Afraid (2023)
Since the rise of horror’s mainstream popularity, researchers have been fascinated with the unlikely role the genre plays in allaying viewers’ anxiety. Coltan Scrivner, a psychologist at Arizona State University, writes in a review paper on the subject: “Horror entertainment content allows people to experience fear in a safe, controlled environment, providing an opportunity to practice cognitive reappraisal.” Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid feels like a valentine to horror’s most loyal audience: those with debilitating anxiety. Joaquin Phoenix’s perpetual worrywart Beau is all but crippled by fears and phobias, and the movie revels in his warped vision of the world: he’s plagued with threats bursting from all corners, from spiders to knife-wielding assailants to missed appointments to guilt-inducing calls from Mom.
The nightmarish absurdism, pushed to delirious heights, both mocks and sympathizes with Beau’s anxiety, making for an unforgettable first 40 minutes. Then the movie relaxes into a strange and picaresque character study of Beau, which may alienate viewers who wish that Aster had simply kept the frenzied train rolling. But in switching gears to explore Aster’s deeper fears around belonging, desire, and family, the film takes a sincere dive into what makes Beau’s fears so terrifying – and funny. Even as the movie trolls Beau, it resists dehumanizing him. In fact, despite all the terror, guilt, and shame that Beau endures, Beau Is Afraid likely takes the prize for most humane horror comedy of the 21st century.
Shudder knows summer is the perfect time to watch scary things in air-conditioned places. Which is why the beloved streamer is giving us newer movies like Heresy, Whistle, This is Not a Test, and Smothered. While it’s always fun to see recent titles arrive alongside classics and deep cuts, my eye isn’t on the films this month. Most of my picks this May are television series and documentaries. Maybe that means I want longer comments with my media and an open library. Or perhaps I’m just reminding myself that I’m a cool nerd and making it your problem too. Whatever the case may be, I have curated another list of titles that I believe deserve our attention. Check out my top five priorities while surfing our favorite streamer below.
Tales From the Crypt (1989 – 1996)
Our beloved 90s anthology is finally making its way to our most cherished streamer. As someone who hasn’t seen Tales From the Crypt since I was a tyke, I’m so giddy that I get to watch it as an adult. More importantly, I get to binge it as John Kassir (the voice of our favorite ghoul) intended. I have been floating since this news was announced at the Overlook Film Festival in April. My insomnia and my Crypt Keeper are about to be reunited, and all is going to be alright in my little world. Come for the celebrities and stay for the puns and wicked deaths. I sincerely hope you call out of work each Friday as a new season gets added to Shudder.
You can watch Tales From the Crypt: Season 1 on May 1st. Subsequent seasons will premiere on Fridays, concluding with Season 7 on June 12
Horror Noire: History of Black Horror (2019)
Based on Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman’s book of the same name, Horror Noire: History of Black Horror is simply that girl. It unpacks the complicated history of Black people in the genre with humor, honesty, and heart. It even gets into the conversations no one seems to want to have and makes room for Black horror icons to actually be heard for once. You could hear the record scratch on Bluesky when this Shudder Original disappeared a few months ago. So, we can all rest easy knowing that it’s coming back home and we can continue to have it in our regular rotation. Horror Noire made many of us feel seen and made us better cinephiles and critics. It’s worth the Shudder subscription on its own if we’re being completely honest.
You can watch Horror Noire: History of Black Horror on May 4th.
The Terror: Devil in Silver (2026)
Your favorite unsettlingly stoic anthology has returned for a new season, and this time, Dan Stevens is in the mix. Stevens plays Pepper, a man with bad luck and a bad temper who gets himself committed to a psychiatric hospital. Any horror fan knows that’s the recipe for many horror bangers, and that’s why I will be sat. The cast also includes CCH Pounder, Judith Light, and Marin Ireland. However, my heart belongs to Karyn Kusama, who is in the director’s chair and the queen of tension. As a Momma Kusma stan account, I am so ready for her to raise my blood pressure and send me to the ER. The demonic duo of AMC+ and Shudder is cooking with this one.
You can watch episode one of The Terror: Devil in Silver on May 7th. Subsequent episodes will premiere weekly, concluding with the season finale on June 11th.
In Search of Darkness 1990-1994 (2024)
We all love to see our faves get together and discuss the horror eras we have romanticized. Which is why watching genre royalty unpack the “lost” decade of horror is something we all probably want to see. As a 90s kid, I feel like we ate pretty well in my day. So, I want to collect all of these stories like infinity stones. Some of the faces we can expect to see are Heather Langenkamp, John Carpenter, Frank Henenlotter, Tim Balme, and Michael Gross. My little nerd heart could bust, and I am happy Shudder is opening the library this May.
You can watch episode one of In Search of Darkness 1990-1994 on May 11th.
Something Is About to Happen (2023)
Things take a turn for a woman who loses her job as a computer programmer. The only movie in my roundup this month goes to the one I perhaps know the least about. Truthfully, I am just here for horror movies about women going through it. Excuse me as I gesture to the world and my bank account. More importantly, Spanish-language horror rarely fails me. So, I am willing to look past the two-hour and two-minute runtime. I am ignoring that it is listed as a romantic horror. I’m doing this because I expect my kind of chaos, and I hope I am right. From one down girl to another, I am rooting for this character on sight.
You can watch episode one of Something Is About to Happen on May 15th.
That is what I plan to use my Shudder Saturdays for this month. Let us know what you’re plotting to hit play on in the comments because we’re nosy.
