Horror movies by design make the familiar monstrous. They take situations we all know and have experienced and fill them with fear, planting doubt in our minds and monsters in the closet. However, at times horror movies also bring us into unfamiliar situations, places humanity has never been and worlds we may or may not see in the future. Places filled with the unknown that prey upon our deepest fears.
From hostile alien planets to derelict vessels floating through the blackness of space, this list looks at 5 of the best horror movies that are set off Earth. These movies feature vicious alien species, claustrophobic close quarters, and torturous Hell dimensions that make space travel seem like it might not be a future to look forward to.
Pitch Black
The movie that launched Vin Diesel into superstardom, Pitch Black is a 2000 horror /action hybrid that takes place on an extremely hostile planet. Criminal Riddick (Diesel) is being transported to prison via spacecraft when the vessel is damaged by space debris, sending it crashing to the ground on an unknown nearby planet. Riddick escapes in the crash and then survivors start dying. Although the logical suspect is Riddick, it turns out something else is alive on the planet, lots of bloodthirsty alien creatures that only come out at night. This would be more survivable if it weren't for the fact that the three-sunned planet is heading for a month-long eclipse.
Originally made for a relatively meager budget, Pitch Black was an unexpected cult hit that continued to gain momentum and spawned multiple sequels. With fun gimmicks like Riddick's coincidentally enhanced, silvery eyes that can see in the dark and the bad guy saves the day trope it's easy to see why the franchise took off.
Europa Report
Billed as a science fiction film, Europa Report may not be everyone's idea of a horror film, with its PG-13 rating and lack of jumpscares or gore but it is a claustrophobic tale of a crew heading to Jupiter's moon Europa to investigate it for life signs. 6 months into their journey the crew experiences a loss that influences the mental state of all aboard. Once they finally land on Europa, they begin to drill through the ice to gather samples, but there is a strange lighted object that seems to hamper their every effort. The question is, is the light intelligent life, and if it is, is it friendly?
Europa Report isn't a big-budget blockbuster, it was made with a budget of less than $10 million and made only $125,000 at the box office but it is a well-paced, tense thriller. There is a claustrophobic aura that permeates throughout and it is easy to become attached to the characters and root for them on their mission.
Ghosts of Mars
Starring a who's who of early 2000s film stars, Ghosts of Mars is a movie that doesn't bury its lede. Set in the 22nd century, humans have almost completed the terraforming of Mars and the society that has formed there sees women taking the majority of positions of power. Natasha Henstridge stars as Lt. Ballard, tasked with transporting criminal James 'Desolation' Williams played by Ice Cube. However, when she and her team arrive, there is no one to be found. It's unveiled that mining released the spirits of Martians that are possessing any humans they find in a bid to get rid of what they perceive to be invaders.
Yes, the main plot of this movie revolves around ghost Martians. It is also directed and written by horror legend John Carpenter who injects his trademark humor and over-the-top action into the film. Carpenter stated that his intention was to make a movie that harked back to the 80s but ultimately, despite its cult following, the reception of the film drove him away from full-length features until 2010.
Jason X
No list of space horror movies is complete without the inclusion of the infamous Jason X. In the tenth installment of the Friday the 13th franchise, released in 2001, it is 2008 and Jason Voorhees has finally been apprehended. All of the efforts to execute Voorhees fail and for plot reasons, he is cryogenically frozen and is brought back 445 years in the future on a spaceship that is heading back to Earth for a field trip. In this movie, Jason freezes a character's head with liquid nitrogen and smashes it, gets half his body blasted off, and is then promptly rebuilt by nanites to be a murderous cyborg and gets tricked by a holographic representation of Camp Crystal Lake.
Is Jason X the best installment in the Friday the 13th series? No, not by a long shot, but it is a fun way to transplant the machete-wielding maniac into a new environment and try some new things out with the character and lore behind him.
Event Horizon
Starring Sam Neill, Laurence Fishburne, Joely Richardson, and Kathleen Quinlan, Event Horizon is one of the most enduring and terrifying space movies that doesn't involve aliens. When a distress signal from the craft Event Horizon that appears to say "Save me" in Latin is picked up after it has been missing for 7 years, the crew of the Lewis and Clark are dispatched to find out more. Once they board the vessel, however, all Hell breaks loose, literally. The experimental engine of the Event Horizon has opened a gateway to a Hell dimension outside of our own and the would-be rescuers are soon tormented by horrific visions.
Decades after its 1997 release, Event Horizon still unsettles. The image of Sam Neill's character Weir smiling with his eyes gouged out is still a visceral experience and the crews' descent into madness continues to be frightening as they are pulled deeper into their own Hell with no escape in sight.