Jordan Peele's Nope has finally hit theaters and promises to offer a new look at the classic alien invasion story. By capturing the traditional mystique of the medium and also giving a fresh twist that will surely terrify, Nope could be a transformative film for the genre. But the moment audiences leave the theaters, they may still want to be scared about what lies beyond our atmosphere. To help scratch that itch, here are a few select choices of invasion films that are still scary and in style.
Signs Grounded the Invasion Story Without Sacrificing the Suspense
M. Night Shyamalan's Signs was a unique entry following the runaway hit of The Sixth Sense. But just as the director put a new twist on ghost stories, he did the same with alien invasions, crop circles and abductions. The film followed a rural family disconnected after the loss of the main character's wife. Their need to connect served as the backbone of a story where audiences learned as much as the cast about what was happening in the world and how they coped with an apocalyptic alien invasion. There are more than enough bone-chilling moments in Signs, but the story's heart makes the scares so impactful.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Took Paranoia To New Heights
1978's Invasion of the Body Snatchers was a remake of the original film, which was released in 1956. But rather than settle for telling the same story, it expanded on the paranoia and grotesqueness of the invading alien species. The film followed a group of people trying to make sense of a world slowly being taken over by a race of pod people that feed on a host and take their likeness. Due to the nature of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, paranoia was at its core and fueled every suspenseful moment until its very last scene. Since then, no other similar movies have managed to capture what this version has.
2005's War of the Worlds Showed Just How Powerful Aliens Could Be
It's no secret that H.G. Wells' classic story, War of the Worlds, has been told countless times through various mediums. But among them, one of the biggest standouts has been the 2005 Steven Spielberg film of the same name. This was mainly because the technology of the time could adequately capture the level of devastation an invasion force like the one in this film could unleash. While the film's main focus was always one man's fight to keep his family safe, the real terror came with how the aliens treated humans as nothing more than fodder and, as such, eliminated them. As a result, some scenes are truly harrowing to see from start to finish.
A Quiet Place Used Its Suspense To Keep Audiences Engaged
John Krasinski's A Quiet Place was an alien invasion film unlike anything that had come before because the movie focused more on how a family had survived in a world already lost to aliens. But to make things more difficult, humanity had to cut themselves off from any sound, so they could avoid being hunted by these massive creatures. This naturally led to suspenseful scenes that helped carry audiences through some of its slower parts. Needless to say, the tension rarely ceased and built up to an explosive and emotional end.
The Fourth Kind Showed How Haunting Abduction Can Be
Rather than focus on an invasion, The Fourth Kind instead covers what could be the steps taken before one, mainly human abduction. The mockumentary told the story of a psychologist who was sent to Nome, Alaska, to study what was believed to be abductions. Ultimately, these assumptions are quickly confirmed, but the chaos only ramped up from there, as those involved became more enthralled with these alien aggressors until they eventually came for them. The story itself wasn't something audiences connected with, but the "found footage" elements were unsettling enough to be remembered even now as some of the scariest things to come from the genre. On that alone, audiences may be inclined to check it out, as The Fourth Kind brings the raw psychological horror of alien abduction to life in an unnerving way.
To experience the extraterrestrial horror for yourself, Nope is now in theaters.