The Thing (1982) | John Carpenter

The story starts out in Antarctica, where a group of scientists is bunkered until one day they are disturbed by the sounds of gunshots coming from a Norwegian helicopter, apparently trying to kill a runaway dog.  They miss their quarry, and the Norwegians end up getting offed, with no explanation as to what their problem […]

The Hidden (1987) | Jack Sholder

Michael Nouri stars as LAPD detective Tom Beck, who takes down a bank robber gone berserk in one of the bloodiest shootouts in department history.  What Beck doesn’t know is that the culprit is actually being controlled by a parasite within his body that loves danger, money, speeding, and good ol’ rock-n-roll, and it can’t […]

They Live (1988) | John Carpenter

This sci-fi actioner stars “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (yes, the ex-pro wrestler) as Nada, a drifter desperately in need of a decent job. He lands a temp job at a construction site, but strange doings in the church across the street cause him to investigate, and after the place is raided he discovers what looks like […]

V: The Final Battle (1984) | Richard T. Heffron

In this three-part TV miniseries sequel, the Resistance is fending off the pressing Visitors, who continue to fool the people of Earth by controlling the media, while depleting the planet of precious water and rounding up humans for food. The resistance scientists hope, hoping to find a weakness in the overpowering Visitor defenses that will […]

V – The Original Miniseries (1983) | Kenneth Johnson

The people of Earth are visited and befriended by a human-like race from outer space inhabiting massive spacecraft, 50 of them measuring three miles in diameter, hovering over cities throughout the world. These newcomers speak Earth’s languages fluently, though they have distinct electronic-sounding voices and are so sensitive to light that they frequently wear sunglasses. […]

Alien Nation (1988) | Graham Baker

Set in the near future of 1991, it’s been three years since the landing of an actual flying saucer landed on Earth, containing a species of aliens (dubbed “Newcomers”) who had been genetically engineered as slave laborers.  The Newcomers are smarter and physically stronger than their human counterparts, which makes them more suitable to perform […]

Stranded (1987) | Tex Fuller

In the story, five escaped alien refugees come to Earth like a bolt of lightning and find themselves in a remote North Carolina Victorian-style farmhouse inhabited by a newly-orphaned teenage girl Deirdre Clark (Ione Skye) and her grandmother Grace (Maureen O’Sullivan). Suspicions are high, resulting in the aliens taking casualties in a gunfight with the […]

The Brother from Another Planet (1984) | John Sayles

A mute extraterrestrial resembling a black man (but with feet that have three toes) crash lands his spaceship near New York City. Not understanding where he is or what people are saying, he finds his way to Harlem’s 125th Street. Although derided as either crazy or homeless, others discover his worth when he can heal […]

Starman (1984) | John Carpenter

An alien race intercepts Voyager II, a space probe describing Earth, effectively inviting aliens to visit. These aliens take Earth up on the offer, sending a scout pod to see what we’re up to. American fighter jets greet it and the alien scout crashlands up in the American backwoods in Wisconsin. Using DNA found in […]

E.T. the Extraterrestrial (1982) | Steven Spielberg

E.T.: The Extraterrestrial starts in a forest outside a California suburb. An alien spacecraft lands, and several extraterrestrials emerge, gathering flora samples.  Suspicious humans arrive, the aliens escape, leaving one behind.  He hides in a backyard shed, discovered by a 10-year-old boy named Elliott (Henry Thomas). Startled and scared, Elliott hides the alien, whom he dubs […]

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) | Steven Spielberg

Richard Dreyfuss stars as Muncie, Indiana electricity lineman, Roy Neary, one of many people in the world to experience a close encounter with a UFO.  Others experiencing the phenomenon exhibit the same odd behavior — radiation burns and an obsession with a mountainous shape. Roy’s obsession strains his relationship with his family, who think he […]

The Abyss (1989) | James Cameron

Virgil ‘Bud’ Brigman (Ed Harris) is the lead foreman of Deepcore, an underwater oil drilling rig 2,000-feet deep. Deepcore receives word of a downed US Navy nuclear submarine in the area near the Cayman Trough. As Russian subs are close by, foul play is suspected. The crew must escort Bud’s soon-to-be ex-wife Lindsay (Mary Elizabeth […]

Real Men (1987) | Dennis Feldman

James Belushi stars as Nick Pirandello, a crude smart-ass that just so happens to be one of the country’s top CIA agents, who is ordered to recruit a mild-mannered suburban insurance salesman father, Bob Wilson (John Ritter), a lookalike for a recently iced agent, to join him on a secret mission that may have interplanetary […]

Predator (1987) | John McTiernan

Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Major “Dutch” Schaeffer, who, along with his crew of elite special ops commandos, is sent to the jungle of a hostile Latin American country on a covert hostage rescue mission.  However, he soon finds out there’s more to the mission than he had originally been told by his old friend, Major […]

Alien (1979) | Ridley Scott

The story begins in the year 2122, onboard the commercial towing vessel, the Nostromo. Its mostly blue-collar crew, five men and two women, are awakened prematurely while still in deep space from their cryogenic slumber en route back to Earth.  The reason for their early disturbance has to do with the company’s policy to investigate […]