Alien Invasions and Biological Horrors: The Themes of 90s Sci-Fi Horror Films

Much of science fiction and horror genres deal with the unknowns, or exploit our fears of the unknowns. It gives us the chills, the adrenaline-rushing, and the excitement of a journey into our most imaginative part of the brain. Science-fiction is speculative, but it doesn’t always have to be scary. Being scary is the hallmark of the horror genre; when a movie is described as a “horror story,” you expect it to evoke fears. Sometimes the terror comes from monsters, ghosts, serial killers, murderous robots, and so forth. This goes without saying that the blend of sci-fi and horror must combine key elements from the two genres; and since it’s already established that both are dealing with the unknowns, it becomes a matter of mixing the right ingredients together to craft a story that touches on our curious speculative side mind while walking our imagination through on-screen terrors. Sci-fi horror has been a staple in the film industry since early in the 20th century. Hollywood has explored, exhaustively, just about every single imaginable theme within the sci-fi horror genre. But if Hollywood teaches us anything, a new release isn’t necessarily better than the old one. Sure, the latest movies have all the benefits of visual effects and banging stereo to amplify the theatrical experience, but they’re never a promise of quality delivery. In case you need to go back and revisit some oldie but goodie specimens, you probably never have to travel back any further than these sci-fi horror movies from the 1990s, guaranteed to give you the thrills with their captivating takes on tried-and-true subject matter from grotesque body horrors to wildly speculative alien invasions, or any combination of those.

Event Horizon (1997)

One of the first things you notice about “Event Horizon” is the scale of its visuals. Apart from the properly detailed space vessels moving against the backdrop of stars, you also get the reassuring rumbles of the engine and the barely audible chattering noises from every corner; it’s an all-around convincing depiction of what it should be like aboard a spaceship, although admittedly most of us will never get the privilege to be on one. At some points throughout the opening scene, you can’t help but notice how everything is almost exactly like the 1968 film “2001: Space Odyssey.” And since we’re in space, you can guess where the horror might come from: extraterrestrial entities. It’s worth mentioning that Event Horizon doesn’t simply give you aliens as the villains, but it also has psychological terrors and supernatural forces mashed into glorious sci-fi horror spectacles.

Body Melt (1993)

Apart from aliens invading humans’ deep mental faculty and wreaking havoc from within, as seen in Event Horizon, the 1990s will always be associated with some of Hollywood’s most terrifying work of body horrors, including the memorable “Body Melt.” With a practical blend of gooey special effects, along with some biting satire here and there, it’s just one of those movies you must see to believe. To keep it concise, imagine having a mad scientist who uses human bodies as guinea pigs for a new type of drug. The side effects of the experiment are, to put it mildly, body horror of the most unsettling kind. Admittedly, the film never reached the level of fame it deserved. Some say Quentin Tarantino is a fan of this cult Australian film.

The Faculty (1998)

Sprinkled with some of the most promising talents in Hollywood, including Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, and Jordana Brewster, it just doesn’t seem right to exclude “The Faculty” from the list. If “Event Horizon” is alien invasion and “Body Melt” is biological horror, “The Faculty” has a bit of both. It’s not clear where the alien comes from, but the important thing is that it can infect human bodies and turn them into murderous hybrids, like you’ve seen in the first Men in Black. And the only way to subdue those monsters is to inject them with powdered caffeine.

Mimic (1997)

Guillermo del Toro directed it, and that says a lot about any movie. “Mimic” paints a picture in which New York City is infected by a disease carried by cockroaches. And because it does seem impossible for humans to get rid of cockroaches anywhere, the scientists decide to create an entirely new species designed specifically to kill the disease-carrying insects and then die off naturally. This new species, called Judas, apparently survives and evolves into monsters with an insatiable appetite for human flesh. “Mimic” does an excellent job of representing the general theme of sci-fi horror films from the 1990s with its blood splatter, bug goo, alien-like entities, and scientific experiments gone wrong.

We think the 1990s were a properly great decade for sci-fi horror films. It was a time when many scientific discoveries and technological advances were so exciting that the film industry took the liberty to turn them into something truly scary and potentially life-threatening. As an alternative to classic slasher films and supernatural horrors, the speculative nature of science fiction turned out to be a reliable vehicle to drive some fears right through the audience. A lot of sci-fi horror films from the 1990s went under-appreciated and sometimes overlooked entirely, but thanks to the rise of streaming services, you can now enjoy some of the most unsettling sci-fi horrors from any decade you want.

Between alien invasion and body horror, which one do you find the most terrifying? How do you think the sci-fi horror films of the 90s compare to their more modern counterparts? We’d love to hear from you.

Other Things You Might Want to Know

What was the first sci-fi horror film?

While horror and science fiction (as stand-alone genres) have been around since the dawn of cinemas, the true blend of the two genres did not really exist until the release of Universal’s 1931 classic, Frankenstein, directed by James Whale. It’s based on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus,” largely regarded as the first true sci-fi horror literature work ever. While the 1931 movie wasn’t exactly the first screen adaptation of the novel, it’s still considered the most prominent among many other attempts.

What are the most iconic sci-fi horror movies?

James Whale’s Frankenstein aside, you have a few iconic timeless sci-fi horror movies, including:

Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979)

John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982)
David Cronenberg’s The Fly (1986)
Don Siegel’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

There are, of course, many other popular sci-fi horror movies over the years, but you can’t really talk about the history of the subgenre without mentioning them.

What exactly is biological horror?

A major element of biological horror, sometimes referred to simply as body horror, is the depiction of graphic violation of the human body. The primary driving forces of the horror always include grotesque or disturbing imagery of biological oddities such as mutations, zombifications, mutilations, transformations, hybrids, etc.

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