Beyond 'Stranger Things': Exploring the Diverse Range of Sci-Fi Horror on Netflix

For a time, “Stranger Things” was the biggest and most popular series on Netflix. The story revolves around some teenagers in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, as the place seems to be constantly plagued by monsters from an alternate dimension. All the mysteries and inexplicable events in town seem to be connected to a secretive facility at Hawkins National Laboratory. Throughout four seasons (thus far), Stranger Things has delivered a delicate blend of mystery, science fiction, drama, and horror genres in such seamless fashion through its nostalgic 1980s visual tones.

And now that the fifth and final season of the series has already been scheduled for release in 2025, it won’t take long until you can once again join the misadventures in Hawkins and solve the big mysteries once and for all. In the meantime, it might be a good idea to take a refreshing break from the series and explore the diverse range of sci-fi horror on Netflix further. What about some movies? Because Netflix for sure has the quantity even for the hardest binge-watchers around. To satisfy your cravings for a balanced dose of sci-fi horror, here is a small collection of films – each with a different subject – under the subgenre on the streaming service.

Life (2017)

Let’s start with an undeniable staple of sci-fi horror: aliens from Mars, as seen in Life (2017). While the film doesn’t generate universally raving reviews from critics, it’s not necessarily a poor film by any stretch, and that’s why you should put it on your to-watch list (in case you haven’t). As a starter, Life has one heck of a cast that includes big names like Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds, Rebecca Ferguson, and Hiroyuki Sanada. This trapped-in-space flick also features a life form discovered on Mars and sent to the ISS for further analysis. The organism, known as Calvin, isn’t fond of being made a test subject, becomes hostile, and decides to escape from the lab. In short, Life is like just another version of Alien (1979) but probably a little less scary.

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

For Godzilla, the first thing that springs to mind is a giant monster that steps on skyscrapers as if they’re Lego bricks. Anything that involves the colossal amphibious dinosaurian creature is closer to fantasy than sci-fi horror, and Godzilla Minus One is no exception. So, why should you watch it then? Well, it’s similar in some ways, but there are also meaningful differences from all the rest. Minus One doesn’t depict Godzilla as having some redeeming qualities at all. He’s not protecting anything or preventing worse things from happening on Earth. Here, he’s just a terrifying, devastating, gargantuan force of nature. Second and most importantly, the film gives much of the screen time to focus on the human side of the story; Kōichi Shikishima, a former kamikaze pilot suffering from PTSD. As usual, the United States is also involved in the plot line pertaining to nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll.

The Swarm (2020)

Virginie has to resort to raising locusts for protein to make ends meet following the death of her husband. But the grasshoppers just won’t reproduce quickly enough to help her put food on the table. Soon, Virginie learns her grasshoppers can only reproduce at a rapid rate when she feeds them with human blood. She makes more money by selling grasshoppers in large volume now, but at the cost of making them much more dangerous to everybody. The Swarm is just as absurd as it is eerie, and perhaps taking too much time to get to the point. That said, it’s still a decent sci-fi horror with reasonably well-executed practical effects. You might even be tempted to compare it to Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.

Army of the Dead (2021)

What’s a sci-fi horror list without zombies? And the entry for that goes to Army of the Dead (2021) directed by Zack Snyder. Admittedly, zombies can be plain supernatural, especially if there’s no backstory to at least suggest a somewhat scientific origin story. For instance, if the undead are reanimated corpses by the power of a witch, well, then they’re purely supernatural. Army of the Dead, while not clearly explaining how the zombies came into existence in the first place, mentions that zombification happens because of a pathogen of extraterrestrial origin. The first zombie, or patient zero, is also said to have emerged from a facility in Area 51. It is as if Snyder has a pile of sci-fi horror tropes and put them into a mixer to get an idea for this film. The zombies here are fast, smart, and organized.

I Am Mother (2019)

Old sci-fi horror films are mostly about aliens, monsters, viruses, zombies, and perhaps vampires. The newer breed of sci-fi horror is AI, where robots become sentient and realize that humans are not as great as they think they are. Robots are the future, and they shall rid the Earth of humans for good, or should they? And that’s exactly the sentiment you get from I Am Mother. It’s already a post-apocalyptic world outside, and Mother (the AI) is raising a human daughter in an enclosed environment to keep her safe from danger. What the daughter – or anyone watching the film – doesn’t know is that AI is possibly responsible for all the destruction outside the bunker.

We think the range of sci-fi horror on Netflix – as far as the themes are concerned – is getting thinner. It’s not just on Netflix, really; there has been nothing new to the sci-fi horror tropes apart from the already established ones, including scientific experiments gone wrong, space exploration, viral infections/biological weapons, and mutants created by nuclear radiations. But old themes are still used and popular because they’re good.

Can you name some zombie horror movies that are inherently supernatural rather than science fiction? Do you think a film adaptation of Stranger Things would be a good idea? We’d love to hear from you.

Other Things You Might Want to Know

When can you expect Stranger Things Season 5?

The fifth and final season of Stranger Things is scheduled for release in 2025.

Is The Birds (1963) based on a novel?

No. The screenplay for The Birds is based on a novella of the same name by Daphne du Maurier. The novella was first published as part of a short story collection, “The Apple Tree.”