Aside from something harming our children…there isn’t much that scares a Vampire mom. I’m talking about that raising the hair on the back of your neck creep uncomfortable scare that gives you unreasonable chills. The kind of scare that gives you the Willies. The Heeby Jeebies. The Creeps. The kind of thing that scares the crap out of me.
As Vampires we’re on the top of the food chain so not much scares us. Not Ghosts or Zombies. Not Werewolves or Goblins. Not even Honey Boo Boo’s mother.
Sure I don’t think I could handle a grizzly bear or a grown male Bengal tiger, but I don’t run into those on my daily dog walks. They don’t invade my mind and my imagination in the sense of pure terror. They are natural creatures of the earth.
What scares me, DAMN YOU MR WELLS, is ALIENS. Yes, this Vampire is afraid of the idea of Aliens.
This has been going on since 1898 when H.G. Wells wrote War of the Worlds. Forget the recent crapola movie starring that short guy, this story is thoughtful and SCARY. Read the book or listen to the famous radio program. Anyway the story is simple. Aliens come down from Mars and try to take over Earth. It is horrifying. The very idea that a hostile alien comes from another planet it something too difficult to comprehend.
Funny thing that it came out the year after Dracula (1897) came on the scene. And it was only about 10 years after Jack the Ripper (not fiction) brought some almost fiction like terror and fascination into the public eye (not to mention my brother Val and I know who the killer really was).
Science Fiction is full of all sorts of creepy alien lore. The best thing to come out of that is the covers of old pulp magazines like Amazing Stories, Astounding Science Fiction or Science Fiction & Fantasy.
So I love the idea of aliens. I hope ET is out there with his phone. I want Star Trek to be true. I want NASA to come back and I want to see real space exploration. I want the first contact to be like out of a hopeful Spielberg movie. I want it to be magical and good.
But part of me also loves that old-fashioned creep-out factor. Especially in movies.
So without more rambling here is:
Vampire Maman’s favorite “Creep Me Out” Space Alien Movies.
The descriptions are short. Google the film titles for more information. Just take my word for it. I’m not a movie reviewer because I get too excited about stuff and write too fast. And the good thing about this list is that you can see most of them with your teens. Family fun for everyone!
Signs
2002
I used to like Mel Gibson until he turned into a complete asshole and now I can’t watch his movies anymore EXCEPT this one. I’ve seen this movie about 6 times and it still gives me the creeps. Basic story line: A man and his children and his brother are trapped in a farmhouse when aliens show up and scare the shit out of everyone. Oh my gosh. This one takes the cake.
District 9
2009
A brilliant movie about aliens from another world trapped in a refugee camp in South Africa. Not so much for the creep factor but for the “it could happen to any of us.” factor. I came away feeling sad after watching this beautifully done film.
The War of the Worlds
1953 science fiction film starring Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. It is a loose adaptation of the H. G. Wells classic novel of the same name, and the first of a number of film adaptations based on Wells’ novel. Produced by George Pal and directed by Byron Haskin from a script by Barré Lyndon, it was the first of two adaptations of Wells’ work to be filmed by Pal, and is considered to be one of the great science fiction films of the 1950s. It won an Oscar for its special effects and was later selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. Note: This is from Wikipedia because I have only have a few minutes to write this and so I cheated.
1956 Version: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Yes, pod people and everything. See it and be creeped out.
Note: I didn’t add “Aliens” because the alien bitch isn’t on earth. That is an awesome movie but it didn’t scare me. Grossed me out and made me jump but didn’t creep me out.
Other movies about Space or Aliens to take note of:
- Another Earth
- Liquid Sky
- The Man Who Fell To Earth
- 2001 A Space Odyssey
Movies that aren’t about Aliens but creep me out:
- Shallow Grave
- The Birds
- The Innocents
- The Woman in Black
Movies that SCARE ME MORE THAN ANYTHING. And if Space Aliens ever do have a hostile take-over all movies will be like this and our brains will DIE:
- Forest Gump
- Steel Magnolias
- The Bridges of Madison County
So when you look into the night sky…just remember…you are not alone.
Vampire Maman 
The ones that scare me to death are…, Bambi, The Littlest Mermaid, Lady and the Tramp, and Fantasia. Who wouldn’t be scared of being chased by a broom with a bucket of water??? (Fantasia). Great post, J.
Good Night,
Paul
You’re right about Fantasia. I love that scene with Micky and the brooms (we’ve all been there, done that at one time in our lives…maybe not with brooms but with something)
I’ve been on the fence about Alien films. I think the only Alien types that freak me out are ones that can go in the ear and eat your brain or something like that. I guess I have a fear of something taking my brain from me… is that weird? I’m not sure but it’s true. Thanks for giving me stuff to check out tonight 🙂
When I saw Alien in the theater the first week it was out, the friend I was with almost left after the first “tear through your guts” scene. I had to convince her to stay. Thanks for dropping by! And yes, do check out some of the films!
Alien doesn’t bother me that much. As long as its cuts and nothing to do with the head I’m pretty much cool.
I love that kind of magazine cover. And though it isn’t creepy, a classic of the genre is The Day the Earth Stood Still. Klaatu nikto baratu!
The Day the Earth Stood Still is pure class as far as Science Fiction films go. Thanks for mentioning it!
Great post, but so many things to comment on, lol. One: ET scares the crap out of me, I know that’s odd, but he was one scary alien, Two: I LOVE SIgns, It is by-far the best alien movie, and Three: Steel Magnolias…really? Maybe it’s because I’m a southern girl, but I adore that movie, lol. Now, I agree with you about the other two, I didn’t care for them at all, but Steel Magnolias is almost kinda sacred, I didn’t know it was possible for someone not to like it (unless you’re talking about the new one, and then I agree), it’s so funny! 😀
Oh no. I knew I’d get a comment about that one. I seem to be one of the two or three women out there who view that movie as nails on a chalk board. My roots are Southern. My parents and family were in Louisiana before they came out West. I still have family there. Steel Magnolias was filmed a just few houses down from where an extremely annoying relative of mine lived. She went on and on and on and on and on for years about the movie until I just couldn’t even stand the thought of it. And there are a few other points that get to me personally that I just…don’t like and I won’t go into least I offend almost everyone I know or say too much about things I don’t want to make public. Then again, I feel the same way about Little Women and An Affair to Remember.
Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you or put you on the spot or anything. Whether someone likes a movie or not is really none of anyone else’s buisness, it just surprised me that someone out there didn’t like what I thought of as such a funny movie. But to each their own and for all their own reasons 😀
No problem, I’m not upset or on the spot. I’m glad you commented. The world would indeed be a boring place if we all liked the same thing. 🙂
Glad you rated District 9 – I’ve got it recorded but still not watched. Maybe I need to leave the laptop and go and get freaked out by the aliens.
It is such a good movie on so many levels.
Uhm… I’ not an Alien fan either… but why does Steel Magnolias scare you?
You all know that I AM a romantic, and I’ll post more on that later, but some things just rub me the wrong way in ways I can’t even start to go into. We all have those things. What I said was “If evil aliens took over”, in my opinion, all movies would be like Steel Magnolias. I do not like that movie. I can’t get into it. The acting is brilliant. The story is moving. And it annoys the jeebers out of me. Just like I don’t like 99.9% of Vampire movies. Just my opinion and not always the opinion of my readers or friends. I also don’t like any version of Little Women and don’t really care for An Affair to Remember Either. But in my defense I do love Fried Green Tomatoes, Enchanted April, The Quiet Man, Brigadoon, and A Room With A View and anything with Ingrid Bergman in it. That’s just me. I think I hit a nerve with my readers. But in my defense I have 3 shelter animals and I laugh at LOL Cats.
OMG Juliette. I’m sorry… I didn’t want to criticise you. I was only curious!! But thank you very much for your explanation. It helps me to better understand. 🙂
It’s funny how rating movies or books or songs or whatever really brings out the you-don’t-like-what?!?!?! in people. Or the you-like-THAT!?!?
It’s like I’ve never confessed to my friends that I hate the movie Grease. They’d be appalled.
I don’t watch alien films unless they’re Star Trek or Doctor Who-esque. Many years ago some friends tried to trick me into seeing one of those Alien films. I refused to get out of the car.
Virus films scare the bejesus out of me and I won’t watch them. No killer viruses.
I’ve sworn off all WWII films. My emotional core can’t take them anymore.
As for vampire films…I’ve never recovered from watching Salem’s Lot against my will.
Ooo. Shivers.
Yes, I left my poor old vampire soul wide open with this one. My reasons for my dislikes are far too personal to explain in public.
But OMG Grease! That is just about the worst movie ever made – right after Roller Boogie!
Virus films. Wow. I didn’t even think of those. Pretty high on the creep out scale.
District 9 was a really interesting film on a lot of levels and thought the first half before it became more of a chase story was brilliant.
It wasn’t what I expected. Not any of it.