MY SCI FI

A chronological list of my favorite sci fi feature films through the decades.

Not necessarily the greatest ones – though I consider many of them to be just that.

I’ve included some that combine sci fi and supernatural elements (like “House of Frankenstein” from 1944), which has the Frankenstein monster co-existing with Dracula and the Wolf Man.

Also represented are a number of sci-fi comedies. Hail Abbott & Costello!

The vampire and zombie titles I’ve cited all present those states as the results of scientific experiment rather than supernatural or occult forces.

Many of the acknowledged classics aren’t here. But that’s because they just didn’t please or entertain me the way they obviously did for so many others.

At the end is an addendum listing movies I’ve categorized as Sci Fi Adjacent. All titles I like very much. But – compared to the ones on the main list - their sci fi content tends toward the peripheral or the merely implied. 

The 1920’s

AELITA(1924-Yakov Protazanov)

-Nikolai Tseretelli,Valentina Kuindzhi,Yulya Solntseva

DIE FRAU IM MOND/THE WOMAN IN THE MOON(1929-Fritz Lang)

-Willy Fritsch, Gerda Maurus

The 1930’s

DELUGE(1933-Felix E. Feist)

-Peggy Shannon,Sidney Blackmer,Lois Wilson

KING KONG(1933-Merian C. Cooper,Ernest B. Schoedsack)

-Robert Armstrong,Fay Wray

BLACK CAT, THE(1934-Edgar G. Ulmer)

-Boris Karloff,Bela Lugosi,David Manners

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN(1935-James Whale)

-Boris Karloff,Colin Clive,Valerie Hobson

DEVIL-DOLL, THE(1936-Todd Browning)

-Lionel Barrymore,Maureen O’Sullivan

INVISIBLE RAY, THE(1936-Lambert Hillyer)

-Boris Karloff,Bela Lugosi,Frances Drake

MAN WHO CHANGED HIS MIND, THE(1936-Robert Stevenson)

-Boris Karloff,Anna Lee,John Loder

THINGS TO COME(1936-William Cameron Menzies)

-Raymond Massey,Ralph Richardson

WALKING DEAD, THE(1936-Michael Curtiz)

-Boris Karloff,Marguerite Churchill,Warren Hull

MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG, THE(1939-Nick Grinde)

-Boris Karloff,Lorna Gray,Robert Wilcox

SON OF FRANKENSTEIN(1939-Rowland V. Lee)

-Basil Rathbone,Boris Karloff,Bela Lugosi

 

The 1940’s

APE, THE(1940-William Nigh)

-Boris Karloff,Maris Wrixon

BEFORE I HANG(1940-Nick Grinde)

-Boris Karloff,Evelyn Keyes,Bruce Bennett

DEVIL BAT, THE(1940-Jean Yarborough)

-Bela Lugosi,Dave O’Brien

INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS, THE(1940-Joe May)

-Vincent Price,Nan Grey,John Sutton

MAN WITH NINE LIVES, THE(1940-Nick Grinde)

-Boris Karloff,Roger Pryor,Jo Ann Sayers

ONE MILLION B.C.(1940-Hal Roach,Hal Roach Jr)

-Victor Mature,Carole Landis, Lon Chaney Jr

THE DEVIL COMMANDS(1941-Edward Dmytryk)

-Boris Karloff,Anne Revere,Richard Fiske

DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE(1941-Victor Fleming)

-Spencer Tracy,Ingrid Bergman,Lana Turner

MAN-MADE MONSTER(1941-George Waggner)

-Lon Chaney Jr,Lionel Atwill,Anne Nagel

GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE(1942-Erle C. Kenton)

-Sir Cedric Hardwicke,Lionel Atwill,Lon Chaney Jr

MAN WITH TWO LIVES, THE(1942-Phil Rosen)

-Edward Norris,Marla Dwyer

MAD GHOUL, THE(1943-James P. Hogan)

-David Bruce,Evelyn Ankers,George Zucco,Turhan Bey

HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN(1944-Erle C. Kenton)

-Boris Karloff,Lon Chaney Jr.,John Carradine

ZOMBIES ON BROADWAY(1945-Gordon Douglas)

-Wally Brown,Alan Carney,Bela Lugosi

ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN(1948-Charles Barton)

-Bud Abbott,Lou Costello,Bela Lugosi,Lon Chaney Jr

 

The 1950’s

ROCKETSHIP X-M(1950-Kurt Neumann)

-Lloyd Bridges,Osa Massen,John Emery,Hugh O’Brian

ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN(1951-Charles Lamont)

-Bud Abbott,Lou Costello,Adele Jergens,Arthur Franz

FIVE(1951-Arch Oboler)

-William Phipps,Susan Douglas Rubes,James Anderson

FLIGHT TO MARS(1951-Lesley Selander)

-Arthur Franz,Cameron Mitchell,Marguerite Chapman

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE(1951-Rudolph Mate)

-Richard Derr,Barbara Rush,John Hoyt

RED PLANET MARS(1952-Harry Horner)

-Peter Graves,Andrea King.Marvin Miller,Orley Lindgren

ABBOTT & COSTELLO GO TO MARS(1953-Charles Lamont)

-Bud Abbott,Lou Costello,Mari Blanchard

ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE(1953-Charles Lamont)

-Bud Abbott,Lou Costello,Boris Karloff

BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, THE (1953-Eugene Lourie)

-Paul Christian,Paula Raymond

WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE(1953-Byron Haskin)

-Gene Barry,Ann Robinson

KILLERS FROM SPACE(1954-W. Lee Wilder)

-Peter Graves,Barbara Bestar

RIDERS TO THE STARS(1954-Richard Carlson)

-William Lundigan,Richard Carlson,Herbert Marshall

CONQUEST OF SPACE(1955-Byron Haskin)

-Walter Brooke,Eric Fleming

IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA(1955-Robert Gordon)

 -Kenneth Tobey,Faith Domergue

QUATERMASS XPERIMENT, THE(1955-Val Guest)

-Brian Donlevy,Jack Warner,Margia Dean

THIS ISLAND EARTH(1955-Joseph Newman)

-Jeff Morrow,Faith Domergue,Rex Reason

REVENGE OF THE CREATURE(1955-Jack Arnold)

-John Agar,Lori Nelson,John Bromfield

BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN, THE(1956-Edward Nassour,Ismael Rodriguez)

-Guy Madison,Patricia Medina

CREATURE WALKS AMONG US, THE(1956-John Sherwood)

-Jeff Morrow,Rex Reason,Leigh Snowden

DAY THE WORLD ENDED(1956-Roger Corman)

-Paul Birch,Lori Nelson,Adele Jergens

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS(1956-Don Siegel)

-Kevin McCarthy,Dana Wynter

MOLE PEOPLE, THE(1956-Virgil W. Vogel)

-John Agar,Hugh Beaumont,Cynthia Patrick

SATTELITE IN THE SKY(1956-Paul Dickson)

-Kieron Moore,Lois Maxwell,Donald Wolfit

X THE UNOWN(1956-Leslie Norman)

-Dean Jagger,Leo McKern,Edward Chapman

20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH(1957-Nathan Juran)

-William Hopper,Joan Taylor

27th DAY, THE(1957-William Asher)

-Gene Barry,Valerie French

ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN, THE(1957-Val Guest)

-Peter Cushing,Forrest Tucker

BLACK SCORPION, THE(1957-Edward Ludwig)

-Richard Denning,Mara Corday,Carlos Rivas

THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN(1957-Terence Fisher)

-Peter Cushing,Hazel Court,Christopher Lee

INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, THE(1957-Jack Arnold)

-Grant Williams,Randy Stuart

KRONOS(1957-Kurt Neumann)

-Jeff Morrow,Barbara Lawrence,John Emery

LAND UNKNOWN, THE(1957-Virgil W. Vogel)

-Jock Mahoney,Shawn Smith,Henry Brandon

MONOLITH MONSTERS, THE(1957-John Sherwood)

-Grant Williams,Lola Albright

MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD, THE(1957-Arnold Laven)

-Tim Holt,Audrey Dalton

NOT OF THIS EARTH(1957-Roger Corman)

-Beverly Garland,Paul Birch

QUATERMASS 2(1957-Val Guest)

-Brian Donlevy,Bryan Forbes

VAMPIRE, THE(1957-Paul Landres)

-John Beal,Coleen Gray,Kenneth Tobey

ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN(1958-Nathan Juran)

-Allison Hayes,William Hudson,Yvette Vickers

BLOB, THE(1958-Irvin Yeaworth)

-Steve McQueen,Anita Corsaut,Olin Howland

COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK, THE(1958-Eugene Lourie)

-John Baragrey,Otto Kruger,Mala Powers

I MARRIED A  MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE(1958-Gene Fowler Jr.)

-Tom Tyron,Gloria Talbott

THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN(1958-Terence Fisher)

-Peter Cushing,Eunice Gayson,Michael Gwynn

BEHEMOTH THE SEA MONSTER/THE GIANT BEHEMOTH(1959-Eugene Lorie)

-Gene Evans,Andre Morell

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH(1959-Henry Levin)

-James Mason,Pat Boone,Arlene Dahl

 

The 1960’s

LES YEUX SANS VISAGE/EYES WITHOUT A FACE(1960-Gerges Franju) 

-Pierre Brasseur,Alida Valli,Edith Scob

VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED(1960-Wolf Rilla)

-George Sanders,Barbara Shelley,Martin Stephens

DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE, THE(1961-Val Guest)

-Edward Judd,Janet Munro,Leo McKern

PLANETA BUR(1962-Pavel Klushantsav) 

-Vladimir Yemelyanov,Georgiy Zhzhonov

DAMNED, THE(1963-Joseph Losey)

-Macdonald Carey,Viveca Lindfors,Shirley Anne Field,Oliver Reed

UNEARTHLY STRANGER(1963-John Krish)

-John Neville,Gabriella Licudi

CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED(1964-Anton M. Leader)

-Ian Hendry,Barbara Ferris,Alan Badel

EARTH DIES SCREAMING, THE(1964-Terence Fisher)

-Willard Parker,Virginia Field,Dennis Price

ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS(1964-Byron Haskin)

-Paul Mantee,Vic Lundin

QUATERMASS AND THE PIT(1967-Roy Ward Baker)

-James Donald,Barbara Shelley

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY(1968-Stanley Kubrick)

-Keir Dullea,Gary Lockwood

FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED(1969-Terence Fisher)

-Peter Cushing,Simon Ward

 

The 1970’s

WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH(1970-Val Guest)

-Victoria Vetri,Robin Hawdon

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN(1974-Mel Brooks)

-Gene Wilder,Teri Garr,Madeline Kahn,Peter Boyle

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND(1977-Steven Spielberg)

-Richard Dreyfuss,Melinda Dillon

MEDUSA TOUCH, THE(1978-Jack Gold)

-Richard Burton,Lee Remick,Lino Ventura

STALKER(1979-Andrei Tarkovsky)

-Anatoli Solonitsyn,Alexander Kaidanovsky

 

The 1980’s

BLADE RUNNER(1982-Ridley Scott)

-Harrison Ford,Rutger Hauer,Sean Young,Darryl Hannah

HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH(1982-Tommy Lee Wallace)

-Dan O’Herlihy,Tem Atkins

LE DERNIER COMBAT(1983-Luc Besson)

-Pierre Jolivet,Jean Reno

STRANGE INVADERS(1983-Michael Laughlin)

-Paul Le Mat,Nancy Allen,Diana Scarwid

BRAZIL(1985-Terry Gilliam)

-Jonathan Pryce,Kim Griest,Bob Hoskins,Robert De Niro

BRIDE, THE(1985-Franc Roddam)

-Sting,Jennifer Beals,Clancy Brown,David Rappaport

ENEMY MINE(1985-Wolfgang Petersen)

-Dennis Quaid,Louis Gossett Jr.

ALIENS(1986-James Cameron)

-Sigourney Weaver,Michael Biehn,Lance Henriksen

HIDDEN, THE(1987-Jack Sholder)

-Kyle MacLachlan,Michael Nouri,Claudia Christian

KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER PACE(1988-Stephen Chiodo)

-Grant Cramer,John Allen Nelson

THE ABYSS(1989-James Cameron)

-Ed Harris,Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

 

The 1990’s

UNIVERSAL SOLDIER(1992-Roland Emmerich)

-Jean-Claude Van Damme,Dolph Lundgren

MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN(1994-Kenneth Branagh)

-Kenneth Branagh,Robert De Niro,Helena Bonham Carter

STARGATE(1994-Roland Emmerich)

-James Spader,Kurt Russell,Viveca Lindfors

TIMECOP(1994-Peter Hyams)

-Jean-Claude Van Damme,Mia Sara,Gloria Reuben

BATMAN FOREVER(1995-Joel Schumacher)

-Val Kilmer,Jim Carrey,Nicole Kidman,Tommy Lee Jones

ARRIVAL, THE(1996-David Twohy)

-Charlie Sheen,Teri Polo,Lindsey Crouse

THE FIFTH ELEMENT(1997-Luc Besson)

-Bruce Willis,Gary Oldman,Milla Jovovich

STARSHIP TROOPERS(1997-Paul Verhoeven)

-Casper van Dien,Dina Meyer,Denise Richards

DEEP RISING(1998-Stephen Sommers)

-Treat Williams,Famke Janssen

THIRTEENTH FLOOR, THE(1999-Josef Rusnak)

-Craig Bierko,Gretchen Mol,Vincent D’Onofrio

 

The 2000’s

CELL, THE(2000-Tarsem Singh)

-Jennifer Lopez,Vince Vaughn,Vincent D’Onofrio

A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE(2001-Steven Spielberg)

-Haley Joel Osment,Jude Law,Brendan Gleeson

REPLICANT, THE(2001-Ringo Lam)

-Jean-Claude Van Damme,Michael Rooker,Catherine Dent

MINORITY REPORT(2002-Steven Spielberg)

-Tom Cruise,Max Von Sydow,Samantha Morton

CORE, THE(2003-Jon Amiel)

-Hilary Swank,Aaron Eckhardt,Stanley Tucci.Bruce Greenwood

AVP: ALIEN VS. PREDATOR(2004-Paul W.S. Anderson)

-Sanaa Lathan,Lance Henrickson,Raoul Bova

I, ROBOT(2004-Alex Proyas)

-Will Smith,Bridget Moynahan,Bruce Greenwood

SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW(2004-Kerry Conran)

-Jude Law,Gwyneth Paltrow,Angelina Jolie

WAR OF THE WORLDS(2005-Steven Spielberg)

-Tom Cruise,Dakota Fanning,Tim Robbins

ULTRA VIOLET(2006-Kurt Wimmer)

-Milla Jovovich,Cameron Bright

HOST, THE(2007-Joon-ho Bong)

-Kang-ho Song,Byun-hee Bong

MIST, THE(2007-Frank Darabont)

-Thomas Jane,Marcia Gay Harden,Nathan Gamble

CLOVERFIELD(2008-Matt Reeves)

-Michael Stahl-David,Lizzy Caplan,Jessica Lucas

2012(2009-Roland Emmerich)

-John Cusack,Amanda Peet,David Oyelowo,Oliver Platt

DISTRICT 9((2009-Neill Blomkamp)

-Sharlto Copley,Jason Cope

OUTLANDER(2009-Howard McCain)

-Jim Caviezel,Sophia Myles,Jack Huston,John Hurt

SPLICE(2009-Vincenzo Natali)

-Adrien Brody,Sarah Polley,Delphine Chaneac

 

The 2010’s

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES(2011-Rupert Wyatt)

-James Franco,Andy Serkis,Frieda Pinto

COWBOYS & ALIENS(2011-Jon Favreau)

-Daniel Craig,Harrison Ford,Olivia Wilde

CHRONICLE(2012-Josh Trank)

-Dane DeHaan,Michael B. Jordan,Alex Russell

IRON SKY(2012-Timo Vumorensola)

-Julia Dietze,Gotz Otto,Udo Kier

PERFECT SENSE(2012-David Mackenzie)

-Ewan McGregor,Eva Green,Denis Lawson,Connie Nielsen

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES(2014-Matt Reeves)

-Andy Serkis,Jason Clarke,Gary Oldman

EDGE OF TOMORROW(2014-Doug Liman)

-Tom Cruise,Emily Blunt,Bill Paxton

LUCY(2014-Luc Besson)

-Scarlett Johansson,Morgan Freeman

ADVANTAGEOUS(2015-Jennifer Phang)

-Jacqueline Kim,Samantha Kim,Jennifer Ehle

JUPITER ASCENDING(2015-The Wachowskis)

-Mila Kunis,Channing Tatum,Eddie Redmayne

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD(2015-George Miller)

-Tom Hardy,Charlize Theron,Nicholas Hoult

10 CLOVERFIELD LANE(2016-Dan Trachtenberg)

-Mary Elizabeth Winstead,John Goodman

ALIEN: COVENANT(2017-Ridley Scott)

-Michael Fassbender,Katherine Waterston,Billy Crudup

MARJORIE PRIME(2017-Michael Almereyda)

-Tim Robbins,Geena Davis,Jon Hamm,Lois Smith

KONG: SKULL ISLAND(2017-Jordan Vogt-Roberts)

-Brie Larsen,Tom Hiddleston,Samuel L. Jackson

SPIDER MAN: HOMECOMING(2017-Jon Watts)

-Tom Holland,Michael Keaton,Marisa Tomei

COLOSSAL(2017-Nacho Vigalondo)

-Anne Hathaway,Jason Sudeikis,Dan Stevens

TIME TRAP(2017-Mark Dennis,Ben Foster) 

-Reiley McClendon,Cassidy Gifford

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES(2017-Matt Reeves)

-Andy Serkis,Woody Harrelson.Steve Zahn

AQUAMAN(2018-James Wan)

-Jason Momoa,Amber Heard,Nicole Kidman,Dolph Lundgren

BLACK PANTHER(2018-Ryan Coogler)

-Chadwick Boseman,Michael B. Jordan,Dana Gurira

EXTINCTION(2018-Ben Young)

 -Michael Pena, Lizzie Caplan, Erica Tremblay, Lex Shrapnel

UPGRADE(2018-Leigh Whannell)

-Logan Marshall-Green,Harrison Gilbertson

US(2019-Jordan Peele)

-Lupita Nyong’o,Winston Duke,Elisabeth Moss

 

The 2020’s

EL HOYO/THE  PLATFORM(2020-Galder Gaztu-Urrutia)

-Ivan Massague,Zorion Eguileor

STOWAWAY(2021-Joe Penna)

-Anna Kendrick,Toni Collette,Daniel Dae Kim.Shamier Anderson

ZACH SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE: JUSTICE IS GRAY(2021-Zach Snyder)

-Ben Affleck,Gal Gadot.Henry Cavill

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE(2022- Daniel Kwan,Daniel Schinert)

-Michelle Yeoh,Ke Huy Quan,Jamie Lee Curtis,Stephanie Hsu

BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER(2022-Ryan Coogler)

-Letitia Wright,Tenoch Huerta Mejia,Lupita Nyong’o,Dana Gurira

MOONFALL(2022-Roland Emmerich)

-Halle Berry,Patrick Wilson,John Bradley,Charlie Plummer

PARADISE(2023-Boris Kunz)

-Kostja Ullmann,Corinna Kirchhoff 

DREAM SCENARIO(2023-Kristoffer Borgli)

-Nicolas Cage,Julianne Nicholson,Michael Cera

THE CREATOR(2023-Gareth Edwards)

John David Washington,Madeleine Yuna Voyles

GODZILLA MINUS ONE MINUS COLOR(2024-Takashi Yamazaki)

Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Himabe

 

                                           Films Per Decade

1920’s                   2

1930’s                   11

1940’s                 15

1950’s                   44

1960’s                   12

1970’s                     5

1980’s                   11

1990’s                   10

2000’s                   17

2010’s                   24

2020’s (so far)      10

 

Total:                161 titles

 

 

Addendum: Sci-fi adjacent titles that I like

NON-STOP NEW YORK(1937-Robert Stevenson)

-Anna Lee,John Loder

NIGHT MONSTER(1942-Ford Beebe)

-Lionel Atwill,Bela Lugosi,Irene Hervey

ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES, THE(1971-Robert Fuest)

-Vincent Price,Joseph Cotten

DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN(1972-Robert Fuest)

-Vincent Price,Robert Quarry

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS(1990-Tim Burton)

-Johnny Depp,Winona Ryder,Dianne Wiest

DUDE, WHERE’S MY CAR?(2000-Danny Leiner)

-Ashton Kutcher,Seann William Scott

RUDRAKSH(2004-Mani Shankar)

-Sanjay Dutt,Sunil Shetty,Bipasha Basu,Isha Koppikar

10,000 B.C.(2008-Roland Emmerich)

-Steven Strait,Camilla Belle

COMET(2014-Sam Esmail)

-Justin Long,Emmy Rossum

MELANCHOLIA(2015-Lars von Trier)

-Kirsten Dunst,Charlotte Gainsbourg,Kiefer Sutherland

GREAT WALL, THE(2016-Zhang Yimou)

-Matt Damon,Jing Tian,Pedro Pascal

UNDER PARIS(2024-Xavier Gens)

-Berenice Bejo, Nassim Lyes

MEGALOPOLIS(2024-Francis Ford Coppola)

-Adam Driver, Shia LaBoeuf