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
ONCE IN A NEW MOON(1935-Anthony Kimmins)
-Derrick De Marney, Rene Ray
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
THE FACE OF MARBLE(1946-William Beaudine)
-John Carradine,Robert Shayne,Maris Wrixon
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
UNKNOWN WORLD(1951-Terrell O. Morse)
-Victor Kilian,Marilyn Nash,Jim Bannon,Bruce Kellogg
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
FROZEN ALIVE(1964-Bernard Knowles)
-Mark Stevens,Delphi Lawrence,Marianne Koch
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
GREENLAND(2020-Ric Roman Waugh)
-Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin
THE VAST OF NIGHT(2020-Andrew Patterson)
-Sierra McCormick,Jake Horowitz,Gale Cronauer
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
MORBIUS(2022-Daniel Espinosa)
-Jared Leto,Matt Smith,Adria Arjona
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
FRANKENSTEIN(2025-Guillermo del Toro)
-Oscar Isaac,Jacob Elordi,Mia Goth
Films Per Decade
1920’s
2
1930’s 12
1940’s 16
1950’s 45
1960’s 13
1970’s 5
1980’s 11
1990’s 10
2000’s 17
2010’s 24
2020’s (so far) 14
Total: 169 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
THE JUNGLE (1952-William Berke)
-Rod Cameron,,Cesar Romero,Marie Windsor
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
THE LIFE OF CHUCK(2025-Mika Flanagan)
-Tom Hiddleston,Benjamin Pajak,Chiwitel Ejiofor
