Will We See Sci-Fi Horror Return To The Big Screen?
When you are a fan of many genres, you find your attention divided as you pivot from one project to the next. Lately, I have been dividing my time between Star Wars, MCU projects, and a little dabble in Star Trek with Picard. But one of my first and true loves is horror. But how do I merge my enjoyment for Star Wars and super hero movies with the world of horror? Well, I can go back and watch some of my standby classics like Alien, Event Horizon, or maybe, if I want some laughs, Doom. But as I sit and watch these comfort classics, I started to wonder, where has the sci-fi/horror genre gone?
Throughout the 80s, 90s, and the early oughts’ it seemed like the genre had a bit of a boom depending on how deep into the shelves of the Blockbuster (ask your parents if you don’t get that reference) you were willing to go. But in the last 10-15 years I really can’t tell where the genre appears to have gone. Now don’t get me wrong, the world of horror is certainly in a great golden age, and the world of science fiction is also in a great era, but I haven’t seen the two connect in a way that is meaningful lately. So, have we lost the genre of sci-fi/horror?
RELATED:
Now when I talk about the genre of sci-fi/horror, I don’t mean the kind that takes place on earth like Predator or The Faculty where we have elements of horror or science fiction sort of mashed together. What I am talking about is a horror movie that takes place in space. I already mentioned movies like Alien or Event Horizon, which are both outside the 25-year mark and truly the staples in the genre, but some recent movies include Pandorum, Apollo 18, and Life make the genre truly original and can be very scary if executed correctly. What makes a good sci-fi/horror movie? Like any good horror film, you have mood and atmosphere. The feeling of isolation and the lack of ability to escape from your surroundings to safety are amplified by going out to space. As we are told, “in space no one can hear you scream.”
Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of sci-fi/horror but it’s not set in space. Predator is one of my all-time favorite movies and some would consider it sci-fi/horror, but because it takes place on earth instead, I want the genre to go to space. Aliens is a good sci-fi movie but I would not consider it horror because, while there is gore and scares, it’s more about a team of marines fighting their way out of a problem. To stay consistent, I would not consider Starship Troopers or even Doom a sci-fi/horror movie for the same reason. So, what can we do to get back to the horror movies set in space?
Well, here are some great ideas to help revitalize the forgotten genre; First, we try and get some original content, like we have seen in the past with works like Saturn 3, where we see a robot wearing a severed head! Or maybe something like 1965’s Planet of the Vampires, about how an alien spore infects people and infuences them to go out and kill like vampires, if this sounds familiar to you, it was an inspiration for the writers of Alien.
Maybe we can visit some of our classic films and bring them to space? Certainly, some of our favorite horror franchises have made the leap to space, like Jason Vorhees in the fan favorite Jason X, or even the unforgettable Leprechaun 4: In Space which brought the titular character face-to-face with a group of marines in the year 2096. I know I already railed against this type of horror, but the point is we can take these stories to those places. Ridley Scott is trying his best by fleshing out his Alien franchise with his prequels and sequels, but he never truly seemed to return to what the movies were about in the original.
Perhaps the best way to take our stories out into space is by going to some of the established franchises in the world of sci-fi and giving us some horror stories or anthologies. Disney+ did try to give us something this past year with their Halloween special, LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales which put a horror spin on some Star Wars stories, like the founding of the Knights of Ren, the story of how Darth Maul got his legs, and what would happen if Luke Skywalker was granted wishes by an evil, possessed Wookie paw. But I think we can try for something more adult. There is certainly potential out there for a Star Wars based horror show or movie as the dark side of the Force is filled with nefarious characters and scary origin stories, or even challenges some Jedi have had to face out in the field to keep the universe safe. But surprisingly, it is the world of Star Trek which seems to have tried to get into the horror game with a story written in the early 80s called Star Trek: Death’s Angel by Kathleen Sky. In this story, which takes place during the original series, the Enterprise is escorting a set of delegates to Romulan peace negotiations, but someone or something is killing each delegate off one by one. The killer is identified as looking like Death. Unfortunately, we never really saw this interesting idea come to the screen, but it doesn’t mean we can’t soon.
Hopefully as with many genres in cinema, and truly in horror, we see an ebb and flow like the tides, and while right now we are not in that mindset, it is only a matter of time and I for one, will be excited to see it come again.
READ NEXT:
Written by Scott Ogino