10 Best Monster Horror Movies Of The 2020s (So Far)

Last year saw the triumphant return of the Alien franchise, as Fede Álvarez scrubbed over the decades of inconsistent entries in the series and took things back to basics, with the aesthetic and setup of the original movie, plus a young cast and a neat array of horrifying surprises. 

Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Spike Fearn, Isabela Merced, Archie Renaux, and Aileen Wu star in Alien: Romulus as six orphaned space colonists who are willing to do anything to escape their life of servitude to the Weyland-Yutani corporation and find a new start off-world. Unfortunately for them, they have to raid a ravaged and derelict space station that harbours more than just the supplies they need. Waiting for them are facehuggers and xenomorphs, hoping to infect them, spawn from them, and find a way to the surface of the planet below.

All the usual hallmarks of the Alien films are here, as the small team navigate their way around a large, dark ship, contending with malevolent androids, malfunctioning tech, and monsters of all sizes. Gone are the excesses of Ridley Scott's aborted 2010s trilogy, James Cameron's action or Jean-Pierre Jeunet's modish but seriously un-scary style, replaced with breath-taking scenes that remind us precisely why we ought to be afraid. And the performances from the rag-tag group guide our every emotion throughout, with Jonsson's dual effort in particular being nothing short of Oscar-worthy.