12 Best Sci-Fi Movies You Can Watch Online For FREE
4. Harbinger Down
For pure, goopy B-movie fun, look no further than 2015's Harbinger Down. Funded through Kickstarter and produced independently by effects maestros Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. of Amalgamated Dynamics, Harbinger Down was created as a showcase for the kinds of elaborate, practical creature work the duo are widely-acclaimed for. Specifically, it uses designs and elements originally created for the 2011 prequel to The Thing, which was infamously replaced at the last moment by less-than-stellar CGI.
It's an absolute treat for practical effects fans; featuring a mix of animatronics, prosthetic makeup, stop motion, and miniatures. Even more impressively, the only CGI used in the entire film was rig removal.
Each of the effects were designed and realized by Gillis and Woodruff themselves, and on a low budget of less than a million dollars. Any fan of practical creature effects owes it to themselves to see this film, a love-letter to both the medium and the people who help make it possible.