20 Horror Movies Nobody Expected To Be Good

Although Alien and Aliens are considered to be among the best sci-fi horror and action movies, respectively, the rest of the franchise has had a turbulent history. The third and fourth films couldn't recapture the magic of what came before, Ridley Scott's recent prequel pictures were divisive, and the less said about the Alien Vs Predator movies, the better.

Despite the bar being set low, director and co-writer Fede Álvarez (Don't Breathe and 2013's Evil Dead) delighted fans and critics with 2024's Alien: Romulus.

Set between the first two Alien films, Romulus sees Cailee Spaeny star as Rain, an orphan desperate to escape from a never-ending work contract. Along with her android guardian (David Jonsson) and a group of friends, Rain seizes her chance to flee to a distant star system when an abandoned space station is spotted in orbit. Unfortunately, the station is swarming with Xenomorphs.

Carried by scene-stealing turns from Spaeny and Jonsson, Álvarez ramps up the tension as the flick moves from taut survival horror to nail-biting thriller. By combining the best parts of Alien and Aliens, the filmmaker creates a gnarly genre romp that's guaranteed to impress.

Alongside Alien: Earth, the Alien franchise is experiencing a long-needed return to form.