8 movies like Dead Space to watch as a break from vivisecting Necromorphs

dead SpaceThe sci-fi horror video game franchise starring the ever-suffering engineer Isaac Clarke has risen from the dead with a new remake of the 2008 original for modern consoles, courtesy of Montreal-based developer EA Motive – and it’s really good! Is this your first time venturing into the necromorph-laden bowels of the USG Ishimura, an enthusiast dead Space Fans are curious to see if the motive has changed in this new version, or you just want to know who is this dude in the sci-fi diving suit doing the shoot dance Fortnite yes, 2023 remake dead Space Strong on almost all fronts.

success of this new dead Space The game made us think of the master of horrors (and “grandpa horror”) John Carpenter’s long-standing desire to produce a live-action adaptation of the series. Then we started wondering where such a movie would fit among the best videogame film adaptations ever made, and Then This got us thinking which are the best sci-fi horror movies for fans to watch dead Space both new and old – apart from the obvious ones, you know event horizon and the Alien series, ’cause you may have already seen them!

An hour of trawling IMDb around, and you’ve got this list: the most dead SpaceKind of movies to watch if you are looking for something else to chase exciting horror and fun through new remakes.

dark Star

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Image: Jack H. Harris Enterprises / VCI Entertainment

What is this: was there before foreignwas there dark StarA kooky space comedy conceived as ultimately-foreign—as an offbeat alternative to writer Dan O’Bannon and then-unknown director John Carpenter 2001: A Space Odyssey, There are few comedies that fit this list, but this is one of them.

Why it’s like Dead Space: fans of dead Space Or will there be immediate parallels to Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror film dark StarA fictional future where blue-collar space shuttle workers frolic in interstellar space. But Carpenter’s film, first cobbled together as a student film then finalized as a feature for about $60,000, is a big goof, with slacker space cadets aboard Dark Star scout ships, a bowling Ball alien sidekicks, a talking bomb (a Hal 9000 replacement), and premature special effects are being used for comic mayhem. at a wavelength of dr strangelove or National Lampoon more than any straightforward sci-fi horror flick, dark StarThe far-off space crisis remains cultish and off-the-radar. But there’s a reason Quentin Tarantino recently hailed it as “a classic.” —Matt Patch

Where to watch: dark Star Available to stream for free with ads on Plex and on Pluto TV, Tubi, and Roku.

Pandora

Image: Overture Films/Anchor Bay Entertainment

What is this: Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster star in Christian Alvert’s 2009 sci-fi horror drama as Lieutenant Peyton and Corporal Bower, two interplanetary naval officers and crew members of the spaceship Elysium, who awaken from hypersleep after eight years and find themselves on the ship’s side. Let’s find the rest of the crew. have gone missing. If that weren’t enough, a group of cannibalistic monsters are now following them on the ship as they race to find answers.

Why it’s like Dead Space: In a recent interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, Glenn Scofield – the director of 2022 callisto protocol and original 2008 dead Space – cited Alvert’s film directly among his favorite sci-fi horror films and as a major influence on his approach to horror in games. “I love movies foreign, Thing And Pandora, And then [Event Horizon] And alien vs predator, There are not many of them, but I liked them all. —Toussaint Egan

Where to watch it: Pandora Available to stream on Starz and Ford Digital Rentals or to purchase on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play and Vudu.

Sunlight

Image: Fox Searchlight Pictures

What is this: director Danny Boyle (28 days later) and author Alex Garland (Destruction) released the sci-fi psychological thriller Sunlight in theaters a year ago dead Space, and there are some obvious similarities between the film and the game. The film follows an international crew of astronauts who embark on a mission to rekindle Earth’s sun with a massive nuclear warhead – only to encounter the missing, derelict ship that sank seven years earlier. A similar feat was attempted. That’s not the only terror the Icarus II crew faces from a fatal, mission-altering accident, and everything that could go wrong, does go wrong.

Why it’s like Dead Space: Sunlight Everything is: an abandoned ship; Quasi-religious fanatics are succumbing to space madness; horror flashes of sinister bodies; incredibly dramatic lighting; Zero-G Space Walk; a grand hydroponics laboratory; and a star-studded cast led by Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Michelle Yeoh, Rose Byrne, Benedict Wong and Mark Strong. ok that last bit has nothing to do with it dead SpaceBut what a lineup! Michael McWhorter

Where to watch it: Sunlight Available for digital rental or purchase on Amazon, Apple TV, and Vudu.

ghosts of mars

Image: Screen Gems/Sony Pictures Releasing

What is this: There’s a delightful B-movie flair to all of John Carpenter’s movies. but surely no one has more ghosts of mars, with a pseudo-Western cast (including Ice Cube, Pam Grier and Jason Statham) on Mars. When a freight train on a mission to pick up a prisoner (named Desolation Williams and played by Ice Cube) returns with only one survivor (Natasha Henstridge), she is questioned about the series of events that follow in a series of flashbacks. unfolds through the series.

Why it’s like Dead Space: The atmosphere of Mars is eerie (and the red tones of the planet’s surface are gorgeous), especially in the back half of the movie, which I’ll intentionally leave vague so as not to spoil anything. John Carpenter is famously a fan of dead Space franchise and has told anyone who will listen that he wants to make a film adaptation. ghosts of mars Makes it easy to see why he’s so attracted to it. -Pete Volk

Where to watch: ghosts of mars Available for digital rental or purchase on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play and Vudu.

solaris

Image: Kasauti Channel

What is this: Based on Stanislav Lem’s 1961 novel of the same title, Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 psychological sci-fi horror drama centers on Kris Calvin, a psychic who is discovered after the station’s crew ceases communication with Earth. sent to an orbiting space station. When he arrives, Kris is plagued by the same strange hallucinations and visions that are plaguing the rest of the station, forcing him to confront memories and revelations about himself and his loved one that he has long avoided. Was buried in time.

Why it’s like Dead Space: In terms of its cerebral horror, and the fact that a literal planet messes with people’s brains later in the original Dead Space trilogy, Tarkovsky’s 1972 sci-fi opus feels like a natural companion dead Spacebrand of existential terror. It’s not particularly gory or gory, but if you’re looking for a movie that – like the psychologically corrosive signal emanating from a marker buried in the surface level of the Aegis VII – hook your brain into it. Dive in and don’t let go solaris is the correct option. —te

Where to watch it: solaris It is available to stream on The Criterion Channel and HBO Max and through Prime Video with commercials on FreeVee and for digital rental or purchase on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play and Vudu.

Fly

Image: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

What is this: David Cronenberg’s remake of Kurt Newman’s 1958 sci-fi horror film starred Jeff Goldblum as Seth Brundle, an eccentric scientist who believes he has created the first functional teleporter that can transmit inorganic and organic matter into a vast universe. Able to be carried safely over a distance. However, after an accident that occurs inside his prototype, Brundle’s DNA is fused with that of the housefly – causing his body to undergo a bizarre and horrific metamorphosis that threatens his life and those of his loved ones. Jeez, and Gregor Samsa thought something bad had happened to him!

Why it’s like Dead Space: While not set in or near space, Brundle’s transformation into a terrifying, sex-crazed human-fly mutant hybrid is probably the closest cinematic parallel to the Necromorph’s terrifying transformation. dead SpaceApart from what is seen in both event horizon either foreign Chain. You can’t write “Body Horror” without David Cronenberg. Well, technically you absolutely can, but any conversation on the subject of body horror without mentioning Cronenberg is off the jump! —te

Where to watch it: Fly Available to stream on HBO Max and for digital rental or purchase on Amazon, Apple TV and Vudu.

under the water

Photo: Alan Markfield/20th Century Fox

What is this: Kristen Stewart-led sci-fi thriller about a group of deep-sea drillers who uncover some terrifying things on the ocean floor.

Why it’s like Dead Space: This does not happen in space, but what is an ocean, if not “space, but water”? ok maybe that doesn’t scan at all but under the waterEldritch Horror leans into some of the very same ideas, images, and scares that many space horror franchises (including dead Space) love too. — PV

Where to watch: under the water Available to stream on Hulu, or for digital rental or purchase on Amazon, Google Play and Vudu.

Dead Space: Downfall

Image: Film Roman/Anchor Bay Entertainment

What is this: an animated prequel to 2008 dead SpaceThe film follows the crew of the USG Ishimura as they attempt to survive a psychotic epidemic and the subsequent onslaught of so-called “Necromorphs” after recovering mysterious alien artifacts known as “Markers” on the planet Aegis VII. The film was produced by Film Roman, a subsidiary of Starz Media, known for its previous work on animated sitcoms such as king of the hill and movies like 1992 Tom Jerryand directed by Chuck Patton, best known for his work in the 1997 animated series Todd McFarlane Spawn,

Why it’s like Dead Space: it is literally canonical prequel to the events of dead Space! If that wasn’t enough, as if it wasn’t already clear, Dead Space: Downfall Everything is bloody as hell. This was intentional on the part of Patton, who wanted to differentiate the film from the studio’s previous work as the goriest feature film ever produced. On top of that, the production team was provided with 3D assets for the game’s environments and characters as reference for the film’s animation, specifically the transformations of the Necromorphs themselves. —te

Where to watch it: Dead Space: Downfall Available for digital rental and purchase on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, and Vudu, to stream for free on Plex, and with commercials on Freevee via Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, Tubi, and Roku.