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Celebrate Alien Day 2017 with the Best Spacemen Outside of “Alien”

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Happy Alien Day 2017 everyone! Let’s take this day to appreciate all that space-travel has to offer us.

No I don’t mean the moon landing or the inevitable one-way to Mars. I mean the visitors to our own little blue dot. Let’s take a look at some of the best and so-bad-they’re-good aliens that outer space has to offer.You won’t find Xenomorphs on this list because it is absolutely a given that they reign all of the alien lists.

I mean they’ve recently just claimed another victim. You can see the video here.

We’re going to take a look at the best aliens outside of the movie Alien.

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(Image credit: blu-ray.com)

So, get your tinfoil hats ready and let’s get started.

Mars Attacks! (1996)

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(Image credit: inverse.com)

This is undeniably a classic, not just for Tim Burton standards, but for the entire scifi genre. These aliens are funny, ruthless and seem like they come in peace, but these big-brained ugly-cute aliens are far from passive. For many of us who saw this when it came out, we will always hold these guys close to our hearts. Plus seeing Sarah Jessica Parker’s head on a Chihuahua was superb.

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(Image credit: giphy.com)

The Thing (1982/2011)

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(Image credit: gablescinema.com)

The idea that a creature could look like anyone is a scary enough concept. Add in isolation and frigid temperatures hindering an escape and this makes for a nightmare situation. These Antarctic spacemen made the Alien Day list because they are the perfect chameleons.

Predator (1987)

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(Image credit: deadmuffinz tumblr.com)

How could we make a list and NOT include the beast that sent Arnold running for “da CHOPPAH!” This is the only true alien to give a Xenomorph a run for its money. Predator is definitely the bad ass of the group. There’s also a new Predator coming out and check out some of the first pictures here.

Spaced Invaders (1990)

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Just look at that tiny one on the end. He’s varsity and showing it off on his letterman jacket. I just can’t get over the cuteness of it all. These little green men emergency land on Earth and all sorts of trouble ensues and they are just TOO CUTE!

District 9 (2009)

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“Now, wait a minute,” you’re thinking to yourself. Those weren’t aliens. They were the humans. The Prawns were the aliens. In a technical sense, yes the Prawns were the aliens but let’s look at the movie in a different way. This idea comes from fellow iHorror writer Landon Evanson. Most alien movies portray the aliens as hostile creatures hellbent on attacking, torturing and destroying the human race. In this sense, the monsters that run MNU (like Koobus Venter) were the true villains with the purpose of making the lives of The Prawns miserable and end up on the list.

Paul (2011)

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(Image credit: wallpoper.com)

This is an alien I’d want to hang out with. Fluent in sarcasm and not afraid to get his boogie on, Paul is a gray that I’d take a road trip with, too. For his humor, his rudeness, and his ability to heal and give intellectual awakenings, he belongs on this list.

Dark Skies (2013)

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(Image credit: netflixknowhow.blogspot.com)

While you don’t spend the movie looking at these aliens, it makes the movie all the scarier. These guys made the list for their classic nature. The movie reminded me of an X-Files case and these aliens behaved as aliens should. They  dusted off the probe for this one.

Signs (2002)

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(Image credit: moviespictures.org)

Ok, Shyamalan gets a LOT of flack. I’ve heard it said after The Sixth Sense that his movies all went downhill. Against popular opinion, I disagree. The aliens from Signs were pretty terrifying. The small glimpses, the hidden behavior like a crashed UFO in XCOM: UFO Defense, and the climactic ending got these guys on the list. Regardless of your feelings on Shyamalan movies, these deep spaces baddies were pretty scary.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)

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(Image credit: basementrejects.com)

Clowns, yes. Aliens, also yes. Cotton candy guns? HELL YES. It’s hard to make a list and not include these cheesy sons o’ bitches on it. They also don’t look like your standard alien, which I enjoy. No Alien Day list is complete without Killer Klowns.

War of the Worlds (2005)

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(Image credit: spacejockeyreviews.com)

With massive alien machines, this premise is pretty cool. Buried underground and hibernating, these giants awoke and made humans their fertilizer. I love these aliens because of the sprinkler scene. The idea that these robotic machines gather humans, squeeze them like lemons and shoot theirbloody Miracle Gro all over the place was just too good to exclude.

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(Image credit: engadget.com)

Check out the original Halloween 1938 radio broadcast of the War of The Worlds story here. Even though it’s just audio, it’s very unsettling and was enough to convince the listening public that Martians had, in fact, landed on Earth.

If your favorite alien didn’t make the list, let us know who we missed in the comments and, once again, Happy Alien Day!

(Featured image courtesy of wallpaperup.com)

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Melissa Barrera Says ‘Scary Movie VI’ Would Be “Fun To Do”

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Melissa Barrera might literally get the last laugh on Spyglass thanks to a possible Scary Movie sequel. Paramount and Miramax are seeing the right opportunity to bring the satirical franchise back into the fold and announced last week one might be in production as early as this fall.

The last chapter of the Scary Movie franchise was almost a decade ago and since the series lampoons thematic horror movies and pop culture trends, it would seem they have a lot of content to draw ideas from, including the recent reboot of slasher series Scream.

Barerra, who starred as final girl Samantha in those movies was abruptly fired from the latest chapter, Scream VII, for expressing what Spyglass interpreted as “antisemitism,” after the actress came out in support of Palestine on social media.

Even though the drama wasn’t a laughing matter, Barrera might get her chance to parody Sam in Scary Movie VI. That is if the opportunity arises. In an interview with Inverse, the 33-year-old actress was asked about Scary Movie VI, and her reply was intriguing.

“I always loved those movies,” the actress told Inverse. “When I saw it announced, I was like, ‘Oh, that would be fun. That would be so fun to do.’”

That “fun to do” part could be construed as a passive pitch to Paramount, but that’s open to interpretation.

Just like in her franchise, Scary Movie also has a legacy cast including Anna Faris and Regina Hall. There is no word yet on if either of those actors will appear in the reboot. With or without them, Barrera is still a fan of the comedies. “They have the iconic cast that did it, so we’ll see what goes on with that. I’m just excited to see a new one,” she told the publication.

Barrera is currently celebrating the box office success of her latest horror movie Abigail.

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Thrills and Chills: Ranking ‘Radio Silence’ Films from Bloody Brilliant to Just Bloody

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Radio Silence Films

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, and Chad Villella are all filmmakers under the collective label called Radio Silence. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett are the primary directors under that moniker while Villella produces.

They have gained popularity over the past 13 years and their films have become known as having a certain Radio Silence “signature.” They are bloody, usually contain monsters, and have breakneck action sequences. Their recent film Abigail exemplifies that signature and is perhaps their best film yet. They are currently working on a reboot of John Carpenter’s Escape From New York.

We thought we would go through the list of projects they have directed and rank them from high to low. None of the movies and shorts on this list are bad, they all have their merits. These rankings from top to bottom are just ones we felt showcased their talents the best.

We didn’t include movies they produced but didn’t direct.

#1. Abigail

An update to the second film on this list, Abagail is the natural progression of Radio Silence’s love of lockdown horror. It follows in pretty much the same footsteps of Ready or Not, but manages to go one better — make it about vampires.

Abigail

#2. Ready or Not

This film put Radio Silence on the map. While not as successful at the box office as some of their other films, Ready or Not proved that the team could step outside their limited anthology space and create a fun, thrilling, and bloody adventure-length film.

Ready or Not

#3. Scream (2022)

While Scream will always be a polarizing franchise, this prequel, sequel, reboot — however you want to label it showed just how much Radio Silence knew the source material. It wasn’t lazy or cash-grabby, just a good time with legendary characters we love and new ones who grew on us.

Scream (2022)

#4 Southbound (The Way Out)

Radio Silence tosses their found footage modus operandi for this anthology film. Responsible for the bookend stories, they create a terrifying world in their segment titled The Way Out, which involves strange floating beings and some sort of time loop. It’s kind of the first time we see their work without a shaky cam. If we were to rank this entire film, it would remain at this position on the list.

Southbound

#5. V/H/S (10/31/98)

The film that started it all for Radio Silence. Or should we say the segment that started it all. Even though this isn’t feature-length what they managed to do with the time they had was very good. Their chapter was titled 10/31/98, a found-footage short involving a group of friends who crash what they think is a staged exorcism only to learn not to assume things on Halloween night.

V/H/S

#6. Scream VI

Cranking up the action, moving to the big city and letting Ghostface use a shotgun, Scream VI turned the franchise on its head. Like their first one, this film played with canon and managed to win over a lot of fans in its direction, but alienated others for coloring too far outside the lines of Wes Craven’s beloved series. If any sequel was showing how the trope was going stale it was Scream VI, but it managed to squeeze some fresh blood out of this nearly three-decade mainstay.

Scream VI

#7. Devil’s Due

Fairly underrated, this, Radio Silence’s first feature-length film, is a sampler of things they took from V/H/S. It was filmed in an omnipresent found footage style, showcasing a form of possession, and features clueless men. Since this was their first bonafide major studio job it’s a wonderful touchstone to see how far they have come with their storytelling.

Devil’s Due

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Perhaps the Scariest, Most Disturbing Series of The Year

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You may have never heard of Richard Gadd, but that will probably change after this month. His mini-series Baby Reindeer just hit Netflix and it’s a terrifying deep dive into abuse, addiction, and mental illness. What is even scarier is that it’s based on Gadd’s real-life hardships.

The crux of the story is about a man named Donny Dunn played by Gadd who wants to be a stand-up comedian, but it’s not working out so well thanks to stage fright stemming from his insecurity.

One day at his day job he meets a woman named Martha, played to unhinged perfection by Jessica Gunning, who is instantly charmed by Donny’s kindness and good looks. It doesn’t take long before she nicknames him “Baby Reindeer” and begins to relentlessly stalk him. But that is just the apex of Donny’s problems, he has his own incredibly disturbing issues.

This mini-series should come with a lot of triggers, so just be warned it is not for the faint of heart. The horrors here don’t come from blood and gore, but from physical and mental abuse that go beyond any physiological thriller you may have ever seen.

“It’s very emotionally true, obviously: I was severely stalked and severely abused,” Gadd said to People, explaining why he changed some aspects of the story. “But we wanted it to exist in the sphere of art, as well as protect the people it’s based on.”

The series has gained momentum thanks to positive word-of-mouth, and Gadd is getting used to the notoriety.

“It’s clearly struck a chord,” he told The Guardian. “I really did believe in it, but it’s taken off so quickly that I do feel a bit windswept.”

You can stream Baby Reindeer on Netflix right now.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

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