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The Science Fiction Horror and Fantasy Film Review

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Theme: Communications in Fantastic Cinema

This refers to a body of films that principally deals with the difficulty of communications between humanity and something other. In the majority of cases, the other refers to Alien species. Most SF films dealing with aliens feature shortcuts to avoid these issues like universal translators or have people arrive on planets where everyone miraculously speaks English.

These are however some works that do not shortcut the process and deal with the fact that there must be enormous linguistic let alone conceptual differences between species. Also covered here are works dealing with SETI and CETI and the attempts to broadcast a signal into space and the search for a reply.

Other works included under the umbrella of communications are those allowing means of communicating with the dead; attempts to talk to animal species; and cross-time communication.


A for Andromeda (2006)

21 March 2023

Rating: ★

Messages from Space

Director: John Strickland
Actors: Tom Hardy, Kelly Reilly, Charlie Cox, Jane Asher, …
Category: Science Fiction

Alien Hunter (2003)

18 February 201318 December 2024

Rating: ★★

Alien Unearthed in the Antarctic

Director: Ron Krauss
Actors: James Spader, Janine Eser, John Lynch, Roy Dotrice, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Arrival (1996)

20 September 200324 June 2020

Rating: ★★★½

Alien Infiltration and Takeover

Director: David Twohy
Actors: Charlie Sheen, Teri Polo, Ron Silver, Lindsey Crouse, …
Category: Science Fiction

Arrival (2016)

11 December 201622 November 2024

Rating: ★★★★★

First Contact with Aliens

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Actors: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, …
Category: Science Fiction

Battleship (2012)

17 May 20123 June 2022

Rating: ★

US Navy vs Alien Invaders/Boardgame Adaptation

Director: Peter Berg
Actors: Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson, Alexander SkarsgĂ„rd, Rihanna, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Caller (2011)

10 August 201622 November 2024

Rating: ★★★

Phone Calls Across Time

Director: Matthew Parkhill
Actors: Rachelle Lefevre, Stephen Moyer, Lorna Raver, Luis Guzman, …
Category: Fantasy

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

4 November 20003 March 2023

Rating: ★★★★★

UFOs/Alien Contact

Director: Steven Spielberg
Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, Francois Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, …
Category: Science Fiction

Contact (1997)

25 May 20094 December 2024

Rating: ★★★½

Communications from Space

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Actors: Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Skerritt, James Woods, …
Category: Science Fiction

Cosmos (2019)

28 August 20202 November 2021

Rating: ★★★½

Communications from Space

Director: Elliot Weaver, Zander Weaver
Actors: Tom England, Arjun Singh Panam, Joshua Ford, Ben Vardy
Category: Science Fiction

Don’t Let Go (2019)

21 June 20217 September 2022

Rating: ★★½

Cellphone Calls Across Time

Director: Jacob Aaron Estes
Actors: David Oyelowo, Storm Reid, Mykelti Williamson, Alfred Molina, …
Category: Fantasy

Doors (2021)

2 April 20211 March 2025

Rating: ★★★

Anthology/Mysterious Alien Portals Appear

Director: Jeff Desom, Saman Kesh, Dugan O’Neal
Actors: Josh Peck, Lina Esco, Kyp Malone, Kathy Khanh, …
Category: Science Fiction

End of the World (1977)

14 November 20136 October 2020

Rating: ½

Aliens in a Convent/Looming End of the World

Director: John Hayes
Actors: Christopher Lee, Sue Lyon, Lew Ayres, Dean Jagger, …
Category: Science Fiction

Explorers (1985)

18 January 200125 April 2025

Rating: ★★★½

Teenagers Build Spaceship

Director: Joe Dante
Actors: Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, Jason Presson, Dick Miller, …
Category: Science Fiction

Frequency (2000)

30 April 200029 December 2024

Rating: ★★★½

Cross-Time Radio Communication

Director: Gregory Hoblit
Actors: Dennis Quaid, Jim Caviezel, Andre Braugher, Shawn Doyle, …
Category: Science Fiction

Haunt (2014)

27 November 201513 February 2020

Rating: ★★

Haunted House

Director: Mac Carter
Actors: Harrison Gilbertson, Ione Skye, Liana Liberato, Jacki Weaver, …
Category: Horror

Koi … Mil Gaya (2003)

1 August 20241 August 2024

Rating: ★★

Bollywood Alien Visitor Film

Director: Rakesh Roshan
Actors: Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta, Rekha, Rajat Bedi, …
Category: Science Fiction

Il Mare (2000)

16 September 202129 December 2024

Rating: ★★★

Letters Across Time/Romance

Director: Lee Hyun-seung
Actors: Lee Jung-jae, Jeon Ji-hyun, Min Yun-Jae, Jo Seung-yeon
Category: Fantasy

Mirage (2018)

7 September 202112 April 2025

Rating: ★★★½

Alternate Timeline

Director: Oriol Paulo
Actors: Adriana Ugarte, Chino Darin, Javier Gutierrez, Alvaro Morte, …
Category: Fantasy

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone (2022)

8 July 202311 October 2024

Rating: ★★★

Text Messages from Beyond the Grave/Stephen King Adaptation

Director: John Lee Hancock
Actors: Jaeden Martell, Donald Sutherland, Joe Tippett, Colin O'Brien, …
Category: Horror

My Stepmother is an Alien (1988)

28 November 200414 September 2020

Rating: ★★★

Alien Visitor Comedy

Director: Richard Benjamin
Actors: Kim Basinger, Dan Aykroyd, Alyson Hannigan, Jon Lovitz, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Next Voice You Hear … (1950)

18 March 202118 March 2021

Rating: ★★

Messages from God on the Radio

Director: William A. Wellman
Actors: James Whitmore, Nancy Davis, Jeff Corey
Category: Fantasy

Patient Zero (2018)

1 February 201921 July 2019

Rating: ★

Rabid Zombies/Man Who Can Speak Their Language

Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky
Actors: Matt Smith, Natalie Dormer, Clive Standen, John Bradley, …
Category: Horror

Proximity (2020)

29 August 202129 August 2021

Rating: ★

UFOs and Alien Abduction

Director: Eric Demeusy
Actors: Ryan Masson, Highdee Kun, Christian Prentice, Don Scribner, …
Category: Science Fiction

Radio Free Albemuth (2014)

30 November 20148 August 2020

Rating: ★★★½

Philip K. Dick Adaptation/Possible Messages from Aliens

Director: John Alan Simon
Actors: Jonathan Scarfe, Shea Whigham, Alanis Morissette, Katheryn Winnick, …
Category: Science Fiction

Red Planet Mars (1952)

11 January 200230 September 2020

Rating: 0­

Radio Messages from God on Mars

Director: Harry Horner
Actors: Peter Graves, Marvin Miller, Morris Ankrum
Category: Science Fiction

Risen (2021)

5 January 20235 January 2023

Rating: ★★

Mysterious Alien Meteorite Strike

Director: Eddie Arya
Actors: Nicole Schalmo, Alan Flower, Ken Welsh, Jack Campbell, …
Category: Science Fiction

Species (1995)

28 May 200325 October 2021

Rating: ★★

Alien Sex Fiend

Director: Roger Donaldson
Actors: Ben Kingsley, Natasha Henstridge, Michael Madsen, Marg Helgenberger, …
Category: Science Fiction

Sphere (1998)

16 December 199924 May 2020

Rating: ★★★★

Crashed UFO Underwater/Michael Crichton Adaptation

Director: Barry Levinson
Actors: Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Coyote, …
Category: Science Fiction

Starman (1984)

5 May 200019 January 2023

Rating: ★★★

Alien Visitor

Director: John Carpenter
Actors: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith, Richard Jaeckel
Category: Science Fiction

The Terrornauts (1967)

22 July 201319 February 2025

Rating: ★★

Communications from Space

Director: Montgomery Tully
Actors: Simon Oates, Zena Marshall, Charles Hawtrey, Patricia Hayes, …
Category: Science Fiction

This Island Earth (1955)

9 August 200019 October 2021

Rating: ★★★½

Abduction into an Alien War

Director: Joseph Newman
Actors: Rex Reason, Faith Domergue, Jeff Morrow, Lance Fuller, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Vast of Night (2019)

14 June 202014 June 2020

Rating: ★★★

UFOs and Alien Abductions in the 1950s

Director: Andrew Patterson
Actors: Sierra McCormick, Jake Horowitz, Gail Cronauer, Bruce Davis, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Visit: An Alien Encounter (2015)

2 October 201531 August 2020

Rating: ★★★½

First Encounter Between Human and Alien Speculative Documentary

Director: Michael Madsen
Category: Science Fiction

White Noise (2005)

22 May 20055 August 2020

Rating: ★★★

Communications from the Dead

Director: Geoffrey Sax
Actors: Michael Keaton, Deborah Kara Unger, Ian McNeice, Chandra West, …
Category: Horror

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Theme Essays

  • Films About Atlantis
  • Werewolf Films
  • Virtual Reality
  • Imprisonment Thrillers
  • Films Depicting NASA and the Space Program
  • Human Bloodsports and Death Games
  • Animals Attack Films
  • Films About Plague and Pandemic
  • Disaster Movies
  • Steampunk Films
  • Documentaries
  • Films About Halloween
  • Films About Prophecy
  • Magicians and Sorcerers
  • Secret Societies
  • Real-Life People in Fiction
  • Techno-Thrillers
  • Twins in Fantastic Cinema
  • Asylums
  • Possession Films
  • Films About Imaginary and Magical Lands
  • Religion in Fantastic Cinema
  • Romantic Comedies
  • Film Noir
  • Spy Films
  • Jekyll and Hyde Films
  • Films That Make Dubious Claims to Being True Stories
  • Coming of Age Stories in Fantastic Cinema
  • Films About Cryogenics and Suspended Animation
  • Alternate History Films
  • Disturbed Psychology as Portrayed on Film
  • Law Enforcement in Fantastic Cinema
  • Weird Westerns
∧

Copyright Richard Scheib 1999-2025

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