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The Science Fiction Horror and Fantasy Film Review

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Theme: Communism and the Cold War


This concerns depictions of Communism on screen. Communism is a development of Marxism that believes the state should mandate that all persons are economically equal and earning the same eliminating class divisions. This was a popular ideology that took over Russia in 1917 and spread to China, Cuba and many parts of Eastern Europe.

In almost all examples here, Communism refers to Soviet Communism, although there are some depictions of Chinese Communism. During the era of the Cold War, the Soviet Union was regarded as a great ideological threat to the freedom of the USA and other Western countries. This filtered through to genre cinema in many ways.

1950s genre cinema is filled with many examples of the fear of Communist infiltration, even scenarios where God and aliens step in to help overthrow the Soviet Union. Spy Films are rife with stories of East-West espionage.

Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, there were a number of films concerned with the outbreak of nuclear war. Such fears extended well into the 1980s with right-wing fantasies about the Soviet overthrow of the USA.

Films of the Space Race Era tended to show cooperation between the two countries as being a necessity on the High Frontier of space although some of these also saw Cold War tensions as extending well into the future.

The Post-Soviet era features a number of spy films set in its aftermath or backdated to before the era. Of more recent there have been a number of Alternate History films set in and around the Cold War.

During this period, the Soviets also produced a number of genre films, mostly concerning the Space Race. These are listed under Soviet Cinema.


2010 (1984)

5 May 200113 May 2025

Rating: ★★★★

2001: A Space Odyssey Sequel

Director: Peter Hyams
Actors: Roy Scheider, John Lithgow, Helen Mirren, Bob Balaban, …
Category: Science Fiction

The 27th Day (1957)

19 January 201612 May 2025

Rating: ★★★

Aliens Give Selected People Doomsday Capsules

Director: William Asher
Actors: Gene Barry, Valerie French, George Voskovec, Stefan Schnabel, …
Category: Science Fiction

Anastasia (1997)

31 March 199918 January 2023

Rating: ★★★

Animation/Amnesiac Russian Royal

Director: Don Bluth, Gary Goldman
Actors: Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd, Kelsey Grammer, …
Category: Fantasy

Animal Farm (1954)

14 December 20006 August 2020

Rating: ★★

Animation/Talking Animal Social Satire

Director: Joy Batchelor, John Halas
Actors: Maurice Denham, Gordon Heath
Category: Fantasy

Ape vs. Monster (2021)

8 September 202213 April 2025

Rating: ★★

The Asylum Mockbuster/Giant Animals

Director: Daniel T. Lusko
Actors: Eric Roberts, Arianna Scott, Katie Sereika, Shayne Hartigan, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Atomic Kid (1954)

6 March 200121 September 2019

Rating: ★½

Radioactive Man Comedy

Director: Leslie H. Martinson
Actors: Mickey Rooney, Robert Strauss, Elaine Davis, Hal March, …
Category: Science Fiction

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part II (2013)

6 May 201327 November 2021

Rating: ★★★½

Comic-Book Superhero/Animation

Director: Jay Oliva
Actors: Peter Weller, Ariel Winter, Mark Valley, Michael Emerson, …
Category: Fantasy

Battle Beneath the Earth (1967)

26 April 19991 November 2019

Rating: ★★

Underground Communist Invasion

Director: Montgomery Tully
Actors: Kerwin Mathews, Martin Benson, Peter Arne, Edward Bishop, …
Category: Science Fiction

Battle Beyond the Sun (1963)

21 October 200723 November 2024

Rating: ★★½

Space Expedition/Russian SF Film

Director: Francis Ford Coppola, M. Karzhukov, Aleksandr Kozyr
Category: Science Fiction

The Big Bang (1987)

13 March 201422 October 2020

Rating: ★★

Gonzo Animation

Director: Picha
Category: Science Fiction

Billion Dollar Brain (1967)

22 November 200814 November 2022

Rating: ★★

Spy Film

Director: Ken Russell
Actors: Michael Caine, Karl Malden, Ed Begley, Francoise Dorleac, …
Category: Science Fiction

Black Widow (2021)

17 July 20217 July 2025

Rating: ★★★

Marvel Comics Adaptation

Director: Cate Shortland
Actors: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz, …
Category: Science Fiction

By Dawn’s Early Light (1990)

14 August 202414 August 2024

Rating: ★★★

Nuclear War

Director: Jack Sholder
Actors: Martin Landau, Powers Boothe, Rebecca De Mornay, Darren McGavin, …
Category: Science Fiction

Capsule (2016)

30 May 201821 March 2020

Rating: ★★½

Astronaut Trapped in Orbit

Director: Andrew Martin
Actors: Edmund Kingsley
Category: Science Fiction

The Chairman (1969)

8 June 200111 April 2020

Rating: ★★

Spy Thriller/Journey to Communist China

Director: J. Lee Thompson
Actors: Gregory Peck, Anne Heywood, Keye Luke, Arthur Hill, …
Category: Science Fiction

Child 44 (2015)

31 August 20157 March 2025

Rating: ★★½

Serial Killer Thriller Set in the 1950s Soviet Union

Director: Daniel Espinosa
Actors: Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, …
Category: Horror

Colossus: The Forbin Project (1969)

15 May 20012 June 2020

Rating: ★★★★

Super-Computer Takes Over the World

Director: Joseph Sargent
Actors: Eric Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent, William Schallert
Category: Science Fiction

Condorman (1981)

9 September 20013 May 2024

Rating: ★

Comic-Book Artist in a Spy Caper

Director: Charles Jarrott
Actors: Michael Crawford, Barbara Carrera, Oliver Reed, James Hampton, …
Category: Science Fiction

Countdown (1967)

15 December 20016 August 2021

Rating: ★★½

Expedition to the Moon

Director: Robert Altman
Actors: James Caan, Robert Duvall, Joanna Moore, Steve Ihnat, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Dance of Reality (2013)

21 July 201428 June 2021

Rating: ★★★½

Surreal Autobiography

Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Actors: Brontis Jodorowsky, Pamela Flores, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Bastian Bodenhofer, …
Category: Fantasy

Danger! Danger! (2021)

23 January 20237 September 2023

Rating: ★★½

Adventure Film Homage

Director: Lexie + Nick, Lexie Trivundza, Nick Trivundza
Actors: Benedict Mazurek, Angela Smeraldi, Paul Haapaniemi, Alexandra Keller, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

2 July 200011 June 2020

Rating: ★★★★

Alien Visitor

Director: Robert Wise
Actors: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe
Category: Science Fiction

Dr Strangelove or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

16 November 200120 August 2020

Rating: ★★★★★

Nuclear War Black Comedy

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Actors: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, …
Category: Science Fiction

Dracula Exotica (1980)

26 June 201525 March 2024

Rating: ★★

Dracula Porn Film

Director: Shaun Costello
Actors: Jamie Gillis, Samantha Fox
Category: Horror

Evilenko (2004)

29 June 200829 May 2022

Rating: ★★★★

True-Life Russian Serial Killer

Director: David Grieco
Actors: Malcolm McDowell, Marton Csokas, Ronald Pickup, Frances Barber, …
Category: Horror

Fail-Safe (1964)

17 April 200119 February 2025

Rating: ★★★★

Nuclear War

Director: Sidney Lumet
Actors: Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Dan O'Herlihy, Larry Hagman, …
Category: Science Fiction

Fail Safe (2000)

17 April 20117 July 2023

Rating: ★★★½

Nuclear War

Director: Stephen Frears
Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Brian Dennehy, …
Category: Science Fiction

Fantastic Voyage (1966)

16 December 200012 November 2020

Rating: ★★★★

Submarine Journey Through the Human Body

Director: Richard Fleischer
Actors: Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Donald Pleasence, Arthur Kennedy, …
Category: Science Fiction

Firefox (1982)

10 March 200414 December 2020

Rating: ★★★★

Hi-Tech Fighter Plane Theft/Techno-Thriller

Director: Clint Eastwood
Actors: Clint Eastwood, Freddie Jones, David Huffman, Warren Clarke, …
Category: Science Fiction

First on the Moon (2005)

21 March 201315 December 2020

Rating: ★★½

Soviet Moon Landing Mockumentary

Director: Aleksey Fedorchenko
Category: Science Fiction

The Flying Saucer (1950)

20 July 201715 December 2020

Rating: ★★

UFO Film

Director: Mikel Conrad
Actors: Mikel Conrad, Russell Hicks, Roy Engel, Denver Pyle
Category: Science Fiction

The Gamma People (1956)

31 July 201928 April 2021

Rating: ★★

Soviet Experiments to Create Super-Children

Director: John Gilling
Actors: Paul Douglas, Leslie Phillips, Walter Rilla, Eva Bartok, …
Category: Science Fiction

Ghostboat (2006)

22 November 200810 April 2020

Rating: ★★★

Haunted Submarine

Director: Stuart Orme
Actors: David Jason, Tony Haygarth, Julian Wadham, James Laurenson, …
Category: Horror

GoldenEye (1995)

1 February 200130 July 2024

Rating: ★★★

James Bond Film

Director: Martin Campbell
Actors: Pierce Brosnan, Judi Dench, Sean Bean, Famke Janssen, …
Category: Science Fiction

Guardians (2017)

9 November 20229 November 2022

Rating: ★★★

Russian Superhero Film

Director: Sarik Andreasayan
Actors: Anton Pampushnyy, Sanjar Madi, Sebastien Sisak Grigoryan, Alina Lanina, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

28 June 200221 September 2021

Rating: ★★★★

Tom Clancy Techno-Thriller/Advanced Submarine

Director: John McTiernan
Actors: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, …
Category: Science Fiction

Ice Soldiers (2013)

16 April 20146 September 2022

Rating: ★½

Revived Soviet Super-Soldiers

Director: Sturla Gunnarsson
Actors: Dominic Purcell, Adam Beach, Gabriel Hogan, Michael Ironside, …
Category: Science Fiction

Ilsa, The Tigress of Siberia (1977)

20 April 202120 April 2021

Rating: ★★½

Sadistic Woman Commandant

Director: Jean Lafleur
Actors: Dyanne Thorne, Terry Haig
Category: Horror

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

25 May 20087 September 2023

Rating: ★★

High Adventure/Alien Artefacts

Director: Steven Spielberg
Actors: Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, …
Category: Science Fiction

Invasion USA (1952)

28 July 201313 November 2024

Rating: ★

Communist Invasion of the USA

Director: Alfred E. Green
Actors: Gerald Mohr, Dan O'Herlihy, Peggie Castle, Robert Bice
Category: Science Fiction

Invasion U.S.A. (1985)

21 June 200616 November 2021

Rating: ★

Action/Communist Invasion of the USA

Director: Joseph Zito
Actors: Chuck Norris, Richard Lynch, Melissa Prophet, Eddie Jones, …
Category: Science Fiction

Iron Sky: The Coming Race (2019)

18 May 20193 November 2022

Rating: ★★

Nazi Moonbase/Alien Lizard People from the Centre of the Earth

Director: Timo Vuorensola
Actors: Lara Rossi, Udo Kier, Julia Dietze, Tom Green, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Lair (2022)

19 February 20232 September 2024

Rating: ★★

Unearthed Soviet Monsters

Director: Neil Marshall
Actors: Charlotte Kirk, Jamie Bamber, Jonathan Howard, Hadi Khanjanpour, …
Category: Science Fiction, Horror

Love at First Bite (1979)

3 September 20008 August 2019

Rating: ★★★

Dracula Spoof

Director: Stan Dragoti
Actors: George Hamilton, Susan St James, Richard Benjamin, Arte Johnson, …
Category: Horror

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

9 July 20005 January 2025

Rating: ★★★★

Brainwashed Assassin/Political Satire

Director: John Frankenheimer
Actors: Laurence Harvey, Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury, James Gregory, …
Category: Science Fiction

Marooned (1969)

9 July 20006 January 2025

Rating: ★★★

NASA Space Mission Disaster

Director: John Sturges
Actors: Gregory Peck, Gene Hackman, James Franciscus, Richard Crenna, …
Category: Science Fiction

Meteor (1979)

2 January 20133 May 2024

Rating: ★★

Meteor Collision/Disaster Movie

Director: Ronald Neame
Actors: Sean Connery, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, Brian Keith, …
Category: Science Fiction

Murder By Moonlight (1989)

19 June 201313 January 2025

Rating: ★★★

Murder Mystery on a Moonbase

Director: Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Actors: Brigitte Nielsen, Julian Sands, Gerald McRaney, Jane Lapotaire, …
Category: Science Fiction

Murder in Space (1985)

1 October 20241 October 2024

Rating: ★★

Murder Mystery Aboard a Space Mission

Director: Steven Hilliard Stern
Actors: Wilford Brimley, Michael Ironside, Martin Balsam, Damir Andrei, …
Category: Science Fiction

Octopussy (1983)

15 July 200012 December 2022

Rating: ★★

James Bond Film

Director: John Glen
Actors: Roger Moore, Maud Adams, Louis Jourdan, Kristina Wayborn, …
Category: Science Fiction

Post Apocalyptic Commando Shark (2018)

15 March 202131 July 2024

Rating: 0­

Gonzo Killer Shark Film

Director: Sam Qualiana
Actors: Simeon Qualiana, Mick O’Keefe, Andrew Elias, Sam Qualiana, …
Category: Science Fiction

The President’s Analyst (1967)

13 April 200429 May 2025

Rating: ★★★

Spy Comedy/Political Satire

Director: Theodore J. Flicker
Actors: James Coburn, Godfrey Cambridge, Severn Darden, James Gregory, …
Category: Science Fiction

Project X (1968)

30 November 200014 February 2025

Rating: ★★

Future Mental Probing/Reality Simulations

Director: William Castle
Actors: Christopher George, Monte Markham, Henry Jones, Harold Gould, …
Category: Science Fiction

Quatermass (1979)

26 February 200129 August 2021

Rating: ★★★

Alien Megalithic Artefacts Reactivated

Director: Piers Haggard
Actors: John Mills, Simon MacCorkindale, Barbara Kellerman, Margaret Tyzack
Category: Science Fiction

Raise the Titanic (1980)

2 December 201530 June 2021

Rating: ★

Engineering Project to Raise the Titanic

Director: Jerry Jameson
Actors: Richard Jordan, Jason Robards, David Selby, Anne Archer, …
Category: Science Fiction

Real Men (1987)

1 September 200016 June 2023

Rating: ★★★

Gonzo Spy Film

Director: Dennis Feldman
Actors: John Ritter, Isa Andersen, Isabella Hoffman, Dyanne Thorne, …
Category: Science Fiction

Red Dawn (1984)

11 January 20031 February 2023

Rating: ★

Communist Invasion of the USA

Director: John Milius
Actors: Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Powers Boothe, …
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

The Red Violin (1998)

19 July 20006 December 2024

Rating: ★★

Stories of a Cursed Violin

Director: Francois Girard
Actors: Jason Flemyng, Samuel L. Jackson, Colm Feore, Greta Scacchi, …
Category: Fantasy

Redline (1997)

2 April 199927 October 2024

Rating: ★★½

Near Future Russia Thriller

Director: Tibor Takacs
Actors: Rutger Hauer, Mark Dacascos, Randall William Cook, Patrick Dreikauss
Category: Science Fiction

The Right Stuff (1983)

26 August 200224 May 2025

Rating: ★★★½

Story of the True Life Space Mission

Director: Philip Kaufman
Actors: Sam Shepard, Dennis Quaid, Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, …
Category: Science Fiction

Robot Jox (1990)

7 March 200317 July 2022

Rating: ★★★

Future Gladiatorial Combat with Transformer Robots

Director: Stuart Gordon
Actors: Gary Graham, Anne-Marie Johnson, Paul Koslo, Michael Alldredge, …
Category: Science Fiction

Rock and the Alien (1988)

1 September 20154 March 2025

Rating: 0­

Rock Singer Meets Alien Girl

Director: Denis Adam Zervos
Actors: Denis Adam Zervos, Tamela Glenn
Category: Science Fiction

Rocket Attack U.S.A. (1958)

3 December 200520 July 2023

Rating: ★★

Communist Missile Threat

Director: Barry Mahon
Category: Science Fiction

Seattle Super Storm (2012)

25 June 201521 November 2019

Rating: ★

Disaster Movie

Director: Jason Bourque
Actors: Esai Morales, Ona Grauer, Jared Abrahamson, Jay Brazeau, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Shape of Water (2017)

13 January 201816 February 2025

Rating: ★★★★

Romance with an Amphibian Man

Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Actors: Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer, …
Category: Science Fiction

Shark Side of the Moon (2022)

27 February 2023

Rating: ★★½

Gonzo Killer Shark Film

Director: Glenn Campbell, Tammy Klein
Actors: Maxi Witrak, Ego Mikitas, Tania Fox, Michael Marcel, …
Category: Science Fiction

Six-String Samurai (1998)

1 June 19993 June 2023

Rating: ★★½

Post-Holocaust Rock’n’Roll Samurai

Director: Lance Mungia
Actors: Jeffrey Falcon, Justin McGuire, Lex Lang, John Sakisian
Category: Science Fiction

Spies Like Us (1985)

20 August 200321 March 2025

Rating: ½

Spy Comedy

Director: John Landis
Actors: Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Donna Dixon, Steve Forrest, …
Category: Science Fiction

Sputnik (2020)

22 August 202022 August 2020

Rating: ★★★½

Cosmonaut Returns Infected by a Parasitic Alien Organism

Director: Egor Abramenko
Actors: Oksana Akinshina, Fyodor Bondarchuk, Pyotr Fyodorov, Anton Vasilev, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

16 July 200022 April 2025

Rating: ★★

James Bond Film

Director: Lewis Gilbert
Actors: Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Curt Jurgens, Richard Kiel, …
Category: Science Fiction

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

20 July 20008 February 2025

Rating: ★★★

Intergalactic Adventures

Director: Nicholas Meyer
Actors: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Kim Cattrall, DeForest Kelley, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Sum of All Fears (2002)

25 August 200211 October 2024

Rating: ★★

Nuclear Terrorism/Tom Clancy Adaptation

Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Actors: Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, Ciaran Hinds, …
Category: Science Fiction

Superman: Red Son (2020)

6 March 202021 March 2023

Rating: ★★★

Comic-Book Superhero/Alternate History/Animation

Director: Sam Liu
Actors: Jason Isaacs, Diedrich Bader, Amy Acker, Vanessa Marshall, …
Category: Science Fiction

Tarzan’s Savage Fury (1952)

10 April 201927 December 2021

Rating: ★★

Jungle Hero

Director: Cy Endfield
Actors: Lex Barker, Dorothy Hart, Patric Knowles
Category: Fantasy

Taxidermia (2006)

17 August 200717 February 2022

Rating: ★★★

Tales of Gross-Out Surrealism

Director: György Pálfi
Category: Fantasy

The Ugly Duckling (2010)

14 July 201527 April 2023

Rating: ★★★

Claymation/Fairytale

Director: Garri Bardin
Category: Fantasy

A View to a Kill (1985)

15 July 200013 November 2021

Rating: ★★

James Bond Film

Director: John Glen
Actors: Roger Moore, Christopher Walken, Grace Jones, Tanya Roberts, …
Category: Science Fiction

Watchmen (2009)

8 March 20091 March 2025

Rating: ★★★★

Comic-Book Superheroes

Director: Zack Snyder
Actors: Patrick Wilson, Billy Crudup, Jackie Earl Haley, Malin Akerman, …
Category: Science Fiction

Way … Way Out (1966)

17 January 20196 June 2024

Rating: ★★

Space Mission Comedy

Director: Gordon Douglas
Actors: Jerry Lewis, Connie Stevens, Robert Morley, Dennis Weaver, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Whip Hand (1951)

10 December 20005 December 2023

Rating: ★★★

Communist Inflitration

Director: William Cameron Menzies
Actors: Elliot Reid, Raymond Burr, Edgar Barrier, Otto Waldis, …
Category: Science Fiction

WW 3 (2001)

31 July 20107 August 2024

Rating: ★★

Biowarfare Outbreak Thriller

Director: Robert Mandel
Actors: Timothy Hutton, Lane Smith, Marin Hinkle, Vanessa L. Williams, …
Category: Science Fiction

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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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