feelsalike.comSign in
Alien poster

Movies that feel likeAlien (1979)

During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.

If you loved Alien, the closest films we have are Alien: Covenant (2017), The Thing (1982) and Blade Runner (1982). Most of the picks below share Alien's dread and unsettling feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Changeling (1980).

🍅 93% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.5 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Ridley Scottdreadatmosphericunsettlingbleakawe
10 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Paramount Plus Premium

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

Stream it:Netflix ↗
See it on the Mood Map

When is Alien streaming? →

If Alien hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Aliens (1986) · Alien³ (1992) · Alien Resurrection (1997)

Alien: Covenant poster
Alien: Covenant
2017 · dir. Ridley Scott
🍅 65%★ 6.4horror · science fictionMax

Scott returns to deep-space dread — a crew lured to a world that wants them dead

The difference: Prequel-era lore and speeches dilute the lean, unknowable terror

The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise but is actually a dark, dangerous world.

The Thing poster
The Thing
1982 · dir. John Carpenter
🍅 85%★ 8.2horror · mystery · science fictionPrime Video

Isolated workers, a thing among them, and trust curdling into paranoia

The difference: Suspicion is the real terror here — colder, and far more explicit

A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.

Blade Runner poster
Blade Runner
1982 · dir. Ridley Scott
🍅 89%★ 8.1science fiction · drama · thriller

Ridley Scott's other bleak future, where androids blur what human means

The difference: Slow, mournful noir — tension of ideas rather than survival

In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans.

The Fog poster
The Fog
1980 · dir. John Carpenter
🍅 77%★ 6.8horrorPrime VideoPeacock

Both are built on the same subject: beheading

The difference: Easier on the atmosphere than Alien

Strange things begin to occur as a tiny California coastal town prepares to commemorate its centenary. Inanimate objects spring eerily to life; Rev. Malone stumbles upon a dark secret about the town's founding; radio announcer Stevie witnesses a mystical fire; and hitchhiker Elizabeth discovers the mutilated corpse of a fisherman. Then a mysterious iridescent fog descends upon the village, and more people start to die.

Eyes Without a Face poster
Eyes Without a Face
1960 · dir. Georges Franju
🍅 97%★ 7.6drama · horror · thrillerMax

Dread-soaked and atmospheric in the same breath

The difference: Takes it somewhere less bleak than Alien does

Dr. Génessier is riddled with guilt after an accident that he caused disfigures the face of his daughter, the once beautiful Christiane, who outsiders believe is dead. Dr. Génessier, along with accomplice and laboratory assistant Louise, kidnaps young women and brings them to the Génessier mansion. After rendering his victims unconscious, Dr. Génessier removes their faces and attempts to graft them on to Christiane's.

Silent Running poster
Silent Running
1972 · dir. Douglas Trumbull
🍅 71%★ 6.6science fiction · adventure · drama

One person alone on a ship with only machines for company, far from help

The difference: Gentle eco-parable — melancholy where you're expecting menace

After the entire flora goes extinct, ecologist Lowell maintains a greenhouse aboard a space station for the future with his android companions. However, he rebels after being ordered to destroy the greenhouse in favor of carrying cargo, a decision that puts him at odds with everyone but his mechanical companions.

Event Horizon poster
Event Horizon
1997 · dir. Paul W. S. Anderson
🍅 36%★ 6.6horror · science fiction · mysteryParamount+Peacock

A salvage crew boards a ship where something sinister waits in the dark

The difference: Swaps slow-burn precision for gore and jump scares — messier film

In 2047, a group of astronauts are sent to investigate and salvage the starship Event Horizon which disappeared mysteriously seven years before on its maiden voyage. However, it soon becomes evident that something sinister resides in its corridors.

The Exorcist poster
The Exorcist
1973 · dir. William Friedkin
🍅 78%★ 8.1horrorMax

Unsettling horror, and it commits to that

When a mysterious entity possesses a young girl, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.

Sputnik poster
Sputnik
2020 · dir. Egor Abramenko
🍅 88%★ 6.4science fiction · drama · horrorRent or buy

Two things both keep coming back to: spacecraft and alien

The difference: Sits closer to drama than Alien does

At the height of the Cold War, a Soviet spacecraft crash lands after a mission gone awry, leaving the commander as its only survivor. After a renowned Russian psychologist is brought in to evaluate the commander’s mental state, it becomes clear that something dangerous may have come back to Earth with him…

Suspiria poster
Suspiria
1977 · dir. Dario Argento
🍅 94%★ 7.3horror

Science fiction with a pulse of dread, in both cases

An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.

The Changeling poster
The Changeling
1980 · dir. Peter Medak
🍅 85%★ 7.1horror

Unsettling horror in both cases

After a tragic event happens, composer John Russell moves to Seattle to try to overcome it and build a new and peaceful life in a lonely big house that has been uninhabited for many years. But, soon after, the obscure history of such an old mansion and his own past begin to haunt him.

Planet of the Apes poster
Planet of the Apes
1968 · dir. Franklin J. Schaffner
🍅 86%★ 8science fiction · adventure · drama

A crash landing turns explorers into prey on a world with its own rules

The difference: Talky 60s allegory — social satire replaces claustrophobic horror

Astronaut Taylor crash lands on a distant planet ruled by apes who use a primitive race of humans for experimentation and sport. Soon Taylor finds himself among the hunted, his life in the hands of a benevolent chimpanzee scientist.

In the mood for more dread?

all dread movies →

The best-reviewed films that share Alien’s defining feeling.