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Movies that feel like Phase IV (1974)

If you loved Phase IV, the closest films we have are Scanners (1981), Phantasm (1979) and The Fly (1986). All three share Phase IV's dread and unsettling feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Criterion Channel, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video and others, checked against today's data.

Arizona ants mock the food chain on their way to a desert lab to get two scientists and a woman.

πŸ… 50% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 6.4 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Saul Bassdreadunsettlingcerebral

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When is Phase IV streaming? β†’

If Phase IV hit the spot, these will too

Scanners poster
Scanners
1981 Β· dir. David Cronenberg
πŸ… 69%β˜… 6.7science fiction Β· horror

Murder and scientist, at the center of both

A scientist trains a man with an advanced telepathic ability called 'scanning' to stop a dangerous Scanner with extraordinary psychic powers from waging war against non-Scanners.

Feels alike?
Phantasm poster
Phantasm
1979 Β· dir. Don Coscarelli
πŸ… 72%β˜… 6.6horror Β· science fiction

Dread-soaked and unsettling in the same breath

A teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber, known only as the Tall Man, who employs a lethal arsenal of unearthly weapons.

Feels alike?
The Fly poster
The Fly
1986 Β· dir. David Cronenberg
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.6horror Β· science fiction

Both built around scientist

The difference: Reviewed even better

When brilliant, eccentric scientist Seth Brundle makes a huge technological breakthrough in teleportation, he decides to test it on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a common housefly manages to get inside the device and the two become one.

Feels alike?
M3GAN poster
M3GAN
2022 Β· dir. Gerard Johnstone
πŸ… 93%β˜… 6.3science fiction Β· horror

Cerebral horror in both cases

The difference: A 2020s film, from a different era of filmmaking

A brilliant toy company roboticist uses artificial intelligence to develop M3GAN, a life-like doll programmed to emotionally bond with her newly orphaned niece. But when the doll's programming works too well, she becomes overprotective of her new friend with terrifying results.

Feels alike?
Annihilation poster
Annihilation
2018 Β· dir. Alex Garland
πŸ… 88%β˜… 6.8science fiction Β· horror

Both trade on dread more than on being science fiction

A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.

Feels alike?
The New Mutants poster
The New Mutants
2020 Β· dir. Josh Boone
πŸ… 36%β˜… 5.3science fiction Β· horror

Horror built on unease, twice over

Five young mutants, just discovering their abilities while held in a secret facility against their will, fight to escape their past sins and save themselves.

Feels alike?
Spring poster
Spring
2014 Β· dir. Aaron Moorhead
πŸ… 85%β˜… 6.7horror Β· romance Β· science fiction

Cerebral science fiction, and it commits to that

The difference: Plays it as romance more than Phase IV does

A young man in a personal tailspin flees the US to Italy, where he sparks up a romance with a woman harboring a dark, primordial secret.

Feels alike?
Alien: Covenant poster
Alien: Covenant
2017 Β· dir. Ridley Scott
πŸ… 65%β˜… 6.4horror Β· science fiction

Horror with a pulse of dread, in both cases

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.

Feels alike?
Alien: Romulus poster
Alien: Romulus
2024 · dir. Fede Álvarez
πŸ… 80%β˜… 7.1horror Β· science fiction

Unsettling science fiction, and it commits to that

While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.

Feels alike?
The Substance poster
The Substance
2024 Β· dir. Coralie Fargeat
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.2horror Β· science fiction

A streak of ideas through both

A fading celebrity decides to use a black market drug, a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.

Feels alike?
Alien poster
Alien
1979 Β· dir. Ridley Scott
πŸ… 93%β˜… 8.5horror Β· science fiction

Both are horror through and through

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.

Feels alike?
Seconds poster
Seconds
1966 Β· dir. John Frankenheimer
πŸ… 79%β˜… 7.6science fiction Β· thriller Β· horror

The same science fiction instincts

An unhappy middle-aged banker agrees to a procedure that will fake his death and give him a completely new look and identity; one that comes with its own price.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more dread?

all dread movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Phase IV's defining feeling.