“Say hello to your Aunt Alicia!”
Where new sci-fi movies on HBO Max this month leaned toward horror, the movies leaving the service are a mixed bag of beloved classics and overlooked thrillers.
Soylent Green’s twist ending is as spoiled as anything can be at this point, but this dour dystopian tale is still worth watching for fans of classic sci-fi.
Constantine was panned on release and never quite gained the cult following it maybe should have. If you can look past the intrinsic mid-2000s corniness, you’ll find a fantastical noir pastiche that’s quite a bit better than its reputation.
This cult classic about weaponized psychics is only for those with strong stomachs. Scanners catapulted director David Cronenberg and his signature body horror into the spotlight with its mind-blowing special effects.
It’s impossible to separate George Lucas from Star Wars, but this creepy, minimalistic sci-fi movie shows he was a solid sci-fi director even without a Skywalker in sight.
Dreamscape got the jump on Inception with a story about messing around in people’s dreams that landed a few decades earlier. Rather than Inception’s heist trappings, Dreamscape’s take leans more toward surreal horror.
Centering on a girl who’s immune to a zombie infection that’s ravaging humanity, The Girl with All the Gifts is a thoughtful, original story that still packs plenty of scares and surprises.
Humans are as much of a threat as zombies in George A. Romero’s Day of the Dead. This tense tale of survivors fracturing in an underground base packs more social commentary and goofball humor than straight-up scares.