Discussion on:

Poll: What was the greatest sci-fi horror film ever?

I'd vote for Aliens, the second movie.

One Night in Paris, have you seen that green, alien, pigdog they call sexy?

Aliens was one of the first movies I paid to see twice. But I still enjoy watching The Thing over and over again. Probably cause one of my favorite movies is Escape From NY. The one movie that should have made your list was American Werewolf in London... Another one I can watch over and over again...

The Day The Earth Stood Still for the early 50's is still a classic.

This sci-fi movie is still very relevent with today's world events. It also has a message that's as valid today as it was in 1951.
This movie has some of the best background music that has so much impact on and is, in my opinion, most effective for this movie.
Music is by the late world renown composer and director Bernard Herrman who has also done some of Alfred Hitchcock's movies and many other movies and tv shows.
Again, this is #1 in my book.

Don't forget the second 'n' in Herrmann.

Herrmann besides being a true musical genius is the only
film composer the have the distinction of having three posthumous film scores. That's right, he is credited with
three scores for films that were made after his death.

1. It's Alive II (1978)
2. Cape Fear (1991 remake)
3. Psycho (1998 remake)
4. The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008 remake) ?

As noted, The Day The Earth Stood Still is being remade
with Keanu Reeves as Klaatu. One can only wonder if
Benny will be recycled again.

I didn't proofread my message good enuf.
By the way Mr. Herrmann is shown conducting the orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England in Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 thriller "The Man Who Knew Too Much"
I liked the run-up to and the cymbals crash in the "Storm Cloud Cantata" piece he did.
Here's a website you might like http://www.bernardherrmann.org/

Next week Tribute will be releasing a fantastic new recording
of Herrmann's complete score for Mysterious Island.

http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm?ID=8107#

Though technically not horror, this film qualifies as sci-fi.

Harryhausen at his best!

Despite its greatness, it never induced any sense of fear in anyone that I know.

It may not be the best, but anything as good as that deserves a mention.

Tops, probably Aliens,
followed by Predator,
followed by Alien,
followed by The Thing (John Carpenter version),
followed by Terminator.
I don't know what the rest of my top ten would be; my memory never serves me on this kind of stuff.

Can The Terminator be described as sci-fi horror?
Admittedly, as a kid I nearly threw up when he popped his eye out, but it doesn't really strike me as being in the horror category.

I think of the category as sci-fi and/or horror, which would allow it to include The Shining, Hellraiser, Blade Runner, and Star Wars. However, if you only want horror which is also science fiction, then Terminator's hulking, malevolent, cold, obsessed killer robot fits the intersection of both categories, to my eye.

I really think that it isn't an either/or situation here. If you take a look at the ground rules set out at the beginning it indicates both sci-fi and horror together.
And as stated by the author of the post:
"Sure, the Terminator is a pretty scary dude, but nobody would call The Terminator a horror flick, it?s a sci-fi action classic with some suspense thrown in."
I have to agree there.

It's one of the scariest movies ever, period, sci-fi or no sci-fi.

If someone were to ask me "What is suspense?" I'd show them a few scenes from various Hitchcock films, and I'd show them the scene in The Thing where they're trying to figure out who's the alien by putting a soldering iron in petri dishes full of each person's blood. One of the great suspense scenes in the history of the movies.

The Thing is one of my all time favs.
Aliens 1 & 2 are up there as well

The old black and white version of The Midwich Cuckoos, called Children of the Damned, uses a cast of rather creepy looking children to good effect. Although I suppose the plot could be seen as an often-remade variation on Bodysnatchers.

Has anyone else mentioned Videodrome?
That scene with James Woods and the gun is pretty difficult to forget. Generally creepy and occasionally shocking.

This one scared me so much as a kid that I slept with the lights on for a week. All I can remember of it is it was in b/w, there was an alien black, creeping, oozing mass (NOT The Blob), and it burned any human it touched. There was a scene in a cave with a bunch of men and one had his arm blackened when the creature engulfed it, then another scene where it came into a woman's bedroom and I remember it knocking or oozing over a standing candelabra. That's all I remember other than being freaked out for a week.
My sister votes for "Gargoyles." She watched it late one night and it scared the living daylights out of her!

Yes, I remember seeing this one as a kid and I thought it was awfully creepy. Alas, I can't remember the title either.

Take a look at the imdb synopsis for "X the Unknown" and see if that's the movie you're thinking of.

"British Army radiation drills at a remote Scottish base attract a subterranean, radioactive entity of unknown nature that vanishes, leaving two severely radiation-burned soldiers... and a "bottomless" crack in the earth. Others who meet the thing in the night suffer likewise, and with increasing severity; it seems to be able to "absorb" radiation from any source, growing bigger and bigger. What is it?? How do you destroy a thing that "feeds" on energy?"

Caltiki is the monster described which rose from a cave in Mexico due to volcanic activity. An Italian movie set in Mexico about a radioactive blob Caltiki, which is discovered in a subterranean pool near some Mayan ruins. The blob eats the flesh from the bones of anyone who gets to close to it. Caltiki goes on a rampage in search of flesh. Some very good shocks and gore for a 50s film from Mario Bava

Caltiki

My X mother in law! Sorry maybe not.

My votes go to Attack of the Killer Tomatos & Little Shop of Horrors

How is Little Shop Of Horros scifi.