Nathan suggested these ground rules for movie selection:
- Must have been released after 1979.
- Must follow this general plotline: A group of people are inadvertently*
trapped in a confined or otherwise inescapable locale** with a non-human (or, at
best, semi-human) thing or things*** that is killing them off.
* This would disallow Aliens, for instance; the marines seek out the aliens
on purpose.
** This would disallow Predator 2, for instance; the locale is not confined.
*** This would rule out being trapped by a chainsaw-wielding maniac.
[BTW, I questioned that bit on "Aliens" because the Marines become trapped with their target, and hunter becomes hunted.]
Later, a few more stipulations were suggested. For example, the impending destruction of the locale following a countdown.
We were particularly interested in movies like Leviathan (1989).
After a couple of weeks, several members on the mailing list had their own suggestions for what movies could qualify. I, too, had my own. They follow the ground rules above, but some [as noted] were kinda iffy.
| Title | Where | What |
| Anaconda (1997) | Deep in the Amazon | CGI snake |
| Beowulf (1999) | An outpost | Grendel [may not be on video by deadline (?)] |
| Chopping Mall (1986, aka KIllbots) | Mall | Security robots |
| DeepStar Six (1989) | Underwater base | Sea monster (watch back to back with Leviathan if you dare) |
| Elves (1990) | Department store | Genetically engineered troublemaker |
| Shadowzone (1990) | Underground lab | Extra-dimensional monster |
| Spaceship (1981, a.k.a. The Creature Wasn't Nice) | Spaceship | Alien lounge lizard (Parody -- run last if selected) |
| Spookies (1985) | Mansion | ? [betcha no one coulda found THIS one] |
| The Tower (1993) | Office building | Vindictive computer |
| Venom (1982) | House in London | Poisonous snake [at least it's non human] |
| Short parody of Alien on the Hardware Wars tape. | Spaceship "Nose-stromo" | Alien clown |
There were some movies that fit the plot standard but don't really fit the type. Some could have been includable. It depended on how much someone wanted to bend the rules.
| Title | Where | What | Why Not |
| Bad Channels (1992) | Radio station | Evil alien | More of an alien menace story |
| Deep Rising (1998) | Ocean liner | Sea monster | More towards Aliens than Alien |
| Demon Knight (1995) | House | Mystic zombies | More like Night of the Living Dead |
| Deep Blue Sea (1999) | Lab | Mensa sharks | No video release likely by deadline |
| Lords of the Deep (1989) | Underwater habitat | Underwater aliens and a cameo by Roger Corman | More like The Abyss than Alien |
| Maximum Overdrive | Gas station | Alien possessed machines | Not that much like Alien |
| Night of the Living Dead (1990) | Farmhouse | SciFi zombies | Calling this an Alien rip off sounds like a punch line |
| Nightwish (1989) | Mineshaft | Hallucinations | More of a parapsychology story than a monster story |
| The Relic (1997) | Museum | Genetically engineered troublemaker (sort of) | Not really a B picture |
| Horror Planet (1981, a.k.a. Inseminoid) | Lab on another planet | Alien demon | More of a possession yarn |
| Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) | Spaceship | Alien machine | C'mon, I'm KIDDING! |
A whole host of zombie movies could be in this iffy set as well.
Several films did not fit the plot formula but had at least one element of Alien rip-off stamped all over them. Below are three easy examples.
| Alien Contamination (1981) | Acid spewing alien eggs in an abandoned ship and the idiot humans who touch them |
| Parasite (1982) | "Chest buster" gimmick set in advertising |
| Split Second (1992) | I'm not even going to dignify this with a justification |
Two final observations:
Critters (et al) was suggested for the list, but if taken as a rip-off of something, it's more like a run on Gremlins than Alien. Critters 4 fills the bill nicely; however, so would Leprechaun 4. Depends on how broadly you want to define an alien. Come to think of it, there's Gremlins 2....
And recall that the name of this group was The B-Movie Mailing List. Some movies were suggested for the list but were not really B-Movies. For example, Virus is not really a B-movie (but might've been better if it had been).
Based on material originally submitted to the B-Movie Mailing List on 15
August 1999.
Published to B-Notes on 1 June 2003.