If You Like Psychological Sci-Fi - Try these
8 Movies Out
How do we, as humans, respond to change? and
how do we react when
confronted with the unknown?�Well within
a Psychological thriller�the story
usually emphasises the unstable psychological
states of its characters -
where they experience an inner struggle; dealing
with the political or
technological events at large.
A Psychological sci-fi often mixes with dramas,
mysteries, horrors and
action genres- where it can range from dark
mind games and alien
communication to futuristic dystopia's. So
today I thought I would make a
video focusing on Psychological science fiction
on all of these overlapping
genres, and where better place to start than
with
Director Stanley Kubricks Psychological Sci-Fi
Crime Drama - A clockwork orange 1971
In future Britain, a charismatic psychopath
Alex DeLarge leads a gang that
go around at night committing crimes of ultra
violence. The story kicks off
when Alex is arrested for his crimes. Where
he learns of an experimental
program called The "Ludavico Technique" which
he volunteers for to
lower his prison sentence.
The film that will permanently change "Singin'
In The Rain" for you.
-Apart from been brilliantly directed -A clockwork
Orange is a very dark
movie with some pretty shocking scenes. After
watching this you will find
yourself utterly confused-asking the question
do you love or hate Alex's
character. A clockwork Orange is defiantly
one of those love hate films
where you will see it as either a masterpiece
or a complete waste of your
time.
Director James Burr Kit Byrkit's Psychological
Sci-Fi Mystery Thriller - Coherence
On the night of an astronomical anomaly when
a comet is passing
overhead. Strange things begin to happen to
eight friends at a social
gathering - where fear and paranoia creeps
into their increasingly tension
filled dinner party as they start to experience
a troubling chain of reality
bending events.
This low-budget sci-fi does a first-rate job
in exploring the many
possibilities of its intelligent premise.
Where the film makes great use of a
minimalist approach with a pretty unique story
-that is combined with a
dialogue that is mostly improvised.
My only real complaint with this film is it's
camera work -where it's
erratically shot and not in focus for almost
half of it - So if something like
that doesn't bother you, go check coherence
out!
Director Vincenzo Natali's Psychological Sci-Fi
Mystery Drama - Cube 1997
Follows six complete strangers with widely
varying personality types who
are inexplicably imprisoned in a seemingly
endless cube maze. With little to
no hope and no obvious means of escape, these
prisoners must navigate
their way through this booby-trapped system
of deadly cubes.
Cube probably has one of the most original
and solid premises for a prison
movie to date, with an interesting production
design and cinematography
-the film gives its viewer this unsettling
sense of isolation and feeling of
being trapped.�-While it doesn't have the
best acting, Cube has plenty of
tense scenes, a great sense of the paranoia
between its characters -and
manages to be fully engrossing despite it
been set entirely inside a cube.
Director Jonathan Glazer's Psychological Sci-Fi
Horror Drama - Under the Skin
A mysterious young woman arrives in Glasgow
Scotland -where she
wanders and drives around with the intention
of seducing lonely men and
bringing them back to her lair in the evening
hours. However from all the
encounters she's had -lead her to begin a
new process of self-discovery.
Legitimately weird but in a good way- Under
the Skin has a very dark
perspective on human selfishness and sexual
desire. Beautifully shot this
film feels as though it's deliberately mysterious,
where it gives no
exposition what so ever. With this in mind,
some of you will find the movie
to be weird, and not in a good way - For those
of you that decided to watch
the entire film you should hopefully be rewarded
with a very stylish and
haunting look at us as human beings.
Director Iain Softley Psychological Sci-Fi
Mystery Drama - K-Pax
Follows a mysterious man named Prot who is
a patient at a mental hospital
-who claims that he comes from a utopian planet
called K-PAX. Baffled at
first, his Doctor is determined to prove that
Prot is simply a victim of a
multiple personality disorder, But sooner
or later even he finds himself
doubting his own diagnosis.
K-Pax has a solid and pretty original premise
-and although it's pretty slow
paced the performances of Kevin Spacey and
Jeff Bridges easily
compensates for it! If you find you must have
closure at the end of a film,
then this movie will be pretty frustrating.
However, if you're like me and
enjoy a good mystery that keeps you thinking
long after the credits, you
hopefully won't be disappointed.
Director John Carpenters Psychological Sci-Fi
Romance Drama Starman 1984
When an alien life form crash lands in Wisconsin
and decides to model itself
on a young widow's husband -she is understandably
confused & terrified as
she is forced to drive this Starman from Wisconsin
to Arizona. On the
journey the Starman learns how to be more
human and slowly beings to
take on the characteristics of her late husband.
Starman has a great setup where it's characters
naturally develop in such a
way it keeps you hooked, while a large portion
of the movie is set in a car.
What makes Starman so good -is that you get
see the world through the
eyes of an alien, where you watch him interact
with humanity, observing
both the good and the bad in all of us.�
Director Vincenzo Natali's Mystery Thriller
- cypher 2002
Hoping for a more exciting life -a disenchanted
suburban man finds himself
working as an industrial spy- in the dangerous,
high-stakes world of
corporate espionage. But when he meets a mysterious
femme fatale at a
bar -things quickly start going over-his-head,
as he begins to realize that
his job may not be what it seems.
For a low budget film, Cypher does a lot with
very little- the
cinematography is first rate, it's pacing
is tight and it has a pretty original
story- where it's filled with enough twists
and turns to keep you guessing
throughout. While the ending is good and fairly
unexpected, it might be a
little too cheesy for some. All in all Cypher
is a stylish sci-fi thriller that
should give your brain a good workout.
Director Bryan Forbes'Psychological Sci-Fi
Mystery Horror - The Stepford Wives 1975
Follows photographer and housewife Joanna
Eberhart who moves with her
family from Manhattan to the suburban community
of Stepford. Along with
her new friend Bobby, Joanna Slowly realises
that something is amiss with
the other housewives in Stepford -where they
appear to only live to please
their husbands.
Every woman's worst nightmare, the Stepford
Wives production, mood and
underlying story are very well done and its
characters are interesting -
While it's become a little bit dated -this
film still holds up, it's entertaining
and far superior to its 2004 remake.
It's a mildly creepy horror, where the pacing
of the first two thirds of the
film are a little slow but it does pick up
in the third act where the story
should hold your attention until it's eerie
ending.
If You 
Like Psychological Sci-Fi - Try these 8 Movies
Out
