Top 20 Movies That Ripped Off the ‘Alien’ & ‘Predator’ Franchises

Plenty of low budget producers saw how audiences responded to space monsters and jungle hunters and quickly made their own versions with familiar setups and creature designs. Here are twenty movies that echo the stranded crew formula of ‘Alien’ and the trophy hunt premise of ‘Predator’, from quick Italian cash ins to American B pictures that swapped spaceships for submarines or rainforests for research labs. Each entry gives you the gist of the setup, who made it, and the key ways it mirrors those two landmark franchises. Use it to trace how the core ideas spread across the 1980s and 1990s and into the mockbuster era.

‘Alien 2: On Earth’ (1980)

This Italian unofficial sequel sends a cave expedition into underground tunnels where blue crystals unleash alien spores. Director Ciro Ippolito released it in Italy shortly after ‘Alien’ hit big and used the title to ride that wave. The movie relocates the threat from a spaceship to caverns while keeping the cycle of infection and stalking. It became a cult example of how quickly Italian filmmakers mirrored American hits.

‘Contamination’ (1980)

Luigi Cozzi’s film features explosive green alien eggs shipped to Earth that burst and spray lethal goo. The plot follows investigators from New York to South America to stop a planned infestation. The egg imagery and lifecycle parallels echo ‘Alien’ while the Earthbound conspiracy angle keeps costs low. Goblin’s score and graphic bursts made it stand out among early imitators.

‘Inseminoid’ (1981)

Directed by Norman J. Warren, this British production strands a survey team on a remote planet where a female crew member is impregnated by an alien. The pregnancy accelerates and turns the base into a claustrophobic battleground. The film uses quarry sets and tight corridors to recreate spaceship confinement. Its focus on gestation and body horror clearly channels ‘Alien’.

‘Galaxy of Terror’ (1981)

Produced by Roger Corman and directed by Bruce D. Clark, this sends a rescue team to a planet where their fears manifest as deadly creatures. Future names like James Cameron worked behind the scenes on sets and effects. The structure follows a crew being picked off in dark passages and bio mechanical rooms. Its creature attacks and team dynamics trace straight back to ‘Alien’.

‘Forbidden World’ (1982)

Allan Holzman’s movie, also from Corman’s stable, revolves around a genetically engineered organism that evolves and hunts scientists on a distant outpost. The production reused sets from ‘Galaxy of Terror’ and pushed practical gore and rubber suit work. The plot centers on lab hubris and a confined base under siege. Its climax features improvised survival tactics that mirror space monster showdowns.

‘Xtro’ (1982)

Harry Bromley Davenport’s British shocker begins with a father abducted by aliens who later returns and triggers a bizarre rebirth cycle on Earth. The film uses parasitic creatures, cocoons, and rapid transformation to echo ‘Alien’ style contamination. London flats and countryside stand in for cheaper locations while maintaining invasive alien imagery. It launched a small franchise that kept revisiting military lab setups.

‘Creature’ (1985)

William Malone’s film, also known as ‘Titan Find’, pits a corporate team against a parasitic alien on Saturn’s moon Titan. The story leans into rival companies, decaying corridors, and a monster that puppets victims. It borrows the industrial future look and deadly curiosity of crews who ignore warnings. Klaus Kinski appears as a rival survivor who adds to the corporate skulduggery angle.

‘Star Crystal’ (1986)

This independent American production follows astronauts who bring a crystal aboard a ship that contains a hostile lifeform. Most of the runtime unfolds in narrow hallways and control rooms as the crew is picked off. The effects are modest but the beats mirror ‘Alien’ with scanning gear, vents, and containment attempts. The script builds around misunderstandings with an alien intelligence that escalates into carnage.

‘Alien Predator’ (1987)

Also released as ‘The Falling’, this Deran Sarafian film sends friends to a Spanish town where a crashed craft unleashes a hostile being. Military experiments and a meteor shower cover story complicate the investigation. The stalking creature in rural locations riffs on the hunter mystique associated with ‘Predator’. It mixes road trip setups with containment efforts that recall small town sci fi shockers.

‘Robowar’ (1988)

Bruno Mattei’s jungle actioner has a special forces team pursued by a high tech robotic hunter while on a rescue mission. The plot copies the one by one elimination pattern and infrared style target perspective. Reb Brown leads the squad through booby trapped terrain and radio chatter that mirrors elite unit banter. The mystery of what is hunting them drives a final showdown in thick foliage.

‘Shocking Dark’ (1989)

Marketed in Italy as ‘Terminator II’, this Mattei film actually lifts more from ‘Aliens’ with marines exploring flooded Venice tunnels. The squad faces slimy creatures in dim corridors while bickering over orders. A corporate conspiracy and a protected civilian echo familiar beats. It demonstrates how the military team template from ‘Aliens’ spread to European low budget shoots.

‘DeepStar Six’ (1989)

Sean S. Cunningham’s underwater thriller strands a crew at a deep sea facility that awakens a prehistoric creature. The sealed base, pressure alarms, and dwindling personnel mirror the space station siege format. Equipment failures and limited escape routes heighten the trapped crew dynamic. It translates the ‘Alien’ playbook to ocean depths with diving suits replacing spacesuits.

‘Leviathan’ (1989)

Directed by George P. Cosmatos, this also takes place on a deep sea mining station where a genetic contaminant mutates crew members. The plot uses corporate directives, salvage of a derelict vessel, and a shape changing organism. Crew camaraderie and suspicion mirror what happens when a team realizes help will not arrive in time. The underwater setting provides an Earthbound variant of isolation.

‘The Terror Within’ (1989)

Thierry Notz’s post apocalyptic story follows survivors in a subterranean lab hunted by a mutant known as a Gargoyle. The creature uses breeding to propagate and targets a small group with limited ammunition. Lab hallways, air ducts, and door seals recreate the tense cat and mouse style of ‘Alien’. Roger Corman’s production model kept the focus on practical suits and minimal sets.

‘The Intruder Within’ (1981)

This American television film is set on an offshore oil rig where a drilling operation releases a parasitic organism. The crew battles a growing creature that stalks metal catwalks and cramped rooms. The isolated industrial setting and improvised weaponry match the ‘Alien’ blueprint. Broadcast constraints shaped the effects but the containment plot remains intact.

‘Parasite’ (1982)

Charles Band’s film depicts a future where engineered parasites latch onto hosts and spread through a desert town. A scientist on the run tries to remove the organism before it kills him. Cocooned victims, chest area attacks, and lab origin echoes connect it to ‘Alien’ influences. Early appearances by Demi Moore helped the movie find an audience on home video.

‘Xtro 2: The Second Encounter’ (1991)

The sequel moves to a secure research bunker where dimension experiments bring through a hostile alien. Military personnel and scientists lock the facility down and search steel corridors for the intruder. The setup follows the team tactics and motion detector beats popularized by ‘Aliens’. Containment protocols and flamethrower style responses appear throughout.

‘Dark Universe’ (1993)

Fred Olen Ray’s film involves a shuttle crash in Florida that brings an alien creature to the Everglades. A search party treks through swamps as the monster ambushes from the brush. The premise borrows the jungle hunt mood associated with ‘Predator’ and applies it to wetlands. The low light night scenes and radio contact failures echo familiar survival beats.

‘Proteus’ (1995)

Set on a remote island rig, this thriller has drug runners and intruders trapped with a bio engineered shapeshifter. The creature absorbs and mimics traits from its victims while hunting through industrial rooms. The sealed facility and identity paranoia nod to ‘Alien’ style siege scenarios. Black market science and corporate greed round out the connective tissue to creature feature playbooks.

‘DNA’ (1997)

Also known as ‘Mutation’, this William Mesa film teams a scientist with a tracker in the jungle to stop a resurrected alien predator. The creature uses heat seeking behavior and ambush tactics to pick off soldiers and locals. Infrared vision gags, mud camouflage, and a final one on one confrontation recall ‘Predator’. Mark Dacascos and Jürgen Prochnow lead the human side of the hunt.

‘AVH: Alien vs. Hunter’ (2007)

This mockbuster from The Asylum pits a xenomorph like creature against an armored hunter in American suburbs. Civilians are caught between the two as both aliens trade kills and track each other. The title and design deliberately echo the crossover concept that blended ‘Alien’ and ‘Predator’. It represents the era when direct to video lookalikes targeted fans of bigger studio releases.

Tell us which overlooked copycat you think best captures the spooky corridors or jungle stalk and share your picks in the comments.