An insomniac's guide to everything post-apocalyptic, earth that was, outbreak, time travel, alternate reality & sci-fi.
This is the best of the best (in no specific order) post-apocalyptic, earth that was, outbreak & sci-fi movies picked by an insomniac of note. (With a bit of paranormal here and there)
Some of the obvious (people fav read commercial) is not listed.
Some of the obvious (people fav read commercial) is not listed.
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- CreatorStephen ChboskyJosh SchaerJonathan E. SteinbergStarsSkeet UlrichLennie JamesAshley ScottA small town in Kansas is literally left in the dark after seeing a mushroom cloud over nearby Denver, Colorado. The townspeople struggle to find answers about the blast and solutions on how to survive.
- CreatorTerry NationStarsLucy FlemingIan McCullochDenis LillA community of survivors struggle to stay alive in the wake of a global pandemic known as the Death that wiped out 99.98% of humanity.
- CreatorAdrian HodgesStarsJulie GrahamMax BeesleyPaterson JosephAn unknown virus pandemic kills more than 90% of the world's population. Those immune must strive to survive and overcome the difficulties of this new world order, hoping that the virus will not mutate.I like the 1975 series better but this was a worthy try.
- DirectorJoss WhedonStarsNathan FillionGina TorresChiwetel EjioforThe crew of the ship Serenity try to evade an assassin sent to recapture telepath River.
- CreatorJoss WhedonStarsNathan FillionGina TorresAlan TudykFive hundred years in the future, a renegade crew aboard a small spacecraft tries to survive as they travel the unknown parts of the galaxy and evade warring factions as well as authority agents out to get them.
- CreatorJoss WhedonStarsEliza DushkuHarry LennixFran KranzA top secret organization erases the identities of attractive young people, turning them into blank "dolls" ready for imprints of temporary identities they need to fulfill assignments for clients.Last episode, last season (season 2 episode 13)
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsHarrison FordRutger HauerSean YoungA blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
- DirectorCharles de LauzirikaStarsHarrison FordDaryl HannahMichael DeeleyThe definitive three-and-a-half hour documentary about the troubled creation and enduring legacy of the science fiction classic Blade Runner (1982), culled from 80 interviews and hours of never-before-seen outtakes and lost footage.This is a must see and make sure you get the definitive directors cut of Blade Runner, Blade Runner: The Final Cut, to watch just after it. It will be the best 6 hours of your life, or your money back. ;-)
- StarsSacha DhawanChristopher FulfordDinita GohilA group of commuter train passagers are put in accidental suspended animation and emerge years later into a devastated world.Not the best but worth a watch.
- CreatorKevin FallsStarsKevin McKiddGretchen EgolfMoon BloodgoodA San Francisco journalist mysteriously travels to the past and alters the path of people's lives. When his travels reunite him with his long-lost fiancée Livia, life with his present-day wife gets very interesting.Yet, another TV series cancelled to early.
- CreatorJeffrey Grant RiceStarsDarren McGavinSimon OaklandJack GrinnageCarl Kolchak is a reporter for a Chicago newspaper. Through more accident than design he ends up investigating homicides, many of which involve supernatural forces. Ultimately, rather than reporting on the crimes, he solves them.Watch the series and movies. This and Twilight zone is where the X-Files were born.
- DirectorJohn Llewellyn MoxeyStarsDarren McGavinCarol LynleySimon OaklandAn abrasive Las Vegas newspaper reporter investigates a series of murders committed by a vampire.
- CreatorRod SerlingStarsRod SerlingRobert McCordJay OverholtsOrdinary people find themselves in extraordinarily astounding situations, which they each try to solve in a remarkable manner.The original series is classic, the later versions were just not up to scratch. Also, if you can get hold of the interviews and the series pitch by Rod Serling - this is the man, down to earth, honest.
- StarsEric StoltzCatherine BellLou Diamond PhillipsA shipping magnate hires four experts from various fields to investigate what happened to his ships that went missing in the Bermuda Triangle. The team discovers a threat that might unravel time itself and cause the world to end.I liked it and of course there is a nice South African connection in it. ;-)
- CreatorBryan FullerStarsEllen MuthCallum BlueJasmine GuyAfter being hit on the head by a toilet seat that fell from Mir space station, a young temp clerk becomes a grim reaper in death.Come on Ellen Muth as a reaper, together with the always brilliant Mandy Patinkin (Criminal Minds died when he left) what more do you want?
- DirectorStephen HerekStarsEllen MuthCallum BlueSarah WynterGeorge's been dead and working as grim reaper 5 years. She and her 3 colleagues get a new, chaotic boss. George looks different to the living e.g. her mom and sister.
- DirectorMurali K. ThalluriStarsTeresa PalmerFrank SweetSam HarrisAt 2:37, someone commits suicide in the school lavatory. The day is told up to that point from the viewpoint of six different students.Disturbing.
- DirectorPeter HyamsStarsElliott GouldJames BrolinBrenda VaccaroWhen the first manned flight to Mars is deemed unsafe and scrubbed on the launch pad, anxious authorities must scramble to save face and retain their funding - and so an unthinkable plot to fake the mission is hatched.Sam Waterston not playing Jack McCoy, enough said. (Ps. I like the original L&O, just nice to see him in something else)
- DirectorAlex ProyasStarsRufus SewellKiefer SutherlandJennifer ConnellyA man struggles with memories of his past, which include a wife he cannot remember and a nightmarish world no one else ever seems to wake up from.Kick The Adjustment Bureau's butt.
- DirectorMark McQueenStarsDanny DyerCraig FairbrassMyAnna BuringLondon based N-gen tests a performance booster on 30000. A month later, agile zombies plague London, spreading the disease with a bite. One man has 54 hours to find the cure/immune woman.fast moving zombie like people.
- DirectorTommy WirkolaStarsJeppe Beck LaursenCharlotte FrognerJenny SkavlanA ski vacation turns horrific for a group of medical students, as they find themselves confronted by an unimaginable menace: Nazi zombies.If you don't mind subs - it is very funny. Pretty cool zombie entry.
- DirectorChristopher MenaulStarsRutger HauerMiranda RichardsonPeter VaughanIn April 1964, more than twenty years after the Nazis won World War II, S.S. officer Xavier March uncovers a plot to eliminate the attendees of the Wannsee Conference so that Germany can establish better relations with the U.S.
- DirectorMatt ReevesStarsKodi Smit-McPheeChloë Grace MoretzRichard JenkinsA bullied young boy befriends a young female vampire who lives in secrecy with her guardian.
- DirectorGareth CarrivickStarsChris O'DowdMarc WoottonDean Lennox KellyWhile drinking at their local pub, three social outcasts attempt to navigate a time-travel conundrum.
- DirectorKyle RankinStarsChristopher Rodriguez MarquetteBrooke NevinKinsey PackardA slacker awakes to find himself weak and wrapped in a webbing; after realizing that the world has been taken over by giant alien insects, he wakes a ragtag group of strangers and together they fight for survival.Brilliant.
- DirectorRay MillandStarsRay MillandJean HagenFrankie AvalonA family leaves Los Angeles for a camping trip just before hydrogen bombs destroy the city. In the midst of the chaos, the father must fight to keep his family alive along the highway.Considering the year this was done, you will need to go far to see a better post-apocalyptic movie.
- DirectorBrian GilbertStarsChristina RicciIoan GruffuddStephen DillaneAmnesiac Cassie Grant has a premonition that someone or something wants the family that's helping her recover dead. She investigates the secrets of the town they live in and uncovers darkness, both human and supernatural.Aaah Christina ;-)
- DirectorRichard SchenkmanStarsDavid Lee SmithTony ToddJohn BillingsleyAn impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he has a longer and stranger past than they can imagine.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsGregory PeckLee RemickHarvey StephensMysterious deaths surround an American ambassador. Could the child that he is raising actually be the Antichrist? The Devil's own son?Just the original. All for you Damien.
- DirectorGeoff MurphyStarsBruno LawrenceAlison RoutledgePete SmithA scientist awakens to find himself alone in the world. In a desperate attempt to search for others, he finds only two who have their own agenda.
- CreatorRussell T. DaviesStarsLesley SharpAnnabelle ApsionWilliam TravisSteven Baxter is the Son of God, and can produce the miracles to prove it. How does the world react when he announces it has to produce a Third Testament within five days, or else it's Judgment Day?
- CreatorRichard MewisStarsDougray ScottJoely RichardsonEddie IzzardWith most of the world blinded and the dangerous carnivorous Triffids set loose, it falls upon a band of scattered survivors to fight this plant invasion and the madness following.I watched both this and the original, both fine pieces of entertainment.
- DirectorJason FriedbergAaron SeltzerStarsJenn ProskeMatt LanterDiedrich BaderIn this spoof of vampire-themed movies, teenager Becca finds herself torn between two boys. She and her friends wrestle with endless dramas that crescendo at the prom.What that other vampire movie franchise never could get.
- DirectorUbaldo RagonaSidney SalkowStarsVincent PriceFranca BettoiaEmma DanieliWhen a disease turns all of humanity into the living dead, the last man on earth becomes a reluctant vampire hunter.According to sources an earlier version of I am legend. Very small budget movie but it was entertaining.
- DirectorDario PianaStarsMike VogelJaime MurrayChristina ColeAn all-American guy is murdered each day by horrifying pursuers, only to wake up in slightly different lives to experience the terror of being murdered again.For some reason I really like this movie.
- DirectorSteve BeckStarsJulianna MarguliesGabriel ByrneRon EldardA salvage crew discovers a long-lost 1962 passenger ship floating lifeless in a remote region of the Bering Sea, and soon notices that its long-dead inhabitants may still be on board.Great sound track and a very young Emily B. Might as well watch The Uninvited as well then.
- DirectorCharles GuardThomas GuardStarsEmily BrowningArielle KebbelElizabeth BanksAnna returns home after a stint in a mental hospital, but her recovery is jeopardized by her father's new girlfriend and ghastly visions of her dead mother.
- DirectorDamon ThomasStarsStephen ManganHelen BaxendaleDarren BoydEccentric private eye Dirk Gently uses 'holistic' methods, believing everything in the universe to be connected. When hired to trace elderly Ruth's missing cat, Dirk, with down-trodden sidekick MacDuff, investigates a warehouse, which houses a strange contraption, which blows up. A connection is made to a missing billionaire, Gordon Way, who has been besotted with MacDuff's girlfriend Susan for over a decade. Dirk connects the dates when Ruth acquired her cat and when Susan threw over Way to solve a puzzle involving time travel and homicide, accounting for the missing cat and billionaire as well as the disappearance of Ruth's husband.I want more!
- DirectorSean EllisStarsSean BiggerstaffEmilia FoxMichelle RyanAfter a painful breakup, Ben develops insomnia. To kill time, he starts working the late night shift at the local supermarket, where his artistic imagination runs wild.
- StarsJames LurieSteven S. RossGordon MastertonWhat would happen to planet earth if the human race were to suddenly disappear forever? Would ecosystems thrive? What remnants of our industrialized world would survive? What would crumble fastest? Life After People is a television series on which scientists, structural engineers, and other experts speculate about what might become of Earth should humanity instantly disappear.Hours and hours of fun.
- DirectorAnnabel JankelStarsTim RothKelly MacdonaldBill MilnerAfter moving with his family into a new home, a boy discovers a bird-like man living in the old garage on their property.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsSam NeillLaura DernJeff GoldblumA pragmatic paleontologist touring an almost complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park's cloned dinosaurs to run loose.Just #1 - because you can have too much of a good thing.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsBill BaileyTom WilkinsonMichael SmileyA black comedy about two 19th-century grave robbers who find a lucrative business providing cadavers for an Edinburgh medical school.Aliens, vampires, zombies (did I miss something?)
- DirectorLucy WalkerStarsGraham AllisonJames Baker IIIBruce BlairA documentary about how the likelihood of nuclear weapons (or fissile materials) usage has increased due to the rise of terrorism and lack of safeguards and verification.
- DirectorStephen KempStarsRob HartzKathleen CameronJames BrownA docudrama about a family in LA that is trying to survive the breakdown of society, law, and order after a flu pandemic kills half the people on Earth.
- DirectorAnne HendersonDonald Winkler
- DirectorJayne LoaderKevin RaffertyPierce RaffertyStarsPaul TibbetsHarry S. TrumanW.H.P. BlandyDisturbing collection of 1940s and 1950s United States government-issued propaganda films designed to reassure Americans that the atomic bomb was not a threat to their safety.
- DirectorRussell MulcahyStarsArmand AssanteRachel WardBryan BrownAfter a global nuclear war, the residents of Australia must come to terms with the fact that all life will be destroyed in a matter of months.just rewatched this - and I think a worthy entry