An easy guide to 10 alien invasions

Who are they? What do they want? Why are they biting me? What does that gross, sticky bit do? Every time an alien invades planet Earth, we have the same desperate questions while we back away from their snapping mandibles. Now, using found footage (which we found on Showmax), we do our best to answer these questions so you can prep for the next big doomsday. 

Spoiler alert! Don’t cross the blue line if you’re scared of stumbling across some major plot points in these 10 alien invasion movies. 

1. Teacup Season 1

Who are our aliens? Disembodied entities like the Assassins and peaceful members of the same species like Harbinger, all of whom can possess human minds after entering their bodies through the mouth.

What do they want? The evil “visitors” want to destroy the peaceful ones, and the peaceful ones want to warn humanity about the evil ones. Those like Harbinger claim to want to turn on a machine that will be the last line of defence to protect the Earth. And those like Assassin want to trap the good Visitors and destroy them. 

How do they arrive? They fall to Earth in meteors.

Are they armed and dangerous? Not armed, but definitely dangerous. They’re able to observe people and quickly pick up mannerisms to discreetly take over bodies and minds. 

What’s their weakness? Drowning anyone suspected of hosting a Visitor will free the host from possession (provided they survive resuscitation).

How do we find out? A human who’s observed the “possession” before has recorded their observations in a notebook. So in short, the scientific method.

What gets destroyed? Our trust in one another and our communities.

The rules: Stay alert and look for shimmer in the air that signifies that an entity is leaving one body to move to the next. Isolate the infected by spraying a “blue line” around their property, creating a force field that rips anyone who crosses it inside out. 

How do people react? Naturally, we freak the heck out!

What do we learn about ourselves? How to unite with our nasty neighbours when faced with a common threat.

2. Resident Alien Season 1-3

Who are our aliens? We have multiple species! The Octopus-like Irvelian known as Harry (Alan Tudyk) has adopted human form, then there are the technically superior classic butt-probing aliens the Greys, the Alpha Draconians, the desirable (to Harry) blue Avians, the blue Acturians, and the ever-hungry insectile-humanoid Mantids.

What do they want? Harry starts the series on a mission to wipe out human life on Earth as an alien form of gentrification. But his species are battling the Greys, who have the same goal for every planet across the universe, but are going about it somewhat differently. The Greys are creating a human hybrid species but later work to alter Earth’s atmosphere to make it more suitable for their species. Meanwhile, the Alpha Draconians just want to destroy the Earth entirely (maybe).

How do they arrive? “Harry” arrives on Earth from the Mizar/Alcor system when his spaceship is struck by lightning. The Greys also have spaceships, but theirs are much more advanced, so there. 

Are they armed and dangerous? They’re near-immortal shapeshifters with superhuman strength, durability, and agility as well as advanced intelligence, and the power to alter or remove human memories. And they can use any weapon that a human can, if they can be bothered. 

What’s their weakness? Their arrogance about humanity and their neverending beef with other alien species … along with their reluctant curiosity about Earth customs. Since the Irvelians aren’t used to experiencing emotions, directly mimicking human form on a molecular level makes Harry vulnerable to developing inconvenient emotions of his own. 

How do we find out? A child is able to see through Harry’s disguise because he has a relatively rare genetic trait that allows him to see through molecular reconstruction.

What gets destroyed? Slowly but surely, human goodness and weirdness destroy Harry’s willingness to complete his mission. 

The rules: Be too interesting, fearless and kind to wipe out. Apparently the ancient Irvelians originally helped human civilisations to advance, and only left the planet when humans became more fearful of them, and of each other. 

How do people react? With rampant curiosity and friendship!

What do we learn about ourselves along the way? The only thing between humanity and alien destruction is our ability to take weirdness in stride, and even enjoy it.

3. Men in Black

Who are our aliens? Earth is a diplomatic waystation between planets, so the Men in Black like Agents K (Tommy Lee Jones) and J (Will Smith) need to be on their toes to play peacekeeper for every species that makes its way to our planet, whether as a refugee, or a diplomat. But in the original film the main villain is a vicious “interstellar cockroach” or Bug.

What do they want? The Bug is on Earth to get its mandibles on a weapon that could give it multiple legs-up on winning a galactic war, allowing it to colonise more planets to feed its hungry family. In the words of Agent K, “Bugs thrive on carnage, tiger. They consume, infest, destroy, live off the death and destruction of other species.”

How do they arrive? They crashland their spaceship on a farm, and for disguise, they kill and eat a farmer named Edgar (Vincent D’Onofrio) before wearing his remains as a slowly-decaying skin suit.

Are they armed and dangerous? They’re at least six-armed! And yes, they are extremely dangerous, resilient and determined, especially once they have access to weapons. 

What’s their weakness? It turns out wearing a human body turns it into a flesh prison. And you can throw them into a rage with just that squishy crunch you make by stepping on a roach. Thanks to its resilient, true bug-like armour, the best way to destroy it is from the inside. 

How do we find out? By accident, honestly (squish, “Whoops, was that your auntie?”) and yes, thanks to agents J and K refusing to give up hope. 

What gets destroyed? Earth’s polar ice caps, and the observatory towers in New York’s Flushing Meadow Park.

The rules: According to the Arquillian fleet, once a Bug arrives on a planet, the only way to get rid of it for sure is to nuke that planet from orbit. So unless J and K can kill the Bug within their deadline, we’re all toast crumbs. 

How do people react? Like dumb, panicky animals until Agent K and J use the mind messer-upper thingy, the Neuralyzer, to make them forget.

What do we learn about ourselves along the way? That there’s nothing human determination can’t accomplish … and that supermarket tabloids have the real tea about our alien invasion status. 

4. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

Who are our aliens? Scientifically advanced and hyper-intelligent nameless, lumpy, brown creatures with long necks, huge eyes and glowing fingers. They have advanced technology and healing touch, and communicate through gestures. 

What do they want? Originally, simply to study Earth’s plants. And then for the one who misses his ride home, to “phone home” and get his team to return and pick him up.

How do they arrive? In ball-shaped spaceships.

Are they armed and dangerous? No, they’re botanists on a peaceful mission. 

What’s their weakness? Metaphorically, delicious chocolate. Physically, loneliness. The longer he’s cut off from his people, the sicker ET becomes. He’s able to stave off some of the ill effects by telepathically bonding with 10-year-old Elliott (Henry Thomas), the boy who gives him shelter. But it’s not enough, and both the boy and the alien become increasingly ill. 

How do we find out? Well, unfortunately, when ET falls into the hands of the authorities, their first act is to completely isolate him, which makes him even sicker. And the medical meddling that is motivated more out of fear and curiosity than compassion speeds him even closer to death. 

What gets destroyed? Kids’ belief in grown-ups always being right and good. The US Military’s reputation (which had more of a standing back in the 1980s). No landmarks were harmed in the making of this film. 

The rules: Be kind, compassionate and take care of the impact your actions have on those around you. Also, to step in when others are causing harm, even when you feel small and feel powerless. 

How do people react? The adults freak out and react with violence and suspicion, as well as curious greed, but the kids are kind and gentle, giving ET a home, caring for him, hiding him from potential abusers.

What do we learn about ourselves along the way? We should distrust the military’s intentions and morals, and make friends with aliens instead. 

5. Cloverfield

Who are our aliens? Nicknamed Clover, this gigantic sea creature comes from goodness knows where. We blame an experiment with a particle accelerator in 2028 bringing creatures from alternate dimensions back in time to Earth. The Cloverfield film gives us just one monster, while another film in the franchise, 10 Cloverfield Lane, brings in actual spaceship-style aliens thanks to the same mess up.

What do they want? We don’t know! Cloverfield is a “found footage” film documenting civilians’ lives during the first five hours and 57-minutes of Clover’s attacks on the city. The average civilian is pretty confused, and odds are the monster is, too, since it tries to eat the Statue of Liberty.

How do they arrive? A piece of footage shown at the end of the film shows an object falling from the sky into the ocean one month before the attack. But it seems this newly fledged monster was happily living its best life, hibernating in the Atlantic Ocean, when it was disturbed by the Tagruato company’s mining operations and submarines. Then it went on the rampage through New York.

Are they armed and dangerous? Well, it’s massive and angry, so there’s that. Even worse, it scatters around 2 000 of its scuttling, dog-sized parasites, which go around biting people, making them vomit blood before exploding. Just gross and weird.

What’s their weakness? Nuclear weapons and military arsenal. 

How do we find out? Wanna guess? For once the military’s might works in an alien invasion film!

What gets destroyed? New York City. The statue of Liberty gets decapitated, the Brooklyn Bridge collapses, and the military destroys Manhattan to take out the monster.

The rules: Ruuuuuunnnnnn! Oh, and be lucky.

How do people react? Pants-wetting terror and confusion, like being at Ground Zero during 9/11 (Cloverfield was released in 2008).

What do we learn about ourselves along the way? That stuff we are doing in the ocean is going to come back to bite us, literally. And the people causing the biggest problem are going to lie and kill to cover it up.

6. A Quiet Place: Day One

Who are our aliens? The so-called Death Angels are an invasive species of  aliens that hunt by sound. 

What do they want? These aliens want things the way that sharks and crocodiles want things. They’re perfectly evolved predators with no greater agenda than feasting on Earth’s delicious and noisy bounty. They don’t eat humans because we’re not nutritious to them. Instead they’ve brought along spider-like “egg sacs” filled with a fungus they eat. And they use human (and animal) corpses as their fungus fertiliser. 

How do they arrive? On and inside asteroids that are the remains of their exploded planet. Their armour allows them to travel through space without harm. 

Are they armed and dangerous? These human-sized aliens are almost invulnerable thanks to their natural armour. They’re strong enough to smash through solid wooden doors, they can leap like fleas, scamper up and leap down from vertical walls at high speed. Their creepy long arms are strong enough to throw cars, and snatch up their human prey.

What’s their weakness? They cannot swim, and loud, shrill sounds send them into spasms that expose the flesh that’s normally covered by their exoskeleton plates. But if you make a loud, shrill sound, they will attack in mass to destroy the source. 

How do we find out? Bitter experience and watching noisy people get torn to shreds, along with the military shouting instructions from helicopters. 

What gets destroyed? New York City, Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge, and so forth. Between the meteorite impacts, aliens and the military, it’s a pile of junk by the end of the film. 

The rules: This is the tricky part. It’s Day One, so nobody knows and we’re getting into the deadly process of observation, trial, and error. The fact that they hunt based on sound is soon painfully obvious.

How do people react? It’s a city-wide stampede! And the military is ready to bomb New York City to rubble just to stop the threat spreading. Bedbugs, times a million.

What do we learn about ourselves along the way? What it’s like to be hunted again. Also? Don’t try to dodge the noise-monsters by cramming together in a big crowd. This feels like common sense, but here we are.

7. District 9

Who are our aliens? These outer space refugees from an advanced civilisation get nicknamed Prawns thanks to their exoskeletons and wiggly bits. 

What do they want? The majority of the Prawns who wind up stuck on Earth are just workers, who’d like to go back into space and escape the hell on Earth that South Africa’s xenophobic apartheid government has created for them in their District 9 concentration camp. 

How do they arrive? In 1982, a spaceship hovers over the city of Johannesburg but its one million occupants show no sign of fighting and seem sick and confused.

Are they armed and dangerous? When they have access to their genetically coded weaponry, yes. They’re able to use energy weapons and powerful mechanised suits. They also have access to a mutagenic liquid that will turn anyone affected by it into a member of their species.

What’s their weakness? They find cat food addictive and will rob themselves blind to get more of it. But mainly their weakness seems to be their purposelessness and confusion. 

How do we find out? Despite having superior technology, they’re swiftly overwhelmed by the military and remain stranded on Earth.

What gets destroyed? The government is plotting to “relocate” the Prawns to a new camp, District 10, while bulldozing District 9 to further demoralise them. 

The rules: In this case, it’s the Prawns who have to survive South Africa’s brutal and oppressive regime while holding out hope for rescue. 

How do people react? With disgust, fear, hostility, othering, oppression, vivisection, and attempts to humiliate and denigrate.

What do we learn about ourselves along the way? There’s nothing more truly dehumanising than treating others as inferior. Or alien.

8. Pacific Rim: Uprising

Who are our aliens? The strange, gigantic beasts known as Kaiju, like the Category IV Kaiju Shrikethorn and Hakuja, and Category V Kaiju Raijin. 

What do they want? The Kaiju are spawned in the Anteverse, and are created as warriors by a race known as the Precursors, who are using them to terraform and colonise the Earth. In Uprising, set in 2034, we see cross-breeds between human technology and Kaiju minds emerge as a corrupt inventor at the Shao weapons company, which manufactures Jaeger “drones”, powered by Kaiju brains, in an effort to open portals to allow more Kaiju to attack Earth. These drones can assemble to form a mega-Kaiju.

How do they arrive? Kaiju arrive through a transdimensional portal beneath the Pacific Ocean. 

Are they armed and dangerous? Kaiju are massive, city destroying entities with a range of offensive powers. Shrikethorn can launch spines from both of its tails as projectile weapons, as well as producing plasma. The alligator-like Hajuka is covered in plate armour and burrows underground with its shovel-like head. It can batter opponents with its spiked tail. Even its blood, which is as hot as molten rock, is dangerous. Raijin looks more like a T-Rex but has an “electric” jaw with an outsized bite strength, along with the ability to absorb kinetic energy and redirect the force for its own attacks. 

What’s their weakness? Coordinated attacks and human ingenuity, along with studies of Kaiju biology and mind-melding with Kaiju brains to understand their goals. 

How do we find out? Through a lot of people dying before humanity is able to build the Jaegers. 

What gets destroyed? They have a taste for famous landmarks so in this film, the Kaiju head for Mount Fuji, where they hope to set off a series of volcanic eruptions throughout the Pacific Ring of Fire and flatten the city of MegaTokyo.

The rules: Seal the entrance to the portal while fighting off the Kaiju using massive mechanised suits called Jaegers operated by mind-melded human pilots. 

How do people react? Life goes on in the ruins of civilisation, but now everyone has major PTSD and nobody can enjoy an innocent trip to the beach anymore. 

What do we learn about ourselves along the way? For some humans, it’s our first experience of the terror and despair of colonisation. 

9. Gremlins

Who are our aliens? Break the rules, and the cute, fuzzy, friendly Mogwai starts reproducing, popping out furry pods that hatch in the grossest, gooeyest way possible into numerous evil Mogwai, which then form cocoons before hatching out as evil scaly creatures called Gremlins. The warning is the name: Mogwai is supposedly Cantonese for demon or evil spirit.

What do they want? While Mogwai just wants food, friendship and cuddles, the Gremlins have a twisted sense of humour about death and destruction, literally living for the chaos as they try to breed more Gremlins. The Gremlins seem to be naturally evil. 

How do they arrive? The original Gremlin, the Mogwai, is originally an under-the-counter item in Mr Wing’s curiosity shop. The rest is shrouded in mystery (at least in this film). But what we do know is that the Mogwai were created as peaceful galactic diplomats. Hence the cute overload.

Are they armed and dangerous? If they’re not armed to start with, they soon will be! A Gremlin is cheerfully inventive with everything from microwaves to chainsaws to dynamite. But their most dangerous weapons are their strategic minds.

What’s their weakness? Bright light will kill them.

How do we find out? It’s right there in the rules!

What gets destroyed? 1980sAmerican suburbia and the spirit of Christmas. 

The rules: Unless you enjoy chaos and death, don’t get a Mogwai wet, don’t expose them to bright lights or sunlight, and never feed them after midnight. If you’re facing a Gremlin, hide at night and attack in daylight. And seek out their nests to dispatch their “cocoons”.

How do people react? The Mogwai gets an aww cute. The Gremlin gets the kind of fascination we show to ugly dogs … until it starts attacking. This is not your little buddy.

What do we learn about ourselves along the way? Humans might not be ready for the responsibility of following the rules with a Mogwai. We are a careless bunch. Also, isn’t it always midnight somewhere? When does it stop being “after midnight”?

10. Arcadian

Who are our aliens? Perhaps the question should be, where are they? This nameless creature lurks in the darkness. Shine a light on it as it looks like an adult-sized toy coverd in shower drain hair. It’s just all kinds of wrong. 

What do they want? To eat all the tasty human treats with its clicky-clacky mouthparts..

How do they arrive? We have no internet, no newspapers and no idea! They’re just out there, crunching and munching. 

Are they armed and dangerous? They have eerily long spaghetti arms with dangerous claws that are sharp and strong enough to leave gouges in metal. As a bonus horror, they can fit through alarmingly small holes by compressing their body like an octopus. The only thing limiting that adaptation could be the size of their teeth, which are formidable. You never know quite what to expect, either, as it has some strange tricks up its hairy sleeves. 

What’s their weakness? They can only hunt in darkness, using huge night-vision eyes and keen hearing. So they’re vulnerable to light. They can also be killed with ordinary Earth weapons.

How do we find out? People only getting eaten at night is a fairly substantial clue.

What gets destroyed? Human civilisation. The movie starts us off in a post-apocalypse world. 

The rules: Barricade yourself indoors, reinforce the floors, and avoid going into dark places. 

How do people react? With “what is that thing” shock as we try to make sense of its fairly silly-looking body, since filmmaker Ben Brewer used the Disney character Goofy as a jumping off point. The confusion of looking into its face will lose you that essential reaction time you need to escape. 

What do we learn about ourselves along the way? Civilisation is a thin veneer that requires constant (but worthwhile) maintenance.