Angry aliens bring death from above back to Earth in the new film Independence Day: Resurgence, almost 20 years to the day after the original Independence Day invaded multiplexes. While the original Independence Day may have upped the CGI ante – the infamous trailer with the exploding White House sparked rock-concert cheers from enthusiastic audiences – it's just part of a long, terror-inducing line of dyspeptic extraterrestrials trying to take down humanity.

Contact with other worlds has been a staple of cinematic science fiction, going all the way back to A Trip to the Moon in 1902. But the genre mushroomed in popularity in post-World War II, B-movie America, mirroring the growing fascination with outer space while also tapping into the jitters about Cold War conflict, nuclear annihilation and shifting geo-politics. Creative special effects, nerve-jangling suspense and, occasionally, a sense of humour help make the best of these films – disturbing nightmares cranked out by the Hollywood dream machine – mandatory viewing.

In honour of the 20 years since Independence Day, here are 20 essential alien-invasion movies other than ID itself – which really isn't a very good movie though, after grossing more than an estimated $US143 million ($192 million) worldwide, it's certainly a landmark one.

Not included are those about super-friendly aliens (E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind), unfriendly aliens in space/on other planets (much of the Alien franchise) or superhero/comic-book extravaganzas such as Superman II or Transformers (those deserve their own, separate list). If you're not looking up to the sky in fear after watching these, then maybe you are the alien.

#1 Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) – Based on a novel by Jack Finney, this chilling tale of think-alike pod people taking over the bodies of your family and friends so they look familiar on the outside but are as cold and foreign as Siberian ice on the inside has been championed by both those on the left (as a critique of conformity), the right (as a critique of collectivism) and those who just like a frightening story well-told. The film's growing panic and paranoia is perfectly capped by a downbeat "you're next" ending. It has been re-made three times, most recently with an unwatchable version starring Nicole Kidman in 2007, but the original is the best.

Still from the 1956 movie, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

#2 The Day the Earth Stood Still (1953) – Klaatu and his watchful robot Gort may have come in peace but they have a sobering message to deliver: If humans don't change their ways, Earth will be blown to pieces. More thoughtful than much of the monster-of-the-week science-fiction of the era, it's ultimately less about killing us than uplifting us. It's now considered a classic.

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951). Directed by Robert Wise and starring Gort the Robot, Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) and Klaatu (Michael Rennie). Photo: Publicity

#3 Men In Black (1997) – Alien invasions don't have to be frightening. They can be funny, too, as this adventure-comedy with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones proved. As agents working for a secret organisation that polices undercover aliens among us, they have a tough and sometimes slimy job but someone's gotta do it. The film won an Oscar (for make-up) and spawned two sequels and an animated series.

Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in Men in Black.

#4 The Thing (1983) – John Carpenter's masterful exercise in suspense and horror starring Kurt Russell is a riff on the Body Snatchers idea. Researchers at an Antarctic station are confronted by an alien that can absorb other life forms and then mimic them. Not only do they have to figure out how to survive, but stop it from reaching civilisation. Though some critics dismissed it at the time, it has since been re-evaluated.

The Thing

#5 War of the Worlds (2005) – In the original 1953 film, based on the classic novel by H.G. Wells, "Earth is attacked by Martians" is emblematic of the invasion films of the '50s. What's more iconic of the time than flying saucers with death rays? But Steven Spielberg's remake, starring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning, cranked up the tension and the terror, not to mention the special effects. For those waiting for Spielberg to give us the flip side of E.T., War of the Worlds delivered.

Tim Robbins, Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning star in Steven Spielberg's War Of The Worlds. Photo: Andrew Cooper.

#6 District 9 (2009) – Until recently, alien invasions were generally viewed through an American lens. Despite the requisite shots of extraterrestrial craft flying over landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, most films depicted aliens as mostly being interested in the US, and white Americans specifically. South African director Neill Blomkamp turned that idea on its head with this gripping story about insect-like bipeds coming to his country not to wage war but seeking refuge. They get it but are forced to live separately in shanty towns, reviled by both blacks and whites. The parallels to both apartheid and global immigration aren't subtle, but thanks to a terrific performance from Sharlto Copley and Blomkamp's visual style, District 9 succeeds.

District 9 moved the alien action away from the US to South Africa. Photo: Supplied

#7 The Blob (1956) – Teenagers and aliens were a potent, campy combo back in the '50s and no more so than in this ultimate B-movie starring a very young Steve McQueen about a weird substance from space that devours everything in its path. The bowling-alley and movie-theatre sequences alone are enough to make it worthwhile. That it was released on a double bill with I Married a Monster from Outer Space and showcased a young songwriter named Burt Bacharach, who co-wrote a song for it, is just icing on a very tasty pop-culture cake.

The Blob.

#8 They Live (1988) – John Carpenter returned to his theme of people not being who you think they are in this smart satire on mass media manipulation and consumerism. Roddy Piper plays a man who stumbles across a pair of glasses that reveal the evil subliminal forces at work in everyday life. What seem like harmless ads really just say "Obey" while those in power are actually hideous aliens.

Roddy Piper starring in They Live. Photo: Picasa

#9 Attack the Block (2011) – Much as Blomkamp did with District 9, British director Joe Cornish took the alien-invasion tropes and craftily dropped them into a new context: low-income blocks of flats in South London. Heading up the teenage toughs fighting off the incursion is John Boyega (who would go on to Star Wars: The Force Awakens). Alternately frightening and funny, Attack the Block is as nimble and fleet-footed as its young cast. 

Attack the Block alien-invasion movie.

#10 Predator (1987) – This one has got it all: a really mean, ugly alien who can't be reasoned with; Arnold Schwarzenegger at his most invincible; and some pummelling action scenes from director John McTiernan, who would direct Die Hard the following year. There's nothing subtle or metaphorical about this one. It's simply kill or be killed – rarely a bad thing when it comes to alien-invasion movies.

The Predator: There's no reasoning with this guy. Photo: Supplied

#11 Edge of Tomorrow (2014) – Groundhog Day meets Independence Day in this surprisingly smart and terrific thriller about a soldier's repeated attempts to thwart the aliens. Featuring an unexpectedly funny and vulnerable performance from Tom Cruise and a strong turn from Emily Blunt, as well as some solid action set-pieces, it's a joyride from start to finish.

Emily Blunt  and Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow.

#12 Monsters (2010) – Before he re-imagined Godzilla in 2014 and was signed to do the coming Star Wars spinoff Rogue One, British director Gareth Edwards made his mark with this promising, low-budget thriller. Set in the years after aliens have landed in the Mexican desert near the American border, turning the entire area into an "infected zone" and forcing the US to drop bombs and build a large wall, a journalist (Scoot McNairy) has to get his employer's daughter (Whitney Able) safely back to the US from Mexico. Though obvious in its allusions to issues of immigration, drug cartels and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's an absorbing tale that was partially shot in Galveston amid the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Ike. 

Monsters with photo-journalist Kaulder (Scoot McNairy) trying to help Sam (Whitney Able) get back to the USA.

#13 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) – This kinda-sorta-but-not-really sequel to the 2008 invasion movie Cloverfield divided audiences because, for most of its running time, it's about a woman (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) trapped in a house with a threatening loner (John Goodman). For some, the alien element seems to come out of the blue from a different film. But, taken as part of the Cloverfield universe, it's not so strange. On top of that, the film's suspenseful intensity – and the actors' persuasive performances – are hard to resist. 

John Goodman as Howard; Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Michelle; and John Gallagher Jnr as Emmett in 10 Cloverfield Lane: Full of suspenseful intensity. Photo: Paramount

#14 Signs (2002) – M. Night Shyamalan's last really good film before his well-chronicled string of disappointments is set on a farm where a family, headed by a dad played by Mel Gibson, finds itself dealing with an influx of aliens. Featuring a good performance from Gibson, Signs is suspenseful and well-crafted. 

Left to right: Rory Culkin, Mel Gibson, Abigail Breslin, and Joaquin Phoenix star in Signs, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan,. Photo: Touchstone Pictures.

#15 The Andromeda Strain (1971) – Based on the Michael Crichton bestseller and with effects from Douglas Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Tree of Life), this is a sweat-soaked exercise in claustrophobia about scientists trying to unlock the secrets of a killer alien organism. It's slow but the payoff is worth it. It was made into a miniseries in 2008.

Still from the science-fiction film The Andromeda Strain.

#16 Pacific Rim (2013) – Guillermo del Toro's tribute to monster and robot movies is a big, impressive spectacle starring a commanding Idris Elba as a military leader waging war against the undersea monsters that have arrived here through an inter-dimensional portal. I hate when that happens. A sequel, Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, is in the works. 

Charlie Hunnam as Raleigh Beckett and Rinko Kikuchi and Mako Mori in Pacific Rim.

#17 The Day of the Triffids (1963) – A meteor shower that blinds much of the population is just the beginning of an invasion of alien plants intent on domination. While it may not hold up as well as similar films from the era, it has its share of affecting moments. In 2009, it was revived as a TV miniseries with Vanessa Redgrave and Eddie Izzard. 

The Day of the Triffids based on the novel by John Wyndham. Photo: Allied Artists Pictures

#18 The Faculty (1998) – Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids) and writer Kevin Williamson (Scream, The Vampire Diaries) have a lot of fun with the premise: high-school kids discover that all of their teachers have been taken over by aliens. It sports a great cast (Salma Hayek, Josh Hartnett, Usher, Elijah Wood, Robert Patrick, Bebe Neuwirth, Piper Laurie, Shawn Hatosy and Jon Stewart as a science teacher who gets stabbed in the eye) and a spirited tongue-in-cheek sensibility. 

The Faculty starring Salma Hayek, Josh Hartnett, Usher, Elijah Wood, Robert Patrick, Bebe Neuwirth, Piper Laurie, Shawn Hatosy and Jon Stewart as a science teacher.

#19 Under the Skin (2014) – Scarlett Johansson stars in this disturbing story of an alien who has taken the form of a beautiful (and often naked) young woman who is the modern personification of the poetic sirens of lore: a woman who lures men to their untimely deaths. Enigmatic, haunting and unexpectedly quiet – there are long moments of wordlessness – Jonathan Glazer's handsomely shot film is thin on plot and doesn't give up its answers easily. Yet, as a whole, it's mesmerising.

Scarlett Johansson in a scene from Under the Skin. Photo: AP/A24 Films

#20 The World's End (2013) – This comedic take-off on invasion films from director Edgar Wright which stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost isn't nearly as successful or engaging as their zombie parody, the classic Shaun of the Dead from 2004. But it has enough amusing moments – as well as a killer '90s Britpop soundtrack including the Stone Roses and the Soup Dragons – that it's always pleasantly entertaining.

The World's End director Edgar Wright, centre with stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Photo: Angela Wylie

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Independence Day: Resurgence is in cinemas now.