What happens when you combine science fiction with horror? You get some of the best movies of both genres

By Don Kaye
Special to MSN Movies

Science fiction is, loosely, about the way living, thinking beings interact with the mysteries of the universe through the use of science or technology. Horror is about the emotions that all mortal beings feel when confronted with the unknown and the unexplainable. But what happens when you combine the two? Do you end up with the old "two great tastes that taste great together" scenario, or are these two flavors that should never end up in the same stew? (Note: My editor loves cooking metaphors.)

The truth is that science fiction and horror have coexisted for a long, long time, and really share the same roots. When H.G. Wells, the father of modern science fiction, wrote "The War of the Worlds," he created a story that was as frightening as it was awe-inspiring. More contemporary authors like Stephen King ("The Mist") have used pulp sci-fi as the basis for some of their best-known tales. And when it comes to movies, the two genres have been crossing into each other's territory almost since cinema was born: Just take a look at Thomas Edison's 1910 adaptation of "Frankenstein," arguably the first sci-fi/horror hybrid to ever grace the screen.

As a fan of both genres, I love the crossovers; and I know a lot of other fans do, too. There's something inescapably terrifying about facing an ancient evil in a futuristic setting or using modern science to bring something unspeakable to life. It says that even the best laid plans of the most brilliant minds, or the greatest inventions of our relatively advanced culture, still cannot map out or fathom some of the darkest depths of existence. "Pandorum," starring Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid as two astronauts who wake up to a horrifying new reality on an abandoned spaceship, is the latest sci-fi/horror hybrid to grace the screen. Here's a few more of our favorite such concoctions:

('Pandorum'/Overture Films)