doomsday

"A-choo!" Uh, oh, did you just sneeze? Get away from me, you might have a sci-fi virus! In Breck Eisner's remake The Crazies, due out tomorrow, a mysterious toxin poisons the water supply of a small town, leading to insanity and death. In George A. Romero's thrilling original, released in 1973, the culprit was a virus code-named "Trixie." Developed by the government, "Trixie" was unleashed upon an unsuspecting populace and wreaked bloodshed, panic, and havoc.

Governments often get the blame for world-threatening diseases, usually concocted by military scientists with no cure in sight. It's a favorite theme in science fiction movies, creating a natural framework for near-future extrapolation, authority mocking, righteous rebellion, and murderous mayhem. And, what do you know, those are all necessary ingredients for some of our favorite flicks! Here are the top ten sci-fi movies that feature viruses. Please add your own picks in the comments sections -- let us know what we missed, and why your selection belongs in the top ten.

1. Twelve Monkeys
Brilliant, maddening, and fascinating, Terry Gilliam's film follows Bruce Willis as he is sent back in time to try and uncover clues about a virus that has killed 99% of the Earth's population. He discovers, among other things, a very excitable Brad Pitt. We get to see both pre- and post-apocalyptic visions of a world devastated by disease, and it's difficult to say which is more frightening.

We were skeptical when it was announced that Robert Rodriguez was producing a new Predator movie titled Predators, but if this very cool rumor is correct then here's a film that just shot up to the top of our Awesomeness meter. Here's Peter Martin reporting for Cinematical:

My principles may be crumbling, just a little. Neil Marshall (pictured) is in talks to direct Predators, according to Bloody Disgusting, citing an anonymous tipster. At this point, it's very much a rumor -- for all we know, Marshall was visiting a friend in the commissary at 20th Century Fox and was seen in close proximity to an executive -- but of all the possible candidates to helm a sequel to the alien hunter franchise, I'd definitely be down with Marshall.

He has three features to his credit: The Descent is the best and most widely-acclaimed, a feverish nightmare in which a group of women explore a cave and discover deadly denizens, to their dismay. I got a huge kick out of the bloody, funny, pulse-pounding Dog Soldiers, featuring Scottish soldiers on a training run who encounter werewolves, and, though I was decidedly in the minority, really enjoyed the post-Apocalyptic action epic Doomsday. The latter was his first with a Hollywood studio (Rogue Pictures). Upcoming is his "old-style swords 'n' armor action epic" Centurion, which looks promising but doesn't yet have US distribution.

Read the rest at Cinematical

Discuss: Is Neil Marshall the right man to breathe life back into this sci-fi franchise?