Lovecraft Meets Alien In Underrated Sci-Fi Horror Movie Officially Resurrected On Streaming

Published Oct 16, 2026, 1:00 PM EDT

Nick Bythrow is a Lead Writer for ScreenRant. He has been writing for the site since September 2022. He graduated from Hampshire College in 2022, where he triple majored in Journalism, Communications, and Media Studies. When he's not writing about TV and movies for ScreenRant and his blog, Frayed Branches, Nick is penning speculative fiction and poetry on Amazon. He lives outside Boston, Massachusetts.

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Lovecraft meets Alien in an underrated sci-fi horror movie released earlier this decade that's officially been resurrected on streaming. Sci-fi horror is a classic part of the genre, with Alien being just one of the most noteworthy over the last several decades. Other strong sci-fi horror movies include Event Horizon, also focused on space travel, and The Thing, which sees a group of researchers in Antarctica faced with a shape-shifting creature not of this world. But there have been some more modern movies that have left an impression on audiences too.

One such film is Underwater. Released in 2020, the movie follows a group of workers at a drilling facility six miles below the ocean's surface, who are forced to walk across the sea floor to escape water flooding into their facility. However, upon exiting into the vast dark of the sea, they're faced with dangerous creatures no one has ever seen nor heard of. Reviews for Underwater were initially mixed, scoring a 48% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it's earned more appreciation from horror fans in the years following its theatrical release.

Underwater Has Resurfaced As A Prime Video Hit

Now, six years later, Underwater has reemerged as a streaming hit, taking over Prime Video with its terrifying, isolating storyline. According to data from October 16, 2026, the sci-fi terror has become the Number 9 movie in the United States on the platform. This puts it just behind other recent streaming success stories, including the Stephen King TV film Desperation and 1982's First Winter. It's also managed to surpass John Wick: Chapter 4 on the platform, emphasizing the keen interest in the film.

Underwater's arrival on Prime Video's Top 10 comes at the perfect time, with the movie making for the perfect Halloween experience. It's both a monster movie and a disaster film, as damage done to the drilling facility is what ultimately forces the crew out into the quiet, dark depths of the ocean. This isolating experience is what makes the movie so harrowing, and explains why it's managed to leave such an important impression through a streaming resurface.

The Underrated Thriller Is Perfect For Lovecraft & Alien Fans

The thriller is not only vastly underrated, but also perfect for those who enjoy Lovecraft's literary works on the Alien movies. Much like the Xenomorphs, the creatures the crew encounters are deadly hunters, keen on tracking down and killing anyone they can. But the movie also pulls very direct inspiration from Lovecraft's work. There's a cosmic dread to the movie that only grows as the film continues, mirroring that found in Lovecraft's writing. It helps that the movie's monsters are similarly inspired, with some surprises for keen-eyed viewers too.

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Since Underwater has been trending on Prime Video, the movie appears poised to leave a strong impression on audience members into the foreseeable future. Its placement in the Top 10 makes it a sci-fi horror movie well worth watching. Since it's considered better to viewers than when it was initially released, its modern reevaluation makes it the perfect film to add to one's Halloween movie lineup as the spooky season continues.