I think my favorite subgenre of sci-fi films are what I would refer to as cyberpunk. On the one hand, cyberpunk is defined by its focus on 'high tech and low life,' and is concerned with IT, cyberspace, and a kind of future dystopia. I'd go further and say that, while classic sci-fi was about exploring outer space (coinciding with 20th century imperialism, mapping the world), cyberpunk is about shrinking spaces (Western decline post-Vietnam/post-Thatcher & Reagan)... So with that in mind, here are the films I have in mind:
La jetee and its remake Twelve Monkeys, Blade Runner (and Alien and Aliens as well), The Matrix, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Truman Show, Children of Men, Dark City, The Mist, Cube, Total Recall, The Terminator, Open Your Eyes (and its remake Vanilla Sky), The Last Winter, Battle Royale (Japanese sci-fi/horror film), Event Horizon...
And zombie films may be considered to be not only sci-fi films (it's usually for scientific reasons that the zombie outbreak is unleashed), but also related to the 'shrinking spaces' and 'dytopia' that I outlined above: Night of the Living Dead, 28 Days Later, Shawn of the Dead, Resident Evil, Pontypool (a Canadian zombie flick that deserves to be seen by more people), The Crazies, Bio-Zombie (a cool Hong Kong zom-com), Mulberry Street, and of course The Walking Dead...
Many Japanese and Asian horror films are concerned with ghosts using technology to haunt and work their evil: cellphones (Phone and One Missed Call), VCRs and TV (The Ring), the computer (Kairo/Pulse - my personal favorite), cameras (Shutter). In fact, Kairo starts off as a ghost film and ends with the end of the world!
Edited by jude111 - June 06 2013 at 14:14