Hell (2011)
Earth After a Catastrophic Rise in Global Temperature
A Roland Emmerich produced film that takes place in a future that has been catastrophically affected by a ten-degree rise in temperatures worldwide
After the Holocaust
After the Holocaust, Post-Holocaust or Post-Apocalyptic Films refer to works that depict survival in the aftermath of the collapse of civilisation.
This is most commonly seen as being caused by worldwide nuclear war. Other works are set in the aftermath of pandemics, while more recent years have popularised the zombie holocaust and global warming/environmentally devastation scenarios, while many other works take place after an unspecified apocalypse.
The genre began as long ago as the silent era but was popularised in the 1950s. The 1980s and the success of Mad Max 2 (1981) brought a large outpouring of action films that took place in the post-holocaust venue. The 2000s saw the move away from action towards a focus on harsh survivalism.
This refers to films that take place in the aftermath of social collapse. For works that depict the collapse and its immediate aftermath see Nuclear War, Plague and Pandemic and Catastrophe.
Hell Comes to Frogtown (1987)
Tongue-in-Cheek Post-Holocaust
Madcap film that offers a wacky take on the post-apocalyptic action film with Roddy Piper as one of the last fertile men in a world that has been overrun by mutant frogs
Here Alone (2016)
Survival After a Plague Outbreak/Social Collapse
Beautifully filmed, intimate work about a woman’s attempts to eke out survival in the woods in the aftermath of an unspecified apocalypse
The Heroic Trio II: Executioners (1993)
Hong Kong Superheroines
A disappointing sequel to the madcap Hong Kong superheroines film. This reunites the principal cast members but seems to miss all the fun of its predecessor
Highlander: The Search for Vengeance (2007)
Immortal Combat/Anime
The Highlander series conducts an anime variant on the franchise set in a post-apocalyptic future. Co-directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri of Ninja Scroll fame who adds some highly stylised moves
The History of Metal and Horror (2022)
Horror and Heavy Metal Documentary
A documentary that explores the intersection between heavy metal music and horror and the frequently intertwined relationship of the two
I Am Legend (2007)
Last Man on Earth vs Mutants
The third film version of Richard Matheson’s book is only a remake of the previous version The Omega Man. Crucially, this throws out the essence of the book for a far less interesting piece about Will Smith fighting mutants in the ruins
I Am Mother (2019)
Survival Shelter Drama
A unique and original fallout shelter drama from Australia that sits in an interesting place of ambiguity. What makes the film stand out is its unique robot design
I Am Omega (2007)
Last Man on Earth vs Zombies
A mockbuster from The Asylum that was intended to capitalise on the release of I Am Legend and in fact gets much more of the essence of the original Richard Matheson novel than the official film did
I ♥ Robots (2024)
After the Robot Apocalypse
An amateur-looking film set after the robot apocalypse concerning a girl and her friendly robot who must make a journey across the wasteland. This at least boasts some well-integrated robot effects
I Think We’re Alone Now (2018)
Oddball Friendship After the Apocalypse
Set in the aftermath of an unspecified apocalypse, this is a film about the oddball friendship that grows between misanthropic Peter Dinklage and pixie-ish Elle Fanning
In the Lost Lands (2025)
Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy Quest
Paul W.S. Anderson adapts a George R.R. Martin fantasy story but somehow still manages to make it into another Resident Evil copy still starring Milla Jovovich
Io (2019)
Environmentally Devastated Future
Despite the title, this is not set on Jupiter’s moon but is strictly earthbound. It is one of the new genre of Cli-Fii (or Climate Fiction) works set in an interesting environmentally devastated future
Iron Girl: Ultimate Weapon (2015)
Cyborg Bounty Hunter
A Japanese film about a cyborg-enhanced bounty hunter chick, the second in a series. This is sort of like RoboCop but played with a much more softcore focus
La Jetee (1962)
French New Wave/Time Paradox
Chris Marker’s celebrated 28 minute time paradox film, an experimental work that was made at the height of the French New Wave. This later became the basis of Terry Gilliam’s Twelve Monkeys
Journey to the Center of Time (1967)
Time Travel
A very cheaply made film (actually a remake of The Time Travelers) about a research laboratory propelled through time. Most of the historical scenes are represented by stock footage
Judge Dredd (1995)
Comic-Book Adaptation/Future Law Enforcement Officer
The film adaptation of the cult comic-book looks great in terms of design but misses the comic’s satiric sense of humour and simply becomes a thudding Sylvester Stallone action vehicle
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Two (2024)
Animation/Comic-Book Superheroes
The second part of the epic three film animated adaptation of the classic DC Comics title Crisis on Infinite Earths concerning a battle across the DC multiverse
Karate Cop (1993)
Post-Holocaust Action
A really cheap and unconvincing post-apocalyptic action film starring forgotten martial arts star Ron Marchini as a lawman fighting off mutant crazies to obtain a power crystal
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)
Planet of the Apes Sequel
A fourth entry in the Planet of the Apes reboot saga. The previous two entries hit incredible heights in terms of motion capture performances but this still a solid entry that holds up well
Knights (1993)
Post-Holocaust Kickboxing Cyborgs
Another of Albert Pyun’s post-apocalyptic kickboxing cyborg films. The film consists of almost nothing but action scenes as pint-size Kathy Long and a cyborg Kris Kristofferson battle warlord Lance Henriksen
Land of the Dead (2005)
Zombies
George Romero’s return to the zombie genre after twenty years, after others starting remaking and homaging his films. Romero still makes potent social metaphors but the gory extremes of his earlier films seem tamed down
The Last Boy (2019)
Mystical Quest After the Collapse of Society
Low-budget film set following the collapse of society about a boy who goes on a quest for the place where wishes can be fulfilled
The Last Man on Earth (1964)
Last Man on Earth vs Vampires
The first adaptation of Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend and the only one faithful to the novel with Vincent Price as the last man alive facing vampires outside his door
The Last Scout (2017)
Space Expedition
British SF film about the last survivors of Earth on an expedition to find new planet to make home. This manages to do some reasonable things on a low budget
Last Sentinel (2023)
Drowned Future
Film set in a Waterworld styled drowned future aboard a mid-ocean platform between two warring sides. A film that almost entirely exists in terms of finely tuned psychological tensions
The Last Train (1999)
Train Crash Survivors Emerge into a Post-Apocalyptic World
A British tv mini-series where a group of people in a regular train carriage go into suspended animation and emerge fifty years later to find a devastated world
Lazareth (2024)
Post-Pandemic Future
A film set in a post-pandemic future, this features Ashley Judd and daughters living in isolation on their own who are suddenly forced to welcome a stranger into their house
The Lego Movie 2 (2019)
Animation/Adventures in the Lego Universe
Sequel to The Lego Movie. This time the idea of the Lego universe, the crossovers and fourth-wall breaking gags are not as fresh but this still gets good mileage out of them
Light of My Life (2019)
The Aftermath of a Plague That Has Killed All Women
Casey Affleck directs, writes and stars in a surprisingly good film – a small, intimate tale of survival set in a world where a pandemic has wiped out all women but one man’s daughter
Logan’s Run (1976)
Dystopian Future
Dystopian SF mounted on a big budget by people that don’t have a clue what they are doing. This creates one of prettiest depictions of the future of any film of this era but it is only a surface deep depiction
The Lonely Man with the Ghost Machine (2024)
Last Man on Earth
Graham Skipper directs/writes/stars in a film about the last man on Earth trying to bring his wife’s ghost back from the dead while beset by an entity that has devoured the rest of humanity and just wants to be his friend
Lost City Raiders (2008)
Tomb Raiding Adventures in a Drowned Future
A conceptually peculiar mix of Indiana Jones and Waterworld about tomb raiding adventures in a drowned future and the quest for Moses’s staff to turn back the rising waters
The Lost Future (2010)
Post-Holocaust Cavemen
This feels like a remake of the Roger Corman post-holocaust cavemen cheapie Teenage Caveman. It cannot escape that at heart it is never more than a B movie about caveman fighting mutants
Love and Monsters (2020)
Journey Across a Post-Apocalyptic World of Giant Animals
A nerdy guy sets out across a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with giant animals to be with the girl of his dreams. This sound promising in description but suffers an identity crisis on screen
LunarCop (1995)
Post-Holocaust Action
Low-budget Mad Max copycat with Michael Paré as an officer from the lunar colony who comes down to Earth to take on the marauders of the post-apocalyptic wasteland
Mad Max 2 (1981)
Post-Holocaust Action
A sequel that makes an extraordinary leap over its predecessor. It created an entire genre of films – even its own design and clothing aesthetic – and is one of the most kinetic, exciting action films ever made
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
Post-Holocaust Action
The third of the Mad Max films sees the series becoming increasingly more mainstream in focus, along with the conscious resignation that it is impossible to top the previous film
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Post-Holocaust Action
30 years in the making and the results are sensational. An action film so relentlessly foot-to-the-floor and full of kinetic wildness that it blows all its contemporaries away and sets the bar anew
Malevil (1981)
Nuclear War
An entry in the spate of early 1980s nuclear war films about the residents of a French village who are sheltered in a wine cellar when the bomb drops and their efforts to survive in the aftermath
Manborg (2011)
Cyborg Hero/Deliberately Bad SF Film
A miracle of no-budget filmmaking made on a budget of $1000. A homage/parody of 80s/90s cyborg action films with some extremely accomplished effects posing and a sidesplitting ear for the era’s dialogue
The Martian Chronicles (1980)
Human Colonisation of Mars/Ray Bradbury Adaptation
Ray Bradbury’s book about the human colonisation of Mars is an SF classic for its wistful, nostalgic poetry. This tv mini-series adaptation is killed by a lumbering director who over-explains Bradbury’s imagery in the most literal ways
The Maze Runner (2014)
Young Adult/Maze World/Conceptual Breakthrough Story
One of the better among the current fad for Young Adult dystopian SF works post-The Hunger Games. This dispenses with dystopian Coming of Age stories and gives us a fascinating conceptual mystery even if the answers prove underwhelming
Mindwarp (1992)
Post-Holocaust/Virtual Reality
One of three films produced by Fangoria magazine, this takes place in a post-holocaust wasteland of crazies and is certainly gore-drenched but unfortunately only churns cliches
Morlocks (2011)
Mutant Monsters/Time Portal
Not as you might assume an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine but another cheap and tatty Syfy Channel production that grafts Wells’ Morlocks onto the formula for their typical monster movie
Mortal Engines (2018)
Post-Holocaust World of Mobile Cities
Peter Jackson written-produced film that creates a fascinatingly original world. As always with a Jackson film, all the fun is in the massively scaled effects sequences and the design of the world. Alas, Jackson is not as well attuned in the story department, which often drags up corny cliched scenes
Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022)
Animation/Interdimensional Combat/Videogame Adaptation
The third of the Mortal Kombat animated films. This abandons inter-dimensional kombat and takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, focused around the blind swordsman Kenshi
Mother/Android (2021)
After the Android Apocalypse
A directorial outing from Mattson Tomlin, a screenwriter on the rise of recent, Chloe Grace Moretz is a pregnant woman struggling to survive in the aftermath of the android rebellion
Mutant Chronicles (2008)
Future War With the Mutants
Long-planned project that creates an interesting future scenario, epic action, an array of Dirty Dozen characters but emerges as surprisingly trivial
Nausicaa in the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Anime/Post-Holocaust Environmentalism
Hayao Miyazaki’s second film, a visually stunning work set in the aftermath of a holocaust. Miyazai’s frequent themes of pacifism and respect for the environment and run through building to a emotionally wrenching climax
The New Barbarians (1983)
Post-Holocaust
One of a number of Italian-made copies of Mad Max 2 from Enzo G. Castellari. This is cheap and in some of the writing and dialogue frequently laughable
Night of the Comet (1984)
Post-Holocaust Bimbos
This has the amusing idea of casting a Last People on Earth film with two Valley Girls. This starts well but the film seems to run out of steam halfway through
9 (2009)
Animation/Post-Holocaust Dolls vs Evil Machines
Extraordinary animated film from Shane Acker concerning the lives of a series of stitchpunk dolls as they try to make sense of the world in the aftermath of civilisation
1984 (1956)
Dystopia
The first film adaptation of the classic George Orwell dystopian work. The brilliance of the book only comes through in occasional moments but mostly the film befalls the leaden hand of director Michael Anderson
The Noah (1975)
Last Man on Earth
Experimental film about the last man left on Earth after a nuclear war who develops a series of imaginary companions
The Northlander (2016)
Post-Holocaust
Post-holocaust film made by and starring Canadian First Nations people. While the film uses the aftermath of a civilisation as a setting, it never seems that interested in exploring it. The film peters out in an uninteresting resoution and features some appallingly pretentious dialogue
A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell (1990)
Heroine vs Post-Holocaust Dinosaurs
Despite one of the great exploitation titles of all time, this bikini clad babes vs dinosaurs after the apocalypse effort lacks the cheerful cynicism of other Troma films and is just cheap, dull and unwatchable on almost every level
Oblivion (2013)
Post-Holocaust Deserted Earth/Conceptual Breakthrough
This falls short of being a great science-fiction film by a hairs breadth. Not the big space/action film it was sold as, more a Philip K. Dickian conceptual breakthrough film that seems to have borrowed large chunks of its set-up from Moon
Omega Cop (1990)
Post-Holocaust Action
A low-budget post-apocalyptic action film featuring the almost completely forgotten martial arts and (non)-actor Ron Marchini who must venture out into the ruined city to rescue three girls
Omega Doom (1996)
Post-Holocaust Cyborg War
Albert Pyun cheapie in which the plot of Kurosawa’s Yojimbo is relocated to a post-apocalyptic setting and cast with androids
The Omega Man (1971)
Last Man on Earth vs Mutants/I Am Legend Adaptation
The second film version of I Am Legend, this rewrites the book’s vampires as mutants and abandons its mood of paranoia for a fantasy of hippie utopia and Charlton Heston in square-jawed action hero mode
Operation Ganymede (1977)
Space Expedition Returns to a Deserted Earth
A West German-made film where a space mission to Jupiter returns only for the crew to find the Earth deserted. This captures something of the original Planet of the Apes in its better moments
Osiris (2025)
Alien Abduction/Warfare
Soldiers in the middle of a warzone are abducted by aliens and wake up aboard an alien facility. An interesting set up that dissolves into massive amounts of artillery fire and action
Pandorica (2016)
Post-Holocaust
This comes with a premise that holds interest – it many years after the collapse of civlisation where three youth are taken into the woods on a rite of passage only to encounter someone from another tribe fleeing with an object that makes the possessor a god – a handgun
Parallels (2015)
Alternative Universe Hopping
Smart and fascinating venture into the alternate universe hopping theme that suggests something of what the underwhelming Sliders should have been. Originally made as the pilot for a tv series, this comes with much intriguing backstory set-up for a potential series
Plague (2014)
Australian Zombie Film
A standout Australian-made zombie film that breathes some life into an overworked genre, focusing on the tensions among the survivors as they try to fend off the dead while at siege on a farm
Planet Earth (1974)
Post-Holocaust Women Rule Society
The second of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s unsold Genesis II pilots. While you can see the series had some potential, the plot about the venture to a society where women keep men as slaves has a giggly silliness that feels like a throwback to 50s films like Queen of Outer Space
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Planet of Talking Apes
The film that started it all. This takes what could have been a jokey premise and delivers it in bold, exciting stokes. What elevates the film is Rod Serling’s script. filled with embittered soliloquies that become a biting commentary on the human condition, before the film reaches one of the great cinematic twist endings
Planet of the Sharks (2016)
Drowned Future/Killer Sharks
Another gonzo killer shark from from The Asylum who made the Sharknado films. Played somewhat more seriously than other entries, this has been conceived as Waterworld with killer sharks
Post Apocalyptic Commando Shark (2018)
Gonzo Killer Shark Film
Gonzo killer shark film that gets full marks for an entertainingly ridiculous title but is real bad movie material on all accounts
The Postman (1997)
Post-Holocaust
Kevin Costner directs David Brin’s post-holocaust tale as an epic Western. Most audiences ridiculed the film’s ardent flag-waving but you cannot deny that Costner makes a stirring and undeniably interesting film
Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021)
Gonzo Post-Apocalyptic Film
Nicolas Cage’s career choices in recent years have taken him into serious psychotronic headspace. Shion Sono is a director whose film’s inhabit demented territory. It seemed inevitable that the two should meet up on screen
Prototype X29A (1992)
Post-Holocaust Cyborg Wars
This is a standard 90s direct-to-video SF/action film about warring cyborgs in a burned-out future. This has borrowed most of its moves from other films. Not a lot happens
The Quick and the Undead (2006)
Post-Holocaust Zombie Hunter
Exactly as the title suggests, a mash-up between the zombie film and a Western (albeit relocated to a post-apocalyptic future) – and one that plays itself surprisingly seriously
The Quiet Earth (1985)
Last People on Earth
Evocative New Zealand-made Last People on Earth drama. Although the film reaches a frustrating ending that leaves much unanswered, the earlier scenes showing a man alone in a deserted world have an uncommon poetry
A Quiet Place (2018)
Survivors Unable to Make a Sound in the Aftermath of an Invasion
An uncommonly effective film that takes place in the aftermath of an invasion by creatures with ultra-sensitive hearing where the survivors must maintain an existence that requires not making the slightest sound. Director (also lead actor) John Krasinski uses the set-up to create unbearable tension
A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
Survivors Unable to Make a Sound in the Aftermath of an Invasion
The first A Quiet Place was No 1 on this site’s Best of 2018 list. John Krasinski still pulls off great set-pieces a second time but reveals the pitfalls of trying to extrude a premise to make a sequel
Quintet (1979)
Frozen Future/Enigmatic Game
The great Robert Altman’s most frustrating film set around an enigmatic dice game in a frozen future
Radio Free Steve (2000)
Gonzo Post Holocaust
Wacky offbeat film about a group that set out across post-apocalyptic terrain in search of a pirate radio signal
Ravagers (1979)
Post-Holocaust
A post-apocalyptic film that predates Mad Max 2, which set the benchmark for the genre a couple of years later. This is watchable but hat you notice in comparison is that this is lacking the action element.
Reign of Fire (2002)
Dragon-Ruled Future
This has the interestingly original premise of being set in a post-apocalyptic world where revived dragons have eliminated most of humanity. The show is stolen by Matthew McConaughey in wild man mode
Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
Videogame Adaptation/Post-Holocaust Zombies
Third of the Resident Evil films. This expands the scale of action to show the entire world destroyed by the virus but for all that and a decent budget, director Russell Mulcahy fails to push the elements to a suitable head of steam
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016)
Videogame Adaptation/Post-Holocaust Zombies
The Resident Evil films are designed for people who were introduced to drama via the Xbox, action sequences that can be assembled in random order and where it doesn’t matter what happens. I watched this, the sixth and final entry, with next-to-no enthusiasm but then quite unexpectedly it starts to work
Restart the Earth (2021)
Earth Overrun by Plants
A Chinese attempt to make a Michael Bay mass destruction spectacular depicting an Earth that has been overrun by massive plant growth
The Road (2009)
Grim Post-Holocaust Survivalism
The extraordinary poetry of Cormac McCarthy’s novel about a man trying to retain his humanity amid the harsh struggle for survival in a post-apocalyptic world is necessarily weakened in being translated to screen but the film still does a fine job of capturing the essence of the book
Road Wars (2015)
Post-Holocaust Action
A mockbuster from The Asylum released to ride on the coattails of Mad Max: Fury Road. Slightly more watchable than most of their offerings, although still cheaply made, this is the oddity of a Mad Max film with the addition of vampires
Robot World (2015)
Astronaut Stranded on a World of Robots
British-made film about an astronaut stranded on a world of robots. Made by a team of three people, this produces effects that rival Hollywood productions but is also a solid work of planetary survival that comes with some jaw-dropping mid-film twists
Rock and Rule (1983)
Animation/Post Holocaust Talking Animals/Occult Rock Music
Promisingly ambitious animated SF film that tries to catch some of the trippy qualities of Heavy Metal where the impressive quality of animation is let down by a juvenile story about a rock band in a post-holocaust future
Rocketship X-M (1950)
Space Expedition
Low-budget film designed to copy the success of Destination Moon that ended up being the first film of the 1950s Golden Age. A surprisingly modest effort about a rocketship going off course to land on Mars
Rogue Warrior, Robot Fighter (2016)
The Machine Revolution/Space Opera
A pneumatically inflated heroine fights the machines amid a standard array of space opera and post-apocalyptic future tropes
Rubikon (2022)
Space Station Crew Survive the End of the World
Austrian film where three people aboard a space station survive a toxic cloud that obliterates all life on Earth below
The Salute of the Jugger (1989)
Post-Holocaust Sports Team
Interesting film directed by David Peoples, the screenwriter of Blade Runner, about a post-apocalyptic sports team. This avoids the cliches of the Mad Max film and creates an interesting future background
The Scorch Trials (2015)
Young Adult/Post-Holocaust Adventure
The Maze Runner was one of the better Young Adult films, creating an intriguing conceptual mystery; this sequel ignores all of that, even throws the book out and is essentially a jumble of random sf tropes that amount to no more than running, shooting and things exploding
Scorched Earth (2018)
Post-Holocaust
This looked promising but is no more than an unoriginal rehash of the cliches of the Mad Max film – at heart a Western with only token effort made to rewrite the elements in SF terms – and no greater ambition beyond being cable filler
The Sector (2016)
Alternate World Criminal
Variant on the alternate world hopping theme where a bounty hunter finds the person he is pursuing is an alternate world criminal. The film’s budget is way too low to do any justice to either the theme or the setting after the collapse of civilisation
The Shape of Things to Come (1979)
Space Opera
Shoddy low-budget Canadian-made attempt to jump aboard the Star Wars fad, this promotes itself as a bogus sequel to the H.G. Wells classic
Sharknado 5: Global Swarming (2017)
Storms of Sharks/Deliberately Bad Film
By this point, the Sharknado series has gone from an amusingly tongue-in-cheek original to a series that is widely signalling that it is not taking anything that happens remotely seriously
She (1983)
Post-Holocaust Amazonian Warrior
A mind-bogglingly bad film that has absolutely nothing to do with H. Rider Haggard and is a post-holocaust film with Sandahl Bergman as an Amazonian warrior. The film is made with a bizarreness that may cause mental damage
Short Peace (2013)
Anime Anthology
An anthology of short anime pieces from various directors, including creator Katsuhiro Otomo, the cult creator of Akira. The four episodes vary from historical to fantasy to futuristic warfare and, as with any anthology, vary in quality from the okay to the watchable
Singularity (2017)
Giant Robots Obliterate Humanity
John Cusack as a super-villain unleashing an army of giant robots against humanity – what’s not to like? Well maybe the entire film, which fails to leave no Machines Amok cliche unturned. Cusack gives a performance through gritted teeth no doubt at the atrocious dialogue he has to utter