For pretty much as long as we've had film, we've been making movies about creatures from other planets. You've got your classic little green men, your standard bulb-headed grey fellas, your shark-toothed predators, your benign ultra-intelligent lads: we've done 'em all.

Whatever their physical form, aliens are a means of forcing us humans to look at ourselves. Their bodies and needs show up our weaknesses and our strengths: sometimes it's our ability to co-operate in a crisis; sometimes it's just that we really don't have nearly as many teeth as we could really do within a battle situation. Here are 10 of the best alien films ever to land on this planet.