When the crew of an American tugboat boards an abandoned Russian research vessel, the alien life form aboard regards them as a virus which must be destroyed.

The Puppet Masters is a 1994 science fiction film adapted from Robert A. Heinlein’s novel of the same title. The Earth is invaded by alien parasites aka "slugs" that ride on people's backs and control their minds. A trio of American government agents attempt to thwart this.

Construction worker Douglas Quaid discovers a memory chip in his brain during a virtual-reality trip. He also finds that his past has been invented to conceal a plot of planetary domination. Soon, he's off to Mars to find out who he is and who planted the chip.