Our ongoing series reviewing the greatest Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror movies. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Produced by: Gordon Carroll, David Giler, Walter Hill, Ivor Powell & Ronald Shusett (executive producers)
Written by: Dan O’Bannon
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Sir Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt
Original Release: 1979
Reviewed by: Aaron Hammonds
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)
Synopsis: A group of contract employees on the Nostromo, a cargo ship travelling between planets (essentially truckers in outer space), pick up a distress signal from an uncharted planet and are required to investigate. On the planet, they find an alien ship filled with what appears to be very large eggs, one of which “hatches” in the face of Executive Officer Kane (John Hurt). An alien creature attaches itself to Kane’s face, and he is taken back to the Nostromo’s sick bay, over the protestations of Warrant Officer Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). Science Officer Ash (Sir Ian Holm) discovers that the creature cannot be forcibly removed because its blood acts as an industrial-strength corrosive, threatening to eat through the hull. After a couple of days, and after they depart from the planet, the creature appears to die and just fall off of Kane’s face and he awakes apparently unharmed. That night, however, at dinner, a horrible creature violently erupts out of Kane’s chest, killing him instantly. The crew now find themselves trapped aboard a ship in the middle of space with an organism devouring them one by one.
Review/Commentary: In 1979, director Ridley Scott and screenwriter Dan O’Bannon released a film that gave birthto one of the most memorable and enduring franchises in modern cinema. Along with films like Star Wars and Star Trek: The Motion Picture, it paved the way for modern cinematic science fiction. Of course, I’m talking about a little movie called Alien…
While attending film school at USC, Dan O’Bannon had made a science fiction comedy called Dark Star with fellow student (and future directing legend) John Carpenter. Dark Star featured an alien that was nothing more than a painted beach-ball; it worked fine for the film (it was a comedy, after all), but it left O’Bannon wanting to do a “real” alien, or, as he put it, “Dark Star as a horror movie instead of a comedy.” Off and on throughout the 1970′s, O’Bannon worked on script ideas for his science fiction/horror idea as well as trying to convince a studio of its marketability. Two factors converged that ultimately helped O’Bannon sell his idea: first, the success of Jaws and The Omen convinced studio executives that fright films done with a sense of style could translate to big bucks at the box office; second, the release of Star Wars showed that, with modern cinematic technology, science fiction had come a long way from the cardboard sets of the 50′s and 60′s. The tremendous cultural impact of these films set the stage for O’Bannon’s vision to bear fruit.
Once O’Bannon had attracted the interest of 20th Century Fox (the studio responsible for the aforementioned Star Wars and looking to dominate this newly-emerging genre), they set about finding the right director. Walter Hill was offered the job but declined due to previous commitments along with being uncomfortable with the level of special effects required to do the film justice. Robert Aldrich, Peter Yates, and Jack Clayton were all approached but ultimately rejected by O’Bannon because he didn’t feel any of them would take the material seriously. O’Bannon then suggested Ridley Scott because he admired Scott’s work on a small film called The Duellists. Scott, eager to prove himself, enthusiastically accepted the job (studio executives were so impressed with his initial storyboards they doubled the film’s budget upon seeing them). Scott’s original conception of the film’s look drew from influences such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars, but he was quick to remind everyone involved that he saw Alien first and foremost as a horror film, calling it “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre of science fiction.”
Alien is an absolutely terrifying film. Although it’s a tad slow getting started, once you see that nest of alien eggs, the dread begins; and once the alien bursts from Kane’s chest, all bets are off (the scene wasn’t even rehearsed; the other actors didn’t even know exactly what the thing would look like or how much blood would erupt from John Hurt’s fake chest, making their reactions all the more visceral). It’s been called a haunted house movie in outer space, which I think is the best way to describe it. Classic haunted house movies have always come up with some reason why the characters are trapped inside (terrible storm, locked in), but in Alien, there’s no breaking out no matter how bad things get.
The cast does an amazing job of making the audience feel we’re right there with them. Tom Skerritt is terrific as Dallas, the captain, a guy who just wants to get his rig from point A to point B. John Hurt is good as always as Kane, the creature’s first victim. Harry Dean Stanton and Yaphet Kotto are hysterical as Bret and Parker, the ship’s engineers, constantly giving us the sci-fi equivalent of “that ain’t my job” (“I think we need to discuss the bonus situation”). Sir Ian Holm is excellent as Ash, the science officer who isn’t what he appears to be. Veronica Cartwright is very good as Lambert, the navigator and character with whom the audience is meant to most closely identify, giving voice to our fears in the face of this unique threat. Finally, nothing I can say would do justice to the performance of Sigourney Weaver as the now-iconic Ripley; it’s easy to see why this film made her a star.
It would, of course, be a travesty to write a review of Alien without mentioning the mind-blowing work of HR Giger, the Swiss surrealist artist who designed the alien. The first time Scott saw some of Giger’s work, he knew the artist was the designer he wanted for the creature. Although 20th Century Fox executives feared that Giger’s designs might be too frightening, Scott and O’Bannon eventually convinced them and this alien ended up being one of the most recognizable monsters in film history.
Some have accused O’Bannon of “ripping off” previous works of science fiction and/or horror, most notably 1958′s It! The Terror From Beyond Space. O’Bannon has always insisted that he was influenced by every science fiction movie he saw in his youth, not just one single film. As O’Bannon once put it, “I didn’t steal Alien from anybody. I stole it from everybody!”
Alien is the perfect blend of good science fiction and pure horror. It is routinely selected as one of the greatest science fiction and/or horror films of all time. It won numerous awards in 1979 and 1980 and is now in the National Film Registry. Its appeal is extremely broad-based (suspense fans love it for the dark atmosphere, women like it because the female characters aren’t just hapless victims, science fiction fans love the space shots, gore fans love the chest-bursting sequence). For an excellent, genuinely creepy film, you can’t do much better than Alien . . .
Check out Aaron Hammonds’ blog Aaron’s Movie Madness where he reviews his favorite movies.
Buy Alien and Other Movies from the Must-Watch List on DVD from Amazon.com:
