Review #29 - Alien (1979)
"In space, no one can hear you scream."
Total Score: 19/23.
Alien (1979) is one of the few space films I absolutely love. It’s just excellent.
Keeping it brief, the story follows the crew of the spaceship Nostromo as they are viciously hunted by a huge, hulking monster. It ends horribly for all but one of them, Final Girl supreme WO Ellen Ripley, who narrowly manages to escape with the ship’s cat Jonesy.
The pacing of this film is genius. It’s carefully done, all built around heightening the tension. The strong performances help this go smoothly. For example, when the crew begin to track the mysterious signal (the Alien), you can see that everyone would rather give it up as a bad job - no one wants to be here.
Keeping it simple, the scares and various twists are great. The violence is well-executed and fun. Most significantly the setpieces are brilliant - everything is unpleasantly wet and clammy, and the corridors and vents of the Nostromo are as dark as they are claustrophobic. It’s easy to see how this inspired future horror like Dead Space (2008). On this note, the crashed ship in which the crew find the Xenomorph is just the most sinister. It’s visibly alien architecture, and feels really thought-out.
The moments of silence in the film go a long way. Scenes like the death of Brett have a weight they otherwise might’ve lost. Speaking of the characters, Sigourney Weaver is perfect as Ripley, competent, intelligent and blunt, but still fundamentally human - able to portray proper fear.
On a side note, the birth and phallic imagery in the film is rife and adds a fun layer of nuance to a fairly simple narrative. I’m confident there are a thousand essays on this exact topic.
To throw out some memorable moments - finding the alien eggs, clambering through the vents, and clinking around in the chain room all stand out. Likewise the (appalling) attempted murder of Ripley, and the swift decapitation of Ash. Most obvious of all is the iconic chest-bursting scene, though I think seeing The Thing (1982) before this movie softened the impact a bit - though it’s still awesome.
The climax of the film is also stellar. The shuttle serves as the ideal horror location. Small, suffocating, and the definition of the last safe stronghold. Being stuck in such a space with a huge monster is a fucking nightmare come true - and the tension is just insane.
Overall, it’s a great movie. Well worth the watch, and far better than Alien: Romulus (2024), which I saw in cinema and almost had a fit from how frustrating it was (though admittedly, it was visually stunning - some great gore throughout). The original Alien is one of the most significant sci-fi movies of all time, and with good reason.
As ever, thanks for reading,
Until next time,
H.E.
You see that films were cast with actors. Fast forward to Prometheus, it was mainly models. No new version of Harry Dean Stanton. Absent Yaphet Koto's slow burn and primal rage. From the opening seconds to an innovative title reveal, to the final sequence in the escape pod, this is a complete film just made for art's sake. It's incredible scary and still holds up decades later. The world building is excellent. Great article. Thanks.
It is one of the all time great horror movies as well as sci-fi horror