Alien

Year Released: 1979

Runtime: 117 minutes

Directed: Ridley Scott

Produced: Gordon Carroll, David Giler, Walter Hill

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Ian Holm, John Hurt

Oscars: Won: Best Visual Effects Nominated: Best Production Design

IMDb Plot Summary: After a space merchant vessel receives an unknown transmission as a distress call, one of the crew is attacked by a mysterious life form and they soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun.

Context, Context, Context: What Created Alien, and Why it’s Still Relevant

Jaws, Slashers, and Star Wars. Alien was initially created as a combination of several of the types of movies being made in its time, but the final product is so great that its legacy is unquestionable. Two years earlier, the original Star Wars debuted to commercial success and critical acclaim, becoming the definitive blockbuster of its year. Two years prior to that, the blockbuster was arguably invented with Jaws. Why not combine the best of the two? That was the pitch the producers received, and after the project was greenlit and Ridley Scott became involved, the question then arose of how to create genuine terror that stood out in both the sci-fi and horror genres. To find the answer, Scott turned to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for tips on claustrophobic filming, and bizarre artist H.R. Giger for design of the alien and related aspects. The result is a mix of all three influences. The sci-fi elements owe a lot to Star Wars, as does the design of the ship and its slightly grimy sense of realism; there is also a very dystopic element that feels lifted from the earliest days of science fiction. As was the case with Jaws, only showing the alien in glimpses protects the visual limitations of the time (no matter how gracefully he moves, this is still a guy in a rubber suit) while also enhancing the terror. And the film’s limited cast in the tight setting of the ship creates tension on par with any slasher – in my opinion, better than most.

The legacy of Alien. This film and Apocalypse Now were both released in 1979, are both considered classics, and were both absolutely snubbed at the Oscars. Alien was also the premier horror event in its year, but as is often the case with horror masterpieces, wasn’t universally acclaimed in its time by critics. In this case, that might also be due to its being released in the time of other horror and science fiction films. However, time has proven the vision of this film remains incredibly forward-thinking and unique. 40 years on, it’s still capable of generating scares – even if the jump scares (created by using cuts) feel more like relief than actual frights, the tension that precedes them is still unmatched. It would take 7 years to get a sequel, but Aliens was yet another sensation that proved this film’s worth. The 80’s also saw the slasher genre become mainstream with the likes of Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street, proving that audiences had a taste for the formula used by Alien. The franchise is still putting out films to this day, and both the sci-fi and horror genres owe gratitude to this film’s achievement.

The Story and its Characters

Human Horror. As a sci-fi film, Alien runs the risk of being unrelatable to the audience. How are we supposed to connect to these humans who travel through space for grunt work, use hypersleep to pass great amounts of time, and are aware that there are other creatures in the universe besides those found on Earth? This film’s answer is to tap into fears, frustrations and inspirations that speak to humans regardless of time or place. The crew is portrayed as essentially space truckers who are shuffling along on their assignment, bitter about the contracts they’ve signed and looking for better pay. When things begin going south, and Weaver’s Ripley has the right ideas, she is overruled by the men around her despite differences in rank; these themes have certainly aged well. When on the alien planet, the human in us is interested in exploring, but the fear of the unknown is brilliantly captured through some freaky eggs, one of which suddenly hatches with a gross-looking creature attaching itself to Kane’s face. It then impregnates him, with the new version of the alien bursting out of his chest in one of the most iconic horror scenes put on film. This taps into the fear of rape and forced pregnancy that women have to confront, but the fact that it happens to a male character forces the men in the audience to confront this fear as well. The following half of the film explores our fear of dark places, what’s lurking around every corner, and our fear of being confronted with a superior life form that kills at will. It also digs into the theme of companies’ disregard for its employees’ wellbeing when it’s revealed that the company gave an order to secure the alien at all costs, with the lives of the crew considered secondary.

Ultimately though, Weaver’s Ellen Ripley kills the alien, making this film way ahead of its time in terms of having a well-written heroine. She remains an iconic character in cinema, and her victory over this fearsome creature creates a feeling of victory in all of us.

The performances. The small cast of mostly character actors absolutely owns each of their characters. Ian Holm is terrific as the cold, antisocial Ash (who’s later revealed to be a robot in a terrific twist). We all feel for John Hurt’s Kane, the victim of the facehugger and who dies by violent chest-burst. Veronica Cartwright is very believable as the much weaker woman on the ship, Lambert, who’s existence fulfills the horror trope of screaming girls while also paving the way for Ripley to stand out. I also want to throw a shout-out to Bolaji Badejo, the 6’10” Nigerian dancer who played the alien. Not only does his tall and thin frame help create the iconic creature, his graceful body movements are an integral part of making such a terrifying creature, even if we only get glimpses of it. The best performance will come as no surprise – Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley. In the first half of the film, she’s given very few lines and very limited screentime, but proves her worth by keeping relatively calm under pressure and exuding a mental and physical toughness that almost any cinematic character would be jealous of. The character has become iconic in science fiction, horror, and the literature of heroines for a reason: Weaver’s performance. She is tough at times, vulnerable at others, scared in some, yet brave when it counts – characters like this are why we go to the movies. When she reprised the role in the also-excellent 1986 sequel Aliens, she introduced both the dimensions of motherhood and action hero to the role and was nominated for an Oscar for her work.

Technicalities

From the ground up. For this to be Ridley Scott’s second movie demonstrates just how visionary he is – and his recent success with The Martian proves he’s still got it. Not a fan of horror movies himself, he still managed to make a terrific one through his reliance on practical elements. To begin with, the sets are incredibly constructed. The ship itself is very dark, industrial-looking, and laden with pipes; once we first see the alien, we realize that it blends in perfectly, inspiring the fear that it could be anywhere. Scott and the editing team also don’t hurry through the trips down these dark corridors. Instead, they are often filmed with a handheld camera, so we as the audience are creeping around with the characters, wondering what’s around the next corner. The set comes alive towards the end, with steam blowing everywhere and flashing lights that threatens to overwhelm the senses, but also heightens the danger – now we can see even less. My favorite technical element is the most iconic – H.R. Giger’s design of everything alien. The Swiss artist was known for bizarre, nightmarish artwork that portrayed the biomechanical. The alien ship, and the alien itself is representative of that. The design of the facehugger is creepy and crab/insect-like, and both the facehugger and the alien have some sexuality in their designs that, when paired with the rape metaphor, is subconsciously disturbing. This is brilliant, iconic, and nightmarish stuff. Legendary.

John’s Highlight Reel

· Waking up. Following the opening credits and a brief description of the crew’s mission (hauling extraterrestrial ore) we are gently introduced to the ship and the crew. The camera gently creeps around the empty ship, showing us various locations before ending on the crew in hypersleep just before they are woken up. Going into this, the audience is aware they’ve signed up for a horror movie, and Scott uses those expectations to his advantage by showing us the dark corridors that the action of our film will be taking place in.

· Barren planet. After being told by Mother, the ship’s computer system, to stop and investigate a possible distress signal, we’re treated to some excellently-filmed slow burn horror in which a few members of the crew explore the desolate planet until coming into a wrecked alien spacecraft. The lighting and fog on the planet are excellent, and inside the ship is where we get our first look at H.R. Giger’s artwork and alien designs in motion. The sequence ends with Kane investigating a freaky-looking alien egg, with a freakier-looking organism jumping out right at him. Fairly standard horror stuff, captured so brilliantly that it’s an iconic part of the movie.

· Facehugger. This is pure creepy, iconic shit. The more we learn about the facehugger attached to Kane in the infirmary, the less we want to know. It’s somehow feeding him oxygen, but will kill him if the crew tries to remove it? What is that going down his throat? We don’t yet realize the horrific metaphor we’re experiencing, but when we learn later what was going on, this sequence (burned in our memory already) retroactively becomes even more horrifying.

· Chestburster. This scene was destined to be iconic before it was even filmed; only the filmmakers and Hurt knew what was going to happen, the rest of the cast didn’t. Their reactions of shock and horror are genuine, and the final scene of the alien bursting out of Kane’s chest to kick off the second half of the film has remained one of the most (in)famous in all of cinema.

· The air ducts. We’ve been given a glimpse of the alien’s intelligence before this when it killed Brett, but this incredibly claustrophobic scene highlights the fact that it may even be smarter than the crew. Through excellent shot framing, lighting, and editing, a very tense sequence plays out in which Captain Dallas is convinced that the alien is in the ducts behind him, only to go down a level right into its arms. Terrific.

· Ash, the robot. What. A. Twist. We weren’t aware that there were robots in this movie! The slightly disturbing reveal (having his head knocked off and revealing plastic innards) is excellently pitched. Between this and Bilbo Baggins, Ian Holm has had 2 iconic character roles where his body was replaced by an equally iconic prop or dummy for a shot. His performance here is absolutely chilling, yet also feels exactly like how he has been behaving the whole film, explaining his earlier slightly disturbing behavior.

· Setting the bomb. In what feels like the climax of the film – and certainly its most stressful and overwhelming scene – Ripley has to narrowly avoid the alien after it kills the remainder of the crew, and set the ship’s core to explode (not sure what that means, but it doesn’t matter). There are yellow and white strobe lights flashing, steam bursting everywhere from pipes, and handheld cameras that make us feel like we are right there with Ripley. This is practical horror filmmaking at some of its finest, as Scott knew how to build suspense and mood with a physical set and overwhelming sounds.

· Final confrontation. Compared with my previous highlight, the effects of this scene are rather minimal. After a smart jump scare, the alien is revealed to be in the escape pod with Ripley, hidden among the pipes. She is now completely vulnerable, having stripped nearly nude and without her flamethrower. In the ultimate hold-your-breath showdown, she defeats the alien by use of both wits and physical skill, cementing her as the iconic heroine of the franchise and cementing this film as a classic across genres.

Came for _____, Stayed for ______

The legend. I first watched this movie as a “bucket list” item. It’s considered a classic, so I decided I had to check it out. Very immediately, I could see elements of science fiction and horror that each of those genres continues to borrow from, as well as some terrific technical elements. However, there’s a lot at play here that makes watching this so much more than just reading a historical document.

The feeling. It’s not just a classic because it was good and visionary then – this film still works terrifically. The reliance on practical effects, with camera movements, blocking, and framing have given this film an immediacy that has ensured its survival. The tension and suspense are timeless, and Scott’s patient pacing in the film’s first half pays dividends in its second half. Combining that with Weaver’s portrayal and creation of an iconic heroine to match the iconic villain, this film continues to earn its reputation.