Alien (1979)

Tagline: In space no one can hear you scream.

Curiosity: As a youth, my bedtime stories regularly consisted of my dad describing the plots from Alien and Aliens. Oh yeah, my childhood rocked.

Plot: In the gloriously underwhelming future, the spaceship Nostromo is towing mineral ore back to Earth when it receives a transmission of alien origin. The crew’s contracts state that, should they be given the chance to meet intelligent alien life, they must investigate. While they can’t figure out the signal’s meaning – could be an S.O.S. or a warning to stay away – the crew of seven pursues it anyway. They discover an alien craft crashed on a nearby planet. Kane (John Hurt) first discovers the preserved remains of an alien whose chest seems to have exploded. He later finds a room full of , in his words, “leathery eggs.” One of the eggs hatches and the creature inside attacks Kane. While Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) refuses to let Kane back onboard due to a 24-hour quarantine rule, science officer Ash (Ian Holme) defies her. Ash tries to figure out what’s happening to Kane, knowing only the creature is attached to his face, feeding him oxygen, and not particularly inclined to let go. An attempt to cut the thing off reveals that it has acidic blood. The next day, though, it’s found dead and Kane wakes up, seemingly fine.

Except he isn’t.

Thoughts: Having now seen Planet of the Vampires, I wasn’t sure how I would react to Alien. Turns out it doesn’t matter; Riddley Scott’s film is still a masterpiece. The film draws heavily from a lot of sources – obviously Vampire’s set-up, Star Wars’ idea of having futuristic technology still be old and worn-down, and Jaws’ decision to hide the monster as much as possible – to form a unique story. It’s the most claustrophobic of the series. The alien designed by artist H.R. Giger is truly frightening, a brutal killer that blends in with all the grays, blacks, and browns that dominate its mechanical settings. Ash isn’t totally off-base when he calls it “the perfect organism.”

The cast is great. Although Ripley is now known as the heroine of the series, she’s very much a fringe character for the film’s first half, the logical thinker that no one listens to until it’s too late. I’d say the story focuses more on Kane – he makes the important discoveries early in the film. Being a horror film in a sci-fi setting, the film ends up packing surprises by working the Final Girl rule into a stereotypically male-centric futuristic story. Scott tries a little too hard to extend the movie around the third quarter, but he makes up for it with a great ending.

Reflection: Ripley’s cat is not worth the trouble.