Alien

Year: 1979 Director: Ridley Scott

Alien or as has been said previously "Jaws in space" is one of those vary rare things in cinema - a film that fits neatly into the space sci-fi horror movie genre.

The story of Alien surrounds the crew of the Nostromo a deep space mining ship who, whilst on their way back to earth pick up an sos from a nearby planet and are obliged to investigate. What they find on the planet is a derelict alien craft and that the sos was in fact a warning to stay away. Whilst they are looking through the derelict ship they discover some alien eggs, and one of the eggs hatches and attacks one of the crew. He is rescued and they return to the Nostromo, and everyone is unaware of the parasite that has infected him, and the danger it will bring to the ship.

Alien is something of an unexpected film. A suspense horror movie which moves as slowly as space itself. For the first time viewer its playful suspense and chest thumping shocks are like a very and very long slow roller coaster, that only gradually picks up speed before it reaches speed of light crescendos. A magnificent ensemble cast is led by Sigourney Weaver (who is superb here) and ably supported by some creative / inspired casting (Harry Dean Stanton and John Hurt). The special fx are superb (especially considering the film is post Star Wars) and play a large role in making the film work as well as it does.

That Ridley Scott was able to bring to the screen such a masterpiece in only his second cinematic outing is testament to his skill and craftmanship (almost as impressive as his next work Blade Runner which is nothing less than a work of genius). That Alien managed to do so well in the post Star Wars space films scramble speaks volumes about what a terrifically rounded piece of work this. Indeed that the films most notorious scene (and some others too) have now passed into cinematic folklore suggests it can be rightly thought of as a classic.Even the law of dimishing returns with the never ending sequels - the worthy Aliens and Alien 3, the less worthy Alien vs Predator and the sequel too far Alien vs Predator vs Kramer Vs Kramer have not been able to tarnish the memory of the original.

Alien features in our Interactive Haunted House of Horror guide to horror films and scary movies.

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