Image courtesy of wall.alphacoders.com
Hello, everyone. For this review, we’re going from one anniversary to another. It’s still sci-fi, but whereas the last one was a sci-fi action classic, this one is a sci-fi horror classic. It elevated that genre to a new level, and this year marks the 40th Anniversary of such an achievement, and that is Alien.
The story follows a crew of seven aboard a vessel called the Nostromo, which is on its way back to Earth when they are awakened to a distress signal from a nearby planet. While investigating, one of the crew members, Kane, makes contact with an egg-like pod, which then opens up. The creature within jumps out and wraps around his face. He becomes the unfortunate host for a monstrous Alien, which upon bursting from his chest, begins picking off the rest of the crew one by one.
What Worked: The cast give great performances, and they play off of each other very well. It’s particularly evident in two scenes: their discussion over the situation at hand (being woken up to investigate a distress signal), and especially the mess hall scene. It’s most noticeable with the characters of Parker and Brett, played respectively by Yaphet Kotto (Live and Let Die) and Harry Dean Stanton, who was mostly cast in supporting roles throughout his career, examples being Escape From New York, Christine, and The Green Mile. You also see a little bit of it earlier on between Ellen Ripley, the main protagonist, and Veronica Cartwright’s character Lambert, the navigator, as they’re headed to the planet.
The standout, though, is of course Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley herself in what would become her first major role in a movie*. Not only that, it’d become the role that would define her career, as before this movie, she wasn’t as big a name as people like Tom Skerritt, who plays Dallas (the Captain), or even John Hurt, who plays Kane.
The next positive is the production value that went into this. They use miniatures for the scale of the ship’s exterior, which had similarly been done two years prior with Star Wars, as well as matte paintings for the look of space. The matte paintings are fantastic at conveying how scary it can appear. Much like in Star Wars, the miniatures hold up really well even today.
This also applies to the set design, the effects, and the sound design. The sets, namely the look of the Derelict ship that sent the signal, the Space Jockey inside of it, and the interior of the Nostromo itself, hold up just as much.
The effects are where this movie really established its legacy both in horror and in sci-fi, from the Eggs to the Facehugger to the Chestburster to the Alien itself. The Chestburster scene alone is iconic for several reasons, and the fact that the effects still look as great as they do 40 years later is one of them. The practical effects on display here look excellent; for example, in scenes like that, they used puppets. It was a few years before CGI would start being used, so when not using puppets, creatures were still portrayed by people in suits, and this is no exception. In this case, it’s similar to Predator, where they got someone very tall to be in the suit, that being Nigerian visual artist Bolaji Badejo. Despite his height at 7’2”, he was still able to capture the movement of the Alien from within the suit, which is surprising when you consider the creature design. All of these achievements in visual effects proved worthy of an Oscar.
The sound design is so unnerving. When you hear the Egg open up, you know what’s about to happen, and the sound of the Facehugger popping out of it is even scarier. Then comes the Chestburster scene, and it only escalates from there.
The suspense is built up really well, and it has some very effective scares. Most of them may be jump scares, but they’re examples of when they’re done right. The highlights for me were actually background scares. One of them is where Brett is looking for Jonesy (the cat), and you think you see something behind him that might be just pipes… and then seconds later, you realize you were totally wrong. That’s the best scene where the Alien pops up in the movie. The other one is in the last few minutes. Be sure to look out for it.
Another terrifying scene takes place in the vents. When you see the Alien pop up there, that’s when you realize how big of a threat it really is. Plus, you get another great look at it, which also shows how eerie the atmosphere (no pun intended) is.
Even if you set the scares aside, this movie still has some very frightening scenes. The aforementioned Chestburster scene again comes to mind. It earns its status as one of the scariest scenes in horror and sci-fi history because of how suddenly it happens. Even though you know something’s about to go horribly wrong, and even if you’re at least familiar with this scene, you won’t see it coming. You’ll feel terrified at what you just witnessed, much like how the other crew members react. How I just worded that is coincidentally how it was when they did that: The cast members knew it would happen because it was in the script, but then their reactions came… and the characters’ reactions are also their own. As you watch that scene, watch their reactions. That is genuine fear you’re seeing from them. What’s even more impressive is that they managed to do all of that in one take.
The moment the Chestburster escapes, the only thing you know for sure is that it eventually becomes a fully-grown Alien. You’ll be constantly on edge, not knowing where the Alien could be, let alone when it’s going to show up. Why it’s so unpredictable is that it’s shown sparingly, much like the shark in Jaws**. You get teases of it, so you know it could be anywhere, and then it pops out when you least expect it. However, I’d say it works even better here, because it’s in a contained environment, the Alien uses every open space it can to its advantage, and its appearance allows it to hide in the shadows.
All of that is accompanied perfectly with Jerry Goldsmith’s score and Ridley Scott’s direction, where at first you get a sense of astonishment at what you’re seeing, and then it goes into very terrifying, very fast.
While the characters grow increasingly overwhelmed about their predicament, unlike most horror movies, the majority of them don’t let it get the better of them. Quite a few smart decisions are made here, which is something you don’t really see a lot of these days. For example, you have Dallas, who’s mostly laidback, which does lead to some questionable actions, but he comes to make more responsible decisions later.
As for someone like Lambert, she’s very nervous at points, which ultimately causes her to want to evacuate immediately. She becomes one of those characters in a horror movie who always makes stupid decisions, and in a movie full of smart ones, it does make sense to have that one character to balance things out.
The character who has the most rational thinking is Ripley herself, because her strictly “by-the-book” attitude kicks in when attempts are made to bring Kane back on board after he’s attacked. She knows the potential risks that come with that, and tries her best not to let them in. Of course, it wouldn’t be a movie if it actually worked, but it’s not her fault it happened anyway.
It also has a surprising twist that’s set up really well, involving Ian Holm’s character Ash, who gets some unsettling moments of his own, and a very satisfying (and even more surprising) ending. With the ending, it’s something that at the time wasn’t really seen all that often in horror movies. That’s the best way I can put it without going too much into it.
When it comes to problems, I would say that it’s a bit slow at first, but once they land on the planet, it really gets going and doesn’t let up. However, because it’s all about tension and building up its scares, it’s understandable that it would have a slow start, and so I’m willing to overlook that.
Overall: Alien is an important piece of sci-fi and horror cinema, with its legendary effects, an iconic creature design, a protagonist that would become one of the prime examples of a strong female character, and its excellent use of gradual buildup to produce scares that have a lasting impression on the viewer. Even with the legacy it’s garnered so many years later, spawning a franchise that’s also included comics, novels, games, and crossovers, it still works as a self-contained story. Whether you’re a sci-fi fan, a horror fan, or both, and especially if you love movies in general, this is something that you need to see at least once.
*No, I am not making that up.
**An approach also taken in another, albeit more recent, monster movie, yet not as effective… but that’s for another upcoming review.