Alien (1979) is a perfectly executed horror
movie with a simple premise that works and a slim cast treating the material
seriously. The movie’s one-word title perfectly sums up the story and its
deadly antagonist: an unknown alien creature is aboard a spacecraft and is
killing the crew one by one. This is a B-movie plot that had been done before
plenty of times and has been imitated repeatedly. However, in the highly
capable hands of Ridley Scott, this haunted house movie set in space slowly build
up to be one of the scariest thrillers ever made with only a few jump scares. It
helps that the monster is one of the scariest creatures ever designed in the
history of horror.
Two things about me and this movie’s monster: first,
when I was a kid, seeing it in a 30-second trailer was enough to scare me.
Second, Mel Brooks made it a lot less scary. There is an entire generation of
movie-goers who were scared and possibly vomited in their popcorn bags when
they first saw the scene when the alien bursts out of John Hurt’s chest during
the dinner scene. Me, I was stunned and slightly amused when I saw that scene
parodied in Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs (1987) when the creature once again
bursts out of John Hurt’s chest. Only this time the little monster puts on a
hat and starts singing “Hello, My Baby” just like Michigan J. Frog in the Bugs
Bunny cartoon. Somehow, that made the monster less scary when I saw the full
movie.
One thing makes Alien stand out in the science-fiction
and horror genre is how even though the story is set in a spaceship in the
future, the crew is made up of ordinary blue-collar workers. These are not
super soldiers or even super scientists. The crew of the Nostromo are
pilots, officers, and engineers hauling cargo across the emptiness of space for
a big corporation. When the ship alters course to respond to a distress call, engineers
Brett and Parker (Harry Dean Stanton and Yaphet Kotto) initially disagree
because answering to distress signals is not part of their contract. They only
agree to do so because as explained by science officer Ash (Ian Holm) refusing would
negate their bonus.
Greed, it turns out, is not good. The distress call
leads the crew to a planet where they find a derelict ship. As you watch crew
members Dallas (Tom Skerrit), Lambert (Veronica Cartwright), and Kane (John
Hurt) explore the ship there are plenty of moments when as a viewer you want to
tell them get out of there. One major sign of danger is finding the skeletal
remains of a pilot whose insides seem to have exploded. At this point I would
say forget the bonus; I’m gone. Instead, Kane explores the ship’s basement
where he finds thousands of leathery eggs laying in an eerie mist. Did he
really think nothing bad would happen as got close to one of them after it
opened?
Another classic trope of horror movies is when no one
listens to the smart person. When the three explorers return with Kane, who now
has a parasite covering his entire face, warrant officer Ripley (Sigourney
Weaver) refuses to let them aboard. Safety policies clearly state that when a
crew member is infected with an unknown disease or organism, they need to be
quarantined. That is a wise policy that resonates even more today. Instead of
listening to the smart person, Ash opens the door to study the parasite up
close. Bad move.
The creature, who late in the franchise is dubbed a Xenomorph,
is the stuff of nightmares. Once it is “birthed” out from Kane, it grows to be
tall, with a retractable mouth, an elongated head, sharp claws, and a long tail
that acts as a spear. As if that was not enough of a threat, the damn thing
bleeds acid, which is a big problem inside a spaceship floating in the vacuum
of space. Even though it was literally born yesterday, the creature is very
good at hiding inside the ship’s air ducts and corridors, taking out the crew
one by one.
The ship itself is quite the scary place. The
production design gives you the impression this is a massive hauler, filled
with giant rooms with dangling chains, empty corridors with heavy metal doors, and
tight air vents dark enough for monsters to hide. A lot of the movie’s design
can be credited to Swiss artist H.R Giger, who was known for a style that
blended machines with human physiques. It makes you wonder what this guy
dreamed of at night.
Alien spawned three sequels, crossover movies
with the Predator universe, two prequels, comic books, video games, and an
upcoming TV show. So far, out of all that content my favourite is the
action-packed first sequel directed by James Cameron and of course the
original. At one point in my life this movie scared me so much I wouldn’t watch
it, but now I own the director’s cut and consider it a classic. I assume Mel
Brooks is a fan as well since as they say imitation is the sincerest form of
flattery.
Comments
Post a Comment