Alien (1979)

So in case you haven't noticed, I don't usually watch horror movies but I have been trying to branch into a couple of them recently in anticipation for Stranger Things Season 2 and the fact that it is October and Halloween season. Alien has been a film I've wanted to check out for quite a while but I haven't had the guts to do it because horror films usually aren't my thing. But now I see this as the perfect opportunity to check out Alien for the first time.

Alien follows the story of a group of space explorers on their way back from a commercial voyage on the ship, The Nostromos. They are half way on their way back to Earth when they are awoken from

cryo sleep and sent off to investigate a distress beacon on a mysterious planet. They land on the planet and find a mysterious ship abandoned. The only thing in the ship is a bunch of creepy looking black eggs. Through a series of unfortunate events they bring an organism aboard the Nostromos and the entire movie is basically this crews fight to survival to try and rid themselves of this strange alien that has come aboard and is leaving a trail of bodies in its wake.

Overall, Alien is a pretty self contained horror film. While there are some large sets and great visuals in the film, the major action takes place in the confined space of the Nostromos with a small group of people just trying to survive to go home. And boy is it a fun time.

It's fascinating watching these films in context with the time that they came out. This movie came out in 1979, two years after Star Wars and you can see the influences that George Lucas's film had on it. If someone went to this film without watching any of the phenomenal trailers, they would probably think this is another space opera due to the opening shots of the Nostromos going through space.

But quickly that feeling leaves when you start getting some really creepy atmospheric horror tensions. And this is exactly the kind of horror that I love.

If you've been following this journey through a few horror movies the past month or so, you'll know that I don't like jump scares. Not only am I a bit of a wuss, I think that they're cheap and only last for a really unpleasant second. The horror that I like is the atmospheric pressure that a movie, a book, or a video game can put on you, putting you on the edge of your seat.

There's just certain scenes, certain ways that this movie is shot, and certain elements of the alien itself (seen or unseen) that makes this movie incredibly terrifying.

While I knew what a face hugger was just from pop culture, seeing that thing on a person's face along with the cinematic tension and lack of soundtrack, you are only left in suspense on what exactly is happening. On top of that, since the performances in this film are very good, you can see the fear and confusion in the faces of the characters on board the Nostromos as they don't know what the face hugger is and thus are confused out of their mind when they see this thing. It really is masterfully done.

Something that I think was pertinent for some of these early blockbuster films like this and Jaws is that the film is able to create tension and an even scarier environment when the monster is not on screen. I don't know if Alien had the same budget restraints as Jaws where they couldn't show the monster as much as they wanted to, but having the focus on the people trying to survive actually does the movie immense credit because the practical effects just aren't as great as they are now and thus, when you see the alien its easier to spot a guy in a costume or a mechanical prop.

But even though it's easier to spot, they still are able to utilize those few times that you do see the alien to really create a lot of creepy imagery and keep you on edge the entire film. And the real props create a tangible experience that is really, really fun to watch. I still have to take stock of all the films that I watched this month but this has been a month of really great films. If I do a top ten films I watched this year, Alien might be on this list just because of how much fun I had with a movie that is legitimately scary due both to atmospheric suspense but also jump scares that felt earned not just there to startle the audience. They were the results of really good pay off and character development.

And that brings me to the cast. I won't say this is the world's greatest cast because in reality the three people that were really that great are the four people that still have notable careers today, Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Ian Holm, and John Hurt. I'm not saying the other people were bad, they just weren't very memorable. But I did think the cast worked really well to not only create horror elements, but an interesting science fiction movie. There was real tension, real stakes, and real emotion between these characters as they try to survive.

Also, I'm pretty sure Tom Skerritt looks like he should have been in Star Wars in this film and it bums me out that was never a thing.

But of course the real star was Sigourney Weaver. I don't really know if Sigourney Weaver was supposed to end up being the heroine of this movie and later on the franchise to the level she ended up being but it makes a lot of sense with her performance and how awesome of a character Ripley is.

Not a lot is known about Ripley in the first movie but she does such a good job at showing who she is as a character as opposed to having us be told who she is. We don't need to know a lot of her backstory she just manages to show us how strong of a personality she has and her ability to take command and try to save as many people as she can and herself. I'm really looking forward to Aliens for the sole reason that I want to see this character more. I get the feeling she might have been overused in later films, but I finished Alien wanting more Ripley because the performance is so good. The horror environment, the practical effects, and then Ripley are the things that make this movie great.

Overall Alien was really, really good.

The only critiques I have are some of the effects perhaps haven't aged as well as they would like and some of the actors don't stick out as much as the people who ended up really successful. I think that this movie had a great blend of horror and science fiction and it really got me excited for the next film, even though these films came out almost 40 years ago.

I don't know what happened with this franchise as I continuously hear criticism of it's modern takes like Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. I don't know if Alien has gone down the road of a lot of movies from the late 70s and early 80s that they were believed to need reboots and modern retellings. I'm sure I will figure out where the franchise went wrong (if it did, who knows) and if it can be translated into a modern story.

I personally would hope that people would stop trying to remake what has already shown to be successful and create a new Alien-type movie, but I get that that's very easy for me to say behind a computer typing out reviews.

Ridley Scott and the writers of this movie started something really great with this movie and I totally understand why it goes down as one of the classic films of our time.

But those are my thoughts on Alien. What did you think? Have you watched this film recently? Do you think it holds up? Are their criticisms that I missed? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. I mentioned the trailer and man it still holds up. The last tag line of "In Space no one can hear you scream" still gets me. Regardless of where this franchise went, that trailer still blows my mind. Enjoy!