Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt
Director: Ridley Scott
Another rough year for the horror film as movie studios tried to jump on the Star Wars bandwagon. Thankfully the 1980’s were right around the corner and ready to provide us with all of the horror we could want. For this year, though, this is really only one choice, a film that combines sci-fi with horror – Alien.
Brief synopsis:
The crew of the mining vessel Nostromo is in stasis, sleeping their way home to Earth following their mission. Mother awakens them to intercept a distress beacon and help. Forced to help or lose their wages from their haul, they explore the empty ship to find weird flower-like pods that eject a face hugging organism onto one of the crew’s space suits. Ash, the medical officer, disobeys quarantine and a direct order from warrant officer and second-in-command Ripley and lets the man onto the ship. They quickly discover that the alien creature has acid for blood which means it cannot be cut off the victim’s face.
Spoilers below (you have been warned):
Everyone is shocked when the creature suddenly unattaches from his victim, Kane, and dies. While eating supper, Kane suddenly starts convulsing and dies when a baby alien bursts out of his chest. The crew is stunned at first but quickly realizes that they must destroy it before it kills them. The alien grows in size and starts dispatching the crew. It is discovered by Ripley that Ash is actually an android working against them for their employer. He wants to bring the creature back to Earth to be used as a weapon and the crew is considered expendable. Eventually, everyone is killed but Ripley and the car Jones. She kills the alien and returns to stasis with Jones, letting the ships computer Mother fly her home.
My thoughts (with spoilers):
I had a lot of debate with myself regarding Alien and whether or not it is considered a horror movie. I think the case can be made that it is actually a predecessor to the slasher films of the 1980’s and fits the category. One killer, no motivation, small space that is impossible to escape, final girl survivor, it does fit. The big differences are this takes place in space and the killer is an alien creature. Plus, this is my list so if I want to bend the rules a little, I can.
Alien starts off with a feeling of isolation and dread. Everything is stark and basic, colored in shades of gray, black and white. There is very little color in this world. Since everyone is in sleep stasis, it is also deathly quiet. Much like the opening of Star Wars, we start out with just different shots of the ship. We see that there is plenty of darkness in the ship, a foreboding sense of dread growing with each space we see. The only light comes from our crew, as they are awakened out of stasis.
This ship and the creature come from the mind of H.R. Giger, a famous artist who created the entire atmosphere of the film and the one of the greatest creatures of the modern era. The alien is shown in many stages and gets more terrifying as it grows. The final creature is large, and the double mouth that shoots out of it is a sight you never forget. Despite the many flawed films that come after this (ahem, Alien vs Predator Requiem), the creature remains one of the scariest ever put on screen.
This script is tight and flows naturally. There is no wasted space on love stories or storylines that do not contribute to the narrative. One thing that always impressed me was that any of these characters could be male or female, it didn’t matter. Does it play a little differently that Ash disobeys Ripley’s orders because she is a woman, yes, but in the end it doesn’t change Ash’s decision. If the Captain Dallas, who was a man, had given the order it still would have been disobeyed. In the end, these are just employees, sexless and there to do a job. You get the sense that none of them really like each other and, once the job was over, they would never see each other again. The only one the crew really seems to care about is the cat, Jones. Ironically, as much as they care for Jones, he could seem to care less about the crew. Indeed, one of the most famous kills from the movie involves Jones watching dispassionately from the sidelines as the full-grown Alien slaughters Harry Dean Stanton’s Brett. He just doesn’t care.
Alien is a classic for many reasons and Sigourney Weaver’s portrayal of Ripley is one of the main ones. She is determined, smart, and a survivor. Weaver would even get an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Ripley in the sequel Aliens, the same year she was also nominated for playing the villain in Working Girl. This was the start of Weaver’s long and successful career and you can see why she is still a working and relevant actress. If you have only seen the sequels, you owe it yourself to see where it all started.
Alien is foreboding, scary, shocking, and a lot of fun. Plus, the cat lives to the end, always a plus for me.
Other films from 1979 to check out:
The Muppet Movie – Love The Muppet Show, love The Muppets. Spent a lot of time watching this one as a kid and showing it to my own kids and grandkids. Just a fun film and brought us the iconic “Rainbow Connection”.
North Avenue Irregulars – Underseen Disney film about a preacher and a group of his congregation taking down a gambling ring. Stars Edward Herrmann, Grandpa Gilmore and future star of Lost Boys, as the preacher and Cloris Leachman as one of the parishioners. Silly fun and hard to find.
Phantasm – Beware the Tall Man and the flying silver orbs. Made me scared of funeral homes for many years. Not a classic but worth at least one watch.
Love at First Bite – George Hamilton as Dracula in the modern age seducing model Susan Saint James. Light comedy with an impeccable Richard Benjamin as the descendant of Van Helsing.