Over thirty years ago, Ridley Scott released a movie to cash in on the Sci-Fi craze 'Star Wars' had created. What he released was definitely a sci-fi film, but also a horror film.
'Alien' focuses on the crew of the Nostromo as they commute mineral ore back to earth from somewhere deep in space. On the way back, they encounter a signal that they are forced to investigate via their contract. When they arrive on the planet they find ruins of some sort of extraterrestrial habitat. One of the crew members discovers a group of eggs that contain a 'face hugger' that attaches to the character's helmet. After an intense scientific study, the 'face hugger' releases from the character's face and all seemed well. At dinner that night an alien bursts from his body and thus begins a reign of terror that would keep Sigourney Weaver's character, Ellen Ripley, as the sole survivor.
I first saw this film about ten years ago. I didn't really know what to expect when I saw it but was extremely pleased with what came out of it. The first forty minutes of the film moved very slowly, in my opinion, but it soon became a very suspenseful and terrifying film.
When this film was first released, the idea of the 'chest burster' was an extremely original idea. With that scene being the big 'reveal' of the film, it spends much of the first half of the film building up to the moment. When the moment came, it delivered. I remember being wowed by this moment when it first happened.
The design of the alien is one of my favorite attributes of these films. The metallic teeth always seem to stand out for me. The head-inside-of-a-head concept is interesting but I still wonder what the purpose of having two mouths is. I never got the impression that the alien killed for food. I felt that it killed for breeding purposes.
This was Sigourney Weaver's first film, a film that would launch her career. This being one of the first films to have a female action hero really resonated with the viewers and is, in my opinion, part of the reason that this film was such a triumphant hit.
Over thirty years later this film still has the same impact as it did when it was released and lives up to the hype I had when I first watched it. My recommendation is to add it to the Essential Collection.
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