Back when Alien was first released in 1979, science fiction films were the cream of the crop at the box office. The trend essentially began two years earlier with the release of Star Wars, which breathed fresh new life into the genre. If you add the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979 and the Star Wars sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, released in 1980, the climate was invigorated with sci-fi tales that offered more than the norm. This was the atmosphere that Alien was unleashed upon.
What set Alien apart from its counterparts was that it was essentially a horror film set in space. These weren’t the we come in peace aliens of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and we weren’t in for the whimsical sci-fi battles that populated George Lucas’ stories that took place “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.” This was pure terror in its finest form and the added claustrophobia and isolation of being in space provided audiences with the right amount of tension to illicit true fear. A friend of mine has called Alien “Halloween in space,” and I’m inclined to agree with him.
Alien begins slowly and calmly by introducing us to the crew of the Nostromo, a commercial towing space vehicle on a return course for Earth. They number seven – the relatively laid-back captain, Dallas (Tom Skerritt); Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the ship’s warrant officer; Lambert (Veronica Cartwright), the ship’s highly strung navigator; science officer Ash (Ian Holm), Kane (John Hurt), who possesses gallows humor, Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) and Parker (Yaphet Kotto), who spend their time grumbling about not getting full bonuses. During the film’s early scenes, there’s a sense of ordinariness about the crew’s activities. For them, this is a bit tedious- they’re looking forward to getting home and collecting their money. The dangers of space are far from their minds but soon the danger will be very real for them and for us, as the audience, watching.
After receiving a possible distress signal from a seemingly uninhabited planet, Dallas, Kane, and Lambert head down to investigate. On the inhospitable surface, they come across what appears to be a downed space ship. Inside, they find a chamber full of egg-like objects. As Kane is examining one, it opens and a leathery creature emerges, launches itself at Kane, punches a hole through his protective helmet, and forces a proboscis down his throat. Dallas and Lambert bring the unconscious man back to the ship, where Ripley refuses them admittance, quoting quarantine regulations. Ash, however, opens a hatch to let them in. Kane is taken to the medical lab, where Ash determines that it would be too dangerous for the life form to be removed from his face. Eventually, however, it falls off on its own, apparently dead. Kane returns to consciousness and all seems to be well.
If you’ve seen the film, you know that all is not well and by the time we get to the fateful dinner which showcases one of the most memorable scenes of horror put to screen, the true terror begins and the safety net of being home on Earth is not within reach. This is why Alien achieves such high marks of tension. Before we get to this point, the film is deliberately slow in its introduction of its characters and situations. Today’s audiences may find the set up to be boring, but the payoff makes the build up all the more satisfying. The slow beginning puts us at ease and, for a few moments, we’re convinced nothing will go wrong. By the time it does, we’re just as shook as the characters and their fears become our fears. This is a testament of the brilliant direction of Ridley Scott.
This was Scott’s second time behind the camera (the first being The Duellists in 1977) and that’s a fact you would never guess here because his work is that of a true professional who is a master of his craft. The way Scott meticulously raises the sense of menace and tension is worthy of Hitchcock. Like Steven Spielberg’s great thriller Jaws, this atmosphere-soaked production relies on the viewer’s imagination to enhance the alien’s nightmarishness. Scott carefully restricts how much we see of the creature – there’s enough to provide our minds with horrifying images, but not so much that the illusion is spoiled. This is something that John Carpenter put to great use in 1978’s Halloween. We see very little of “The Shape” until the final 15-minute climax. This was a time when less was more and certainly scarier.
Alien contains its fair share of genuine scares. This wasn’t the time of the “boo” moment where something harmless jumps out of the shadows accompanied by a loud noise and a musical crescendo, but of legitimate shocks. The first occurs when the face-hugger leaps out of the egg and attaches itself to Kane. The second is when the alien explodes through Kane’s chest during the iconic dinner scene. Then, during the hunt for the alien, there are numerous others. In fact, the level of suspense during the film’s final 30 minutes becomes almost unbearable. What started as a seemingly low-key motion picture turns into a real test of how much tension and suspense one can take. The atmosphere is so purely jolting that I always feel like I did when I saw it for the first time. I’m genuinely terrified and emotionally exhausted by the time it’s all over.
Despite not featuring any big names at the time, the cast for Alien is comprised of credible actors, including two –Ian Holm and John Hurt – who have won numerous critical accolades and earned Oscar nominations (Holm for Chariots of Fire; Hurt for The Elephant Man and Midnight Express). Ironically, Sigourney Weaver, who would go on to be the most successful of the Alien stars, arguably gives the most uneven performance. Weaver has strengths in comedy and action but has been a bit hit or miss when it comes to drama. In Alien, she has a tendency to go a bit over-the-top any time the script requires that Ripley becomes emotive. It is worth noting that, despite similar issues in 1985’s Aliens, Weaver was given a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for that movie. She then received a second deserved nomination for 1989’s Gorillas in the Mist where her abilities were honed in a proper way.
This doesn’t take anything away from Ripley’s icon status in the sci-fi genre, however. More so in the sequel, she represents the type of heroine that has certainly inspired those that came after her. I mentioned that she has more strengths as an action actress which is why, despite a few issues, she owns Aliens in every way possible. In Alien, Ripley is essentially just one of several crew members – until the end, when she’s the last one standing (not counting Jones the cat of course). Having Ripley as the hero of Alien is an interesting twist, especially for 1979 when viewers automatically expected that role to be filled by Tom Skerritt – not only because he had top billing, but because he is a man.
But let’s be real, the real stars of Alien are not the humans. That distinction belongs to the production design of Michael Seymour and the alien creature design of H.R. Giger. Seymour’s work creates the perfect playground for the creature – a maze of dark, nightmarish passages that emphasize the sense of claustrophobia and mounting tension. Giger’s creation is one of unparalleled horror and represents one of the most memorable visions ever to appear in a science fiction movie. With its metallic, reptilian body and rows of razor-sharp teeth dripping saliva, few cinematic images can equal the alien for horrific impact. They say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery and if you’ve come across alien creatures in films released post-Alien, you can clearly see where they got their inspiration.
In a way, Alien was just as influential to the genre as Star Wars was. The latter film turned space into a lively experience of fun and adventure while Alien set the tone for the darkness that lurks in space. The films would change for better or worse after this release but nothing tarnishes the legacy and impact of the film that let us know “In space. No one can hear you scream.”
Reel Talk gives Alien 4 Reels
