Alien (1979) 20th Century Fox/Sci-Fi-Horror RT: 117 minutes Rated R (sci-fi violence and gore, language) Director: Ridley Scott Screenplay: Dan O’Bannon Music: Jerry Goldsmith Cinematography: Derek Vanlint Release date: May 25, 1979 (US) Cast: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto. Box Office: $78.9M (US)/$184.7M (World)
Rating: ***
“In space no one can hear you scream.”
Unless you’ve been stranded on a desolate planet for the last 45 years, you know this is the famous tagline for Alien, the iconic sci-fi-horror film from Ridley Scott (Blade Runner). It’s one of the greatest taglines ever conceived. It effectively evokes a palpable sense of fear of the unknown by suggesting whatever’s out there is frightening. It won’t do you any good to scream because sound doesn’t travel in a vacuum. It’s the very stuff nightmares are made of.
The tagline certainly got my attention. I wanted to see Alien badly when it came out in summer 1979, but the usual parental R-rated movie blockade prevented 11YO Movie Guy from getting anywhere near it. I had to settle for 30-second spots on network TV. I finally saw it in ’85 when my brother and I rented it from the Video Den one evening. I loved our first VCR. It opened so many cinematic doors that were previously closed to me.
There are several films that inspired Dan O’Bannon’s (The Return of the Living Dead) screenplay for Alien. The most obvious influences are It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) and Planet of the Vampires (1965). The plot centers on the seven-person crew of the commercial spacecraft Nostromo- Captain Dallas (Skerritt, Big Bad Mama), executive officer Kane (Hurt, The Elephant Man), warrant officer Ripley (Weaver, Ghostbusters), navigator Lambert (Cartwright, Invasion of the Body Snatchers), chief engineer Parker (Kotto, Live and Let Die), engineering technician Brett (Stanton, Repo Man) and science officer Ash (Holm, the LOTR trilogy).
They’re returning home to Earth when they’re re-routed to a desolate planetoid from which a distress signal has been detected. Company rules say they have to investigate under penalty of forfeiture of payment for services rendered. When they arrive, Dallas, Kane and Lambert leave the ship to investigate. They discover a derelict alien ship. While exploring the interior, Kane comes across a chamber containing hundreds of large leathery eggs. He decides to take a closer look at them. When he does, one opens. An alien creature jumps out and attaches itself to his face.
Long story short, an alien gets loose on the ship. Apparently, it did something more to Kane than nearly kill him. During a meal, he starts to convulse. Suddenly, a small alien creature bursts from his chest and runs off. Now it’s hiding somewhere on the ship. The others go to look for it. It starts picking them off one by one.
I like Alien; I didn’t love it. It’s good, not great. I know it’s not the popular opinion, but I’m not known for saying what most people want to hear. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think Alien is a bad movie; I just don’t think it’s the masterpiece people say it is. It has some slow parts. Sometimes it’s too dark to see what’s happening. As with many of his films, Scott goes for style over substance. In my opinion, Alien is a B-movie with A+ production values.
In the case of Alien, style goes a long way. Visually, it is absolutely stunning. The creature effects are especially impressive. Biomechanical artist H.R. Giger designed the alien creature which keeps changing shape and size throughout. You never know how it’s going to look from one moment to the next. It’s always going to be frightening. Carlo Rambaldi (E.T.) designed the head, an elongated skull with lots of sharp teeth. It’s pure art. Giger also designed the derelict alien spacecraft. This guy has one hell of an imagination. Is it any wonder Alien won the Oscar for its visual effects that year?
Alien also benefits from an incredible cast with a standout performance by Weaver as the true bad ass of the bunch. It was early in her career. She debuted in Annie Hall (tiny role) and appeared in the unnoteworthy Israeli drama Madman (not to be confused with the 1982 slasher). Alien is the film that made her a star and deservedly so. Not only that, it made her a feminist icon. It was rare in the 70s for a female to take the lead in an action-oriented film. Usually, it was a man that saved the day. Scott took his film in a bold direction with this move.
What I find truly interesting about Alien is its refusal to resort to the modern conventions of the genre. There’s none of the derring-do or heroics of Star Wars. The crew consists of ordinary working people who smoke, drink coffee, complain and haggle over getting their fair share of the profits. They don’t have laser guns or light sabers. It’s sci-fi grounded in realism.
Alien is a more-than-functional horror movie that puts suspense ahead of cheap scares although to be fair, it does have a few neat “BOO!” scenes, some of them involving Ripley’s cat Jones. Why she brought her cat along is anybody’s guess. In space nobody can hear you meow either.
