"ALIEN (1979)" Review

It's time for one last Halloween review, and I'm going to have a look at a classic:

"Alien." One of the most famous and influential movies of the modern day. It is hailed as a landmark in both the horror and science-fiction genre and often as one of the best films ever, sitting at number 50 on IMDb. Did it live up to the hype? Yes...and no. In the horror genre, "Alien" has not aged well. It is now considered generic for a horror movie to feature some sort of strange creature, in this case the infamous Alien, hunting down a group of people in a cramped space in the dark. This takes away from the fresh and new feeling that I am sure this movie once had and displayed to audiences but is now considered standard. In the science-fiction genre on the other hand, "Alien" has done well, introducing undoubtedly one of the most famous creatures ever, the alien that would come to be known as a Xenomorph.

There he is, the Alien. Wait, he's in the movie for how long?

The plot revolves around the crew of the starship Nostromo being sent to investigate a mysterious SOS and encountering a hostile organism on the planet which begins to pick them off one by one when on their ship. This fits perfectly into the science-fiction genre and is an interesting story, despite not addressing questions regarding the alien. Where did the alien goo come from? What was the alien on the planet? Who sent the SOS? If you want to know, spend more money to go and see the 2012 prequel "Prometheus" (which will still confuse you and only raise more questions)! 

Want to know what this is? Fox says "GIVE US MORE MONEY!"

Sigourney Weaver portrays the character of Ellen Ripley, who fights against the Alien and tries to survive with her crew against impossible odds. Weaver brings emotion and personality to the character to the best of her ability. The other crew members are played by......what were their names? Those characters were called......I don't know. Trust me, you won't remember their names either. The main attraction of the movie, however, is the Alien itself (despite only appearing in the movie for a shockingly short amount of time). It looks fantastic when you finally get to see it in all it's glory in the finale and is one of the best things about the movie.

Remember when this was the scariest scene ever? It just doesn't seem that way any more.

"Alien" also benefits from it's perfect soundtrack which adds to the already creepy atmosphere created by the Nostromo itself through a lack of good lighting and noisy venting systems and pipes, so you can never anticipate where the alien is going to come from. In short, "Alien" has aged well as a science-fiction film, due to it's interesting world and mythology as well as introducing one of the most iconic creatures of all time but falls flat as a horror film, following a now standard and frankly boring formula of forgettable characters besides the lead being picked off one by one. It is by no means the worst thing ever but it was a massive let down after being built up to me as one of the best.

Rating : 6/10

Original Release Date : 25th May, 1979

Starring : Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright. Yaphet Kotto, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Harry Dean Stanton