Alien

In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream. This famous tagline from the movie Alien sets the tone for one of the scariest Science Fiction movies of all time.

Alien begins aboard the commercial towing space ship Nostromo. During it's return to earth an SOS signal is received from a nearby planet and the Nostromo is redirected to this planet for investigation. The seven member crew is awakened from their hyper sleep to go on a search and rescue mission based on this supposed SOS call. After landing on the planet, several of the crew members venture out to the planet's surface in search of the source of the distress call. The discover a crashed space ship and find a bunch of what appear to be alien eggs inside the ship.

While inspecting the alien eggs, one of the crew members, Kane (John Hurt), is attacked by an alien creature that launches itself at him from inside one of the eggs. It proceeds to make a hole in his helmet and attach itself to his face. The other crew members immediately rescue the now unconscious Kane and rush him back to the Nostromo for medical attention.

Upon arriving back at the Nostromo, the one sane member of the crew, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), refuses them entry to the ship citing quarantine rules. Unfortunately, Science Office Ash (Ian Holm), insists on ignoring the quarantine rules and lets Kane and his fellow crew members in anyways.

After a short stint in the medical lab in an apparent coma, the alien creature that is attached to Kane's face seems to die and fall off. Kane then awakens and appears to be completely normal. Unknown to Kane and the rest of the Nostromo crew, the alien is actually growing inside of Kane, soon to make a dramatic exit from it's host and start hunting down the Nostromo crew one by one.

Alien is the perfect example of a timeless movie. It's as scary today as it was the first time it was seen in movie theaters in 1979. This is mainly due to the overall set design and atmosphere of the movie and the horrific appearance of the aliens. The Nostromo is the perfect setting for what is essentially a slasher horror movie in space. Full of tunnels and all kinds of industrial, mechanical looking stuff, it's a setting that I don't think will ever look old or dated. Almost thirty years after it was originally designed, it has the same impact and effectiveness as when it was first seen.

As for the aliens themselves, I don't think there has ever been a more fear inducing and just plain disgusting creature ever put to film. H.R. Giger's brilliant and inspired designs help to set the tone and atmosphere for the entire film. Supposedly, Giger suffers from night terrors and keeps a pad and pencil by his bed so he can record what he sees in his dreams. The original design for the aliens apparently came from one of his nightmares -- not too hard to believe after seeing them in the movie.

The other contributing factor to the greatness of Alien is the pacing. Director Ridley Scott does an amazing job of taking Alien from a slow, plodding beginning and eventually building to an extremely fast paced, suspenseful ending. It all helps to tell the story of the film. From the ordinary and almost boring beginning that accurately depicts life aboard the Nostromo to the manic pace of the alien hunting down the crew, the building of tension and suspense to the "one person left standing" ending is perfectly executed.

Even though no one may hear you scream in space, they will definitely hear you screaming while watching Alien. One of the most frightening movies ever made, this is one of those movies that is definitely best seen in the dark -- but not alone!

More Alien Movie Reviews

Movie Review of Alien by James Berardinelli
Alien Movie Review and Information Page at The Internet Movie Database