Alien (1979) * * *

Directed by:  Ridley Scott

Starring:  Tom Skeritt, Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Yaphet Kotto, Harry Dean Stanton


Seeing Alien again for the first time in a long time, the visual effects still hold up very well.  Alien is a dark, cold horror film in which a mining crew aboard a spaceship is infiltrated and then killed off one by one by a hideous creature no one had encountered before.    Science Officer Ash (Ian Holm)  marvels at the way the creature can adapt to whatever its current environment is.     Crew member Ripley (Weaver) is more interested in other things, such as "How do we kill it?"   

Weaver would reprise the role of Ripley in three other Alien films.     At the time of its release, Weaver was largely unknown and having her be the last surviving crew member to fight the alien was an unexpected choice by Scott and screenwriter Dan O' Bannon.     If memory serves, the only movie previous to Alien I saw her in was Annie Hall, which was a brief scene with no dialogue in which she plays Woody Allen's much taller girlfriend.     In a normal sci-fi thriller, the captain would be the one left to fight the monster.    Here, the captain is killed off early.    

What works most about Alien is not as much the Gotcha! moments, which have been repeated in many forms in later slasher films, but the desolate atmosphere.    This crew is "10 months away" from Earth and they are out in deep outer space with no chance of rescue.    They keep in contact with Earth through Mother, a computer system which may have different plans for the alien lifeform than expected.    They are alone, frightened, and have no knowledge of this terrifying creature which stalks them on this very, very large ship.   

The planet the alien came from is a sunless, godless pile of rock.    Co-captain Kane (Hurt) stumbles across leathery looking eggs, one of which hatches and clamps itself onto Kane's face.    Soon after, a small alien is born via bursting through Kane's stomach.    The slimy thing scampers away and the next time someone sees it, it has grown substantially bigger and more fierce.     This birth scene is satirized by Hurt in Spaceballs (1987), in which the slimy creature sings with a top hat and cane after bursting from Hurt's stomach.

Alien is a suspenseful film which is still effective even though I've seen countless ripoffs and slasher films inspired by it.   Perhaps watching it 34 years after its initial release has watered down some of my enthusiasm for it, but time has a way of doing that.     It was vital in launching Sigourney Weaver's career as one of the top female box-office draws of all time.    She was equally convincing in action roles, comedies, and dramas, showing quite a range.   Most of the other actors remained strong character actors who appeared in numerous films and TV shows in the 80's through the present.    Director Ridley Scott launched quite a career of his own, directing Gladiator, Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise, Black Hawk Down, and other large and small scale films which showcased the director's talent well.     He was equally at home in big budget epics like Gladiator and smaller films like American Gangster and A Good Year.