Alien
released 1979
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“Alien” is a scifi, action, horror film based on a story by Ronald Shusett and with Dan O´Bannon who wrote the screenplay. It was produced by Gordon Carroll, David Giler, Walter Hill, Ivor Powell and Ronald Shusett. It was directed by Ridley Scott and stars John Hurt, Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Bolaji Badejo, Helen Horton and Eddie Powell. This is the film that started a franchise which includes movie sequels, graphic novels, novels, video comics and the Alien Universe has provided content for many video bloggers and influencers.

Alien IMDb webpage

“Alien” takes place in a not-too-distant future aboard a ship named the Nostromo which is returning to Earth after an assignment in space. The seven member crew is in stasis and is awakened by the ship´s computer named Mother, and that is when hell breaks loose. They are responding to a distress signal and land on the moon to investigate. As things unfold an alien creature stalks them in one of the most terrifying way possible. This might be the best movie in its genre made to date. I don´t want to give away too many spoilers but this film is a terrifying ride into a type of Lovecraftian horror tale. My hunch is that, had H.P. Lovecraft seen this film he would have enjoyed it.

This is a dated film but a horror classic for a good reason. Imagine yourself in such a situation where you are stalked by a very dangerous alien creature far from home, that is planet Earth. It really is like enjoying a story from the mind of H.P. Lovecraft himself. This is more than the story of a simple hunt as told from the side of the hunting creature. It is the story of humanity´s forced confrontation of the extreme horrific and strange. This is the very definition of horror itself. That is a strangeness so extreme it drives people insane with fear.

This is the first film in the expanding franchise that does nothing less than offer the possibilities of what awaits humankind in the future. This story also reveals the theme of what an unprepared human race looks like during the exploration out into space. How can the human race deal with a species of alien predators who are stronger, faster and just better than us at survival and who mean us harm? As in to destroy us. How will the human race deal with such a situation, should it ever come? That is a terrifying question to ask and that is the theme of this film.

The scene where an alien bursts out of the stomach of a crew member is film history and even still jars me today. The scene is classic. The crew is sitting around a table eating when Kane, played by John Hurt, suddenly starts violently coughing. He is laid down on the table, on his back, as his coughing only gets worse. And it is then that an alien bursts from his stomach and runs off. WTF?! It is then that they really grasp the severity of their problems. This is a dated film but it has so many good and original elements that have continued to influence the world of entertainment decades later.

Check out “Alien”. It is dated but a good watch.

John Ink2Quill

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