“Duelists” director Ridley Scott's "Alien" ranks as one of the greatest sci-fi horror sagas of all time. If you haven't seen this landmark epic that spawned a franchise, then you haven't experienced genuine icy cold dread. Happily, the years haven't robbed this terrific gem of its skin crawling repulsion. Several sequels followed in its wake, but only James Cameron's "Aliens" came close to replicating the original's intensity. Like any suspenseful film, "Alien" boasts several surprises that will catch you off guard and send shivers down your spine. Most of the action is confined to the murky confines of a shadowy mining company spacecraft with passages galore. Reportedly, Scott and scenarist Dan O'Bannon knew nothing about director Edward L. Cahn's "It! The Terror from Beyond Space" (1958) and Mario Bava's "Planet of the Vampires" (1964) with Barry Sullivan. Nevertheless, though neither had seen either film, it is easy to see the resemblance in the plots between "Alien" and edgy Cahn's epic where a monster boards a spacecraft before it blasts off into space and the crew spent the entire flight waging a life and death war with the monster as it corners the heroes. On the other hand, the set design in the Bava film seems virtually replicated in Scott's film. Mind you, neither of those two inspirations is anywhere near as chilling as "Alien." The eponymous monster is a memorable predator that you’ll never forget. Indeed, coursing through the veins of this lethal life-form is acid that eats its way through the metal hull of the ship.
Scott's atmospheric film takes place in the year 2122. The commercial cargo vessel the Nostromo is heading home when Mother, the ship's computer, receives an SOS distress signal and awakens the seven-member crew from hyper-sleep in their individual sleeping pods. Reluctantly, they hasten to a planet to investigate the signal. They land on this inhospitable planet and check things out. One of the crew, Kane (John Hurt of "Heaven's Gate") finds himself in an eerie setting, a garden within the hull of a derelict space ship that contains curious organisms in small silos. Kane makes the fatal mistake of scrutinizing one of them and the dome shape of it peels itself back ominously and then something icky surges out of it, smashing through the face plate of his helmet. This unsavory organism attaches itself to Kane's face, while another part of it plunges down his gullet, while its snake-like tail coils around his neck. Kane's shipmates rush their fallen colleague back aboard the Nostromo despite the protests of Science Officer Ripley (Sigourney Weaver of "Ghostbusters") who doesn't think Kane should be brought aboard. Ripley fears Kane has been infected with something hazardous. Nostromo ship captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt of "M. A. S. H.") intervenes on Kane's behalf and allows him to be brought aboard. They confine Kane to quarantine, so they can analyze the mysterious creature clinging tenaciously to his face. Miraculously, the creature strangling Kane releases him, collapses to the floor, and scuttles away like eerie vermin. Kane revives none the worse for wear, and everybody celebrates his recovery.
At best, the sense of relief proves at best ephemeral. While the crew is indulging in a gluttonous repast, Kane coughs and then sprawls onto their table and goes into a palsy. As his shipmates struggle to restrain him, Kane heaves and a pickle-shaped demon erupts from his chest and tears off into the shop. At this point, the dwarf-like critter grows into a huge, ugly creature with a double-set of ravenous jaws. One by one, it eliminates the shipmates until only Ripley is left. In this respect, Scott's grisly film resembles a slasher film because Ripley qualifies as 'the final girl.' Ripley manages to activate the self-destruction phase, after she rescues her cat, and slips into an escape shuttle. Unfortunately, Dallas dies during the final moments after the self-destruct sequence is set into motion. Ripley and Jones make it into the shuttle and prepare for the long voyage back to Earth. Little does poor Ripley realize that the alien beast escaped from the Nostromo before it was obliterated. Eventually, she is able to blow the monster out of the shuttle. "Alien" garnered an Oscar for Best Special Effects. Jerry Goldsmith’s orchestral score heightens the suspense and terror. “Alien” used the following line in its advertising campaign: In space nobody can hear you scream!
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