An intelligent, properly constructed horror film that is GREAT!

Rating: 10/10 (23 April 2008)

I finally got to watch Alien on a special edition DVD. And, as many have said before, it is great.
A freighter space ship called "Nostromo" is on its way back home carrying an entire ore processing mine, when Mother (the ship's main computer and automatic pilot) stops prematurely. A transmission coming from an alien planet (or moon, that is) is detected by the ship and, as Company's regulations indicate, the crew is forced to investigate and, if the transmission proved to come from an intelligent alien life form, retrieve a sample of the life form to be analyzed on Earth.
I won't tell the rest of the plot, to avoid potential spoilers, and also because there is no reason to further explain it. The plot is actually very simple, still, the film's remarkable screenplay manages to calmly present the situation and accumulate the tension and suspense.
The dialogs are probably the most realistic I have ever heard. Nowadays, those terrible "horror" movies have the worst clichés and lines ever. Instead, in Alien, most of the scientific mumbo jumbo is actually the real thing, and not only that, the performances and settings make the scenes greatly believable.
This movie set the rules to be followed in all horror movies. Everybody except whoever has top billing in the credits dies. Still, while in all of those mediocre cheap scare films where the big CGI monster doesn't even scare you, we don't feel absolutely anything for any of the victims. However, in Alien you see what a space ship crew would actually do in a situation like that and you do give a crap about them.
Although the effects for the Alien look kind of out fashioned, it's shown in a very original way, not showing way too much. You always loose a lot when you show the monster at the beginning. However, even as you can see it's a guy in a suit, the way you see it always makes you jump and scream.
The music was interesting. This is an understatement, considering it was composed by the master Jerry Goldsmith. Still, the suspense and thrilling cues are excellent, as for the music for the grand showdown. The overture was also very good.
The iconic scene with the chest-burster is the most realistic gore sequence I have ever seen. Perhaps the baby Alien running away seems more like a little doll, but it still gives you the creeps.
With it's brilliant direction, it's amazingly genius script, it's effects (they seem a little out-dated, but you almost can't tell that), the excellent production designs, the cinematography and lighting, the performances, every single thing. This is a real horror/suspense film with a sci-fi setting, but it's miles away from other inferior "horror" flicks.
Now, I have to compare it with Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (it's almost blasphemy). They both share dark lighting, However, while in Alien the lighting is used for creating better suspense and much greater scares whenever he appears, in AvP:R the major hook for the films is watching the aliens fight each other, and with the terrible dark sets, you don't see a thing. Also, while the characters in Alien are believable and very well represented, the ones in AvP:R are way too generic and/or clichéd.
Congratulations, Mr. Scott. This is one of the best sci-fi films ever, best horror films ever, best suspense films ever and overall best films ever.