(*****) -- The first (and only?) sci-fi/haunted house/slasher

Rating: Null/10 (18 September 2002)

(Five out of five stars) Think about it: Take away the outer space setting and the fact that the killer is a wicked alien monster, and, basically, you have your classic people-locked-in-a-house-with-a-murderer body count slasher flick. No, really. Watch it again, and you'll agree that this is like an expertly directed haunted house/slasher film in space, with the huge mother ship and all of its clunky chambers and winding, labyrinthian corridors substituting for the old, dark haunted house. In fact, I think this film stands alone (with Carpenter's remake of "The Thing" and Cronenberg's remake of "The Fly" not far behind) as one of the best horror movies AND science fiction films of all time -- quite an accomplishment. The insectile, H. R. Giger-created alien is one of the most frightening and evil-looking creations of its kind, with rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth and jaws inside of jaws -- this thing is nasty. As Ripley, the ultimate, kick-butt, action-movie heroine, Sigourney Weaver heads a great cast (Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Ian Holm as the eerily detached medical officer who is not all that he seems, Yaphet Kotto, Harry Dean Stanton and Veronica Cartwright). This also has one of the best poster tag lines ever: In space, no one can hear you scream.
HIGHLIGHT: Geez, take your pick. Of course, there's the hugely famous chest-bursting scene, in which the egg that was implanted in John Hurt's stomach by that spidery, face-clinging thing doesn't quite agree with him; or there's the other famous, claustrophobic scene with Skerrit, armed with a flashlight and a heat sensor, chasing and then being chased by the alien through dark, endless ventilation shafts; and you can't forget Ripley's frightening final encounter with the alien after she thinks she's safe and sound in her escape pod (doesn't anyone know they're never safe and sound in these kinds of movies?); and the list goes on and on. ...