Horror beyond horror

Rating: 9/10 (3 November 2002)

(spoilers) ALIEN is one of the scariest sci-fi movies ever made, not to mention probably the best one ever made. What made it so scary was that nobody had ever seen anything like it before, and therefore nobody knew what to expect back in 1979. Nowadays, with such cheap horror like Urban Legends, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Sleepy Hollow, Jason X, and all the rest, where things jump out at you and kill you at every turn, the fright level of ALIEN might not be as high as it was 23 years ago, but it still remains a solid thriller.
Ridley Scott's idea for ALIEN was amazing, and it has a great story. A cargo ship, returning from a long space voyage, is stopped near a planet where some sort of distress signal is coming from, and they go down to investigate. There, they find an alien lifeform and unwisely bring it aboard. There, after it hatches out of a crew member's stomach, it goes on a killing rampage, slaying every one of the crew members until but one is left. That sets the stage for the film's most unbelievable moments, leading to the final destruction of the Alien.
Another thing about ALIEN is that with most thrillers where people die, you usually have some sort of hero that is brave and defends other people's lives as well as their own. They do that in JAWS, THE BIRDS, THE MUMMY, and even in most teen slasher movies. ALIEN doesn't have any heroes. It doesn't have any brave-hearted, clean-souled people. The crew is full of selfish, money-hungry brats that are all suddenly thrown into a deadly adventure together. The only reason that the characters in ALIEN are out there is for money. Usually wealthy people don't have many hero qualities. The closest character to being a hero is Captain Dallas (who was played brilliantly by Tom Skerritt), who decides to face the Alien head-to-head and not risk anybody else. Other than him, there aren't any people worthy of being heroes or heroines.
I have to say that Ridley Scott's ALIEN is the best sci-fi movie ever made, and that it deserves every true thriller movie fan's highest recommendations.