Quite simply one of the finest horror films ever made

Rating: 10/10 (17 March 2006)

With all the science-fiction/horror films released over the years, there has been none more imitated or alluded to than Alien. A landmark film for the way it effortlessly combined the genres of science-fiction/horror, this is that rarity where everything about it works, and it constantly keeps surprising you right up until the very end.
Ridley Scott's direction is flawless. With the commercial tug ship Nostromo, he has crafted a biomechanical world that manages the impossible task of merging the biological with the technological. The attention to detail is marvellous. There is so much to see. Repeated viewing is essential to take in the sheer amount of minute details.
There is no need to go into specifics concerning the plot. You'd have to have been living under a rock not to know. Alien gets loose on ship, kills the crew one by one. That description doesn't even begin to do Alien justice. That's a synopsis more fitting for the countless copycats, who are more concerned with springing the next shock tactic. Alien does that too, but also generates a palpable atmosphere of tension and menace.
What exactly is it about Alien that has it held in such high regard? Is it the actors? The alien itself? There may never be an adequate explanation. But I think it must be that it avoids all the obvious pitfalls films like this are wont to do. Clichés are continually kept at bay, and the actors are a fine ensemble cast, unlike the hopeless, simpering teenagers you find in the copycats.
This was the film where Sigourney Weaver made her mark as an actress, even though she is accorded second billing to Tom Skerrit as Captain Dallas. This is a brilliant manoeuvre, because you're half expecting him to be the hero of the piece, only for Dallas to get killed halfway through.
It is exactly that type of deceptive simplicity that ranks it so highly in my book. Every time you've got Alien figured out, you're wrong. This film is filled with surprises. One after another. Maybe the greatest of all that the one who finally kills the alien is a woman. Weaver is perfectly cast as Ellen Ripley. A woman who is tough, resourceful, but still balances it with a healthy dollop of fear for her life.
The rest of the cast is filled capably by some truly talented actors. John Hurt as the unfortunate Kane, Yaphet Kotto as the argumentative Parker, Ian Holm as the sinister Ash, Harry Dean Stanton as Brett and Veronica Cartwright as Lambert.
All of these actors have something to offer. They're not just shoe-horned in to take up time before they get bumped off. Their close encounters all end the same way, but it's always interesting to see how it will lead up to that.
In regards to the alien itself, the design work by H.R. Giger is astounding. Although the alien is kept in semi-darkness (a brilliant move!) when we do get glimpses of it, it seems an astonishing amalgamation of metal, razor sharp teeth and sexual subtext all in one body. It is hard to imagine anywhere else in other films an alien creature as unique in design as this one.
Another thing of constant interest is the continual evolution of the alien creature throughout. Beginning with an egg, where a hand-like parasite attaches itself to Kane, then to the eventual hatching of the alien that almost looks like a penis (sexual metaphor again!) to then grow in size and strength with each person killed, the alien is like a chameleon that changes its form to whatever the story requires, blending in seamlessly with the Nostromo itself.
The alien is an ever-present menace. Stalking it's prey in dark corridors and shadowy passages. The audience is never completely certain where the alien may be hiding, even though we know it's always nearby. When it does appear, because it resembles the Nostromo so much, it's almost as if the ship itself comes alive. It's a frightening thing to watch. And it never fails to disturb.
Alien's greatest trump card may be the fact that it knows how to build suspense. Roger Ebert summed it up quite nicely: "One of the greatest strengths of Alien is its pacing. It takes its time. It waits. It allows silences."
All of this is certainly true. I don't think I've ever seen a horror film that devotes as much time to the build up of suspense as this one does. Horror films nowadays jump right to the killing. Not so with Alien. It's almost an hour before the alien makes it's grand appearance in the infamous mess hall scene. But the fact that it waits for as long as it does makes the final carnage on the Nostromo all the more gratifying, and unbearable.
The motives of the alien itself are thankfully never made clear. It adds to it's menace. Ash muses: "A perfect organism. It's structural perfection is matched only by it's hostility. No conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality."
That statement only intensifies the frightening nature of the alien. It seems to kill for pure malice and sheer pleasure. It seems to be grinning when killing Parker and Brett. And when Lambert is killed, we never get to see that. Only hear her high pitched screams. The final image of the alien's tail moving between her legs. Murderous rape perhaps?
The final showdown between Ripley and the alien is an explosive finale within the cramped confines of a life raft. Alien is a true nail-biter right up to the very end.
Out of all the sequels, Aliens was the only one I enjoyed on the same level. It is a film as equally brilliant as this one. But when it comes to frightening intensity and creating a tangible mood of menace, there are none more effective than the exceptional and darkly beautiful Alien.