Terror like never before

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2005)

A movie like "Alien" comes once in a blue moon. It takes immense talent to make a creature flick and pull it off beautifully. Rarely are there any creature movies which don't have cheap, laughable effects or n-number of plot holes! "Alien" succeeds where countless other "inspirations" fail! "Alien" tells the story of a crew of 7 returning to earth in a mining ship Nostromo. They intercept a signal, possibly an S.O.S. from a distant planet and go on to investigate. What follows is a deadly journey of terror like never before.
"Alien" has got some of the finest creature effects for the time 1979! The face-hugger and the scenes involving the face-hugger carry such shock value; it is surprising that the film-makers from later years who resort to cheap thrills in movies, haven't even been able to get close to showing anything to this effect! It is amazing how they have managed to make these effects look so good. The director is intelligent. He makes sure that the creature is never shown in its entirety. This trick works like magic, and it looks so real; thus, not for one moment does it seem as if there is a dummy running around in an Alien costume! Another selling point of "Alien" is the nail-biting suspense! The creature appears on screen for a minimal time, but the director makes sure the presence of the creature lurking around in the corners is felt! The set of the space-ship is so real, its scary! Kudos to the Production designers and set decorators.
Likewise, the lighting within the ship; it gives an authentic touch to the set and adds to the thrill-effects.
The sound effects are wonderful and very convincing! In summary, almost everything on the technical front deserves an A grade.
Now, the actors: All the characters are fully developed, and each one carries equal importance. That is very important in a movie that shows the involvement of a lot of characters. These characters are brilliantly portrayed by all of the actors involved: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Harry Dean Stanton; special mention of Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto and Veronica Cartwright. It is difficult to pick out any single performance as unconvincing. Everyone has done a fantastic job.
This is Ridley Scott's masterpiece. "Alien" will remain a landmark film in the Sci-fi-Horror-creature movies, and will always remain way on top of all other cheap imitations from the same genre.