Extremely Creepy Film Brought On by a Scary Atmosphere and Freakish Art Direction

Rating: Null/10 (13 January 2007)

Let's face it, folks--Ridley Scott is the master in creating an atmosphere to a film. He uses lighting, smoke, sound, music, or whatever else may work to achieve a certain effect. In this case, the atmosphere and starkness of space are used to get the hair on the back of our neck to stand. It sure as hell stands.
The plot to this movie is simple and many films have basically copied it. The crew of a large space barge receive a distress signal to an alien planet. They come down to investigate, and one of the members is attacked by a giant claw that grapples onto your face. He becomes infected with some sort of egg, and in one of the film's most memorable and gruesome moments, a squirrel-sized monster bursts out of his stomach and scurries into the air shafts.
This may be regarded as one of the scariest films of all time--of course, that may depend on who you are. It was certainly scary for me, but then again, I'm not a horror film addict. But this is one of those horror films that I can watch over and over and still be as scared as I was when I first saw it.
Surprisingly, there are only seven real actors in this film. There are only seven characters (ermmm...okay, maybe eight). But, while they are not fully developed characters, I was with them every step of the way. They are truck drivers in space, basically--and I know that term has been used a lot before to describe the movie, but it's true--we sympathize with these people. We feel for them when they die. We feel their fear. The latter is, perhaps, the most successful thing about this film. It relies on tension, suspense, adrenaline, and flat-out fear instead of cheap 'jump' scares to let the movie flow. Of course, with any horror film, there are jump moments. But they are so more effective than any modern horror film that they had me jumping in both delight and shock. What is most effective about these moments is, of course, the build-up.
Ellen Ripley is played with a badass perfection by Sigourney Weaver. How an Oscar has eluded this woman in her glorious career, I will never know. John Hurt plays Kane, the tragic and likable man whose death we will probably never forget once we view this movie. Veronica Cartwright plays Lambert, a shrieking and hysterical woman who is, in many ways, us. She is our logic and convey's our emotions throughout the movie. Tom Skeritt plays the laid-back captain of the Nostromo, the leviathan mining vehicle that floats through space with a silent pulse. Harry Dean Stanton and Yalphet Kotto play the underdecks--two tough guys with their shares on their mind. And of course, who could forget Ian Holm? Truly the most difficult of characters to bring to life. I must admit, when I witnessed the revelation and transformation his character underwent, I was absolutely gobsmacked.
H.R. Geiger must have some pretty nasty things going through his head when he designed the Alien. A strangely beautiful creature that, although scary as hell, was fascinating to look at.
If it wasn't Ridley Scott at the helm of this giant vehicle, I don't think that the film would've been half as good--his auterish and stylized direction is perfect for the mood of the film. Where he places his camera makes it scarier than how any other director (certainly Walter Hill) could've done it. His choice to linger on shots of people entering and exiting rooms brings a strange tension as if making you think, "God, end this now..."
Overall, this film started a phenomenon.It is one of those classic horror films that only comes along once in a while. Like 'The Shining', it is chalk full of one memorable moment after another. It created and shaped horror films as we see them today.