In space no one can hear you scream

Rating: 9/10 (8 August 2009)

Alien is a special film, a hybrid of sci-fi, horror and thriller. A film that made Ridley Scott a Hollywood player, made Sigourney Weaver's career and a started a multi-million dollar franchise.
Set in the future, a commercial mining spaceship, Nostromo, is on its way back to Earth and the crew is in a state of hibernation. The ship's computer receives a signal for a foreign species and wakes up the crew. Under law the crew have to investigate. After crashing on a planet some of the crew go to explore the site of a crashed ship, with one very dead alien on board. One of the crew members, Kane (John Hurt) has the misfortune to find a number of eggs in ship and gets attacked by a Facehugger. Kane is taken back to Nostromo, and the science officer Ash (Ian Holm) tries to study it. He can't remove the Facehugger because it would strangle Kane, and cutting it off isn't an option because it has acid blood. After Kane seems to be fine, but whilst eating the Chestburster kills him and scares the crew in a classic scene. The crew go on the hunt, facing the ultimate predator. But it's not just the alien that the crew should worry about, with a conspiracy led by their own company/employers and a traitor within their mitts.
Alien is considered a classic and I admit it is very good, but it's my second film in the franchise. The point of this film is the suspense, nothing knowing what's going to happen and has some excellent scares and scenes. Ridley Scott directs with subtly and slowly builds up the film, keeping you on the edge of your seat and interested at work's going on the screen. It is eerie and perfectly well done. As a horror film its one of the best ever made. It's an excellent sci-fi, Ridley Scott creates a break, dark world, showing space travel can be hard and unglamourous, almost an anti-Star Wars film. The story is simple and strong, a spaceship crew find an alien. But what makes Alien better is that the alien is just a wild animal who want to kill and eat. It's not an intelligence life-form who wants to conqueror Earth. The characters are developed and the conspiracy adds to the story, having an anti-big business message. Another theme that are looked at by this film are fear of the unknown, the future of space exploration and the fear of male rape and pregnancy (i.e. what happens to John Hurt). The art direction is excellent, with great sets and model work, adding to the dark Star Wars feel to the film. There is great special effects for the time.
They is a good cast to the film. Sigourney Weaver is obviously good and must have loved the role seeing she played it for times. There are great English actors, John Hurt and Ian Holm, both always good to see. Tom Skerritt and Yaphet Kotto are also noticeable and worthy of mention.
An excellent film for horror and sci-fi fans. A must see. Alien and Aliens are the best in the series and it's best to stop there.