Beware of the Mummy's Curse

Rating: 10/10 (1 May 2017)

Ridley Scott made one of the best Mummy movies ever made in 1979's Alien. It takes from the myths and reality of the spread of germs accumulated in a sealed up tomb perceived by ancient societies as "Curses" and turns them into art inspired by truth. Just like in any Mummy movie it begins with humans finding ancient technology. In the same way some pyramids served as tombs you will notice in Alien the Space Jockey is a perfectly mummified being. People who have researched Giger's inspiration for the Jockey found he designed it off an ark type hieroglyphic that represented a vessel to carry one into the afterlife. Also the function of a Mummy. In ancient times when people would break into tombs they would immediately enter and be exposed to germs that could kill a person. This was the foundation for the Mummy's curse. Alien's takes that concept and brings it into the far out and beyond our capability concepts of science fiction. Another word for germ is bug so it makes sense that the film makers choose a bug for the form of the alien creatures. You will notice that just like an airborne germ the alien is contracted by a face huger cleverly designed to resemble a breathing apparatus. Just like germs the face huger enters through the mouth and lays its egg in the hosts chest. This is why the creature goes in through a breathing apparatus and stops near the lungs and the creature that is born is called a chest burster. It is all metaphoric of the airborne germ in a freshly opened tomb. I had never thought about this before until I went on a spree of mummy films. No one else has pointed this out to my knowledge but it would be interesting to see if the film makers themselves explained it to anybody. It gives me a new take on the film, makes so much sense and establishes the creativity that went into this film and I felt I should share it with all film watchers so they can enjoy it too. Now the people who wondered what a cat was doing in space have an answer.