Brilliant for so many reasons...

Rating: Null/10 (29 September 2003)

I don't think people really remember how groundbreaking this film really was. As both a horror and a science fiction movie, it set an all new standard. While Star Wars really gets the credit for taking science fiction to the next level, let's be honest - it's a kid's movie and it feels like a kid's movie. The special effects were...hell, are...great. But it's still sterile. It's Saturday afternoon matinee. It's laser beams and guys in rubber suits. Alien took science fiction and made it feel like science fact. Everything about the movie screamed real...and that upset a lot of people.

1. The premise - this wasn't space jockeys or princesses or even astronauts "exploring space". This was "space as resource" - humans taking advantage of other planets for mining ore. Boring, dirty, and a nice reality check for science fiction.
2. The crew - one-dimmensional and unlikeable? You bet. No stereotypes here at all - no dashing captains, no tough guys, no blonde beauties. These were working class folks - blue collar truckers. Everything about the dialogue and behavior rings completely true. They don't really give a s*** about each other, they panic...they just want to go home, get some decent food, and collect their shares.
3. The creature - holy s***, are you kidding me? Does anyone remember how much this movie freaked people out? People could not...and still can't...deal with it. It was just the most horrific thing anyone had ever seen. It took "shocking" to a whole new place. Everything about it was just so disgustingly real - from the grime and goop to the slime and blood - no one had ever seen anything like. It was your worst nightmare...only worse. The thing didn't attach itself to his arm or his back or his neck - the bulbous, spider-like, slimy, disgusting thing attached itself to HIS FACE. And then, after LAYING AN EGG INSIDE HIM, the new creature came EXPLODING OUT OF HIS CHEST. Take a step back for a minute. Time and other movies have dulled the experience a bit...but can you imagine seeing this for the first time when the only horror and sci-fi you'd ever seen was 2001 and Psycho? And it all rang true, like the Discover channel's version of "When Aliens Attack"...the kind of disgustingly messy and painful reproduction that only nature could come up with.
4. The robot - C3-PO...puh-lease. This movie is messy and disgusting, just like real life. No wires and circuit boxes. You want an android that looks and acts human, then you're going to have to think out of the box. An android like that is gonna be messy and gross inside...it's gonna be filled with liquid and fuel and god knows what else. When this android flips it's wig, his head ain't gonna disconnect for Chewbacca to screw it back on. You're gonna need a flamethrower to clean the mess up. Again, reality creeps its way into science fiction in a way no one had ever even thought of before.
5. The pace - sorry, no laser fights. This movie, like the best horror movies (the Shining and Halloween), builds slowly. It's about atmosphere...and this films has it in spades. You know something bad is going to happen, but you don't know what. Instead, you just watch the gorgeous sets and backdrops as the tension builds. And when it's time for dinner, the timer goes off and all hell breaks lose...in a way you never imagined.
6. The dialogue - "Hey man, the food ain't that bad", Parker jokes as Kane begins choking. That sums up the dialogue - real. The characters may have been unlikable, but they were real. Almost too real. There are parts of the film, as the characters mumble and talk over one another, that almost have a documentary feel to it.
Nearly 25 years later, this is one of the most brilliant, groundbreaking, and genuinely horrific and beautiful films ever made. A masterpiece.