In space one can hear you scream - "QUALITY!"

Rating: Null/10 (1 May 2002)

It is interesting to note that both Ridley Scott and Robert Wise never made their name from directing any one genre of film. In fact, they seem to go out of their way to make as diverse range of films as possible:
Gladiator; Thelma and Louise; The Duellists; (Ridley Scott), The Day The Earth Stood Still; West Side Story; Sound of Music; (Robert Wise).
Yet they both managed, in my view, to make the two most effective horror films in their era: The Haunting (1963, Wise) and Alien (1979, Scott).
I think what the two men have in common, is their approach to filmmaking, which is treating their audiences with great maturity. This is the antithesis of modern filmaking now, especially in the horror genre.
Scott has approached Alien as he would any one of his films: to tell a good story as effectively as possible without insulting the audience.
The result being a plot that is, if one is honest, not far removed from any of the slasher flicks of the eighties such as Friday the 13th, where the cast systematically get bumped off one by one.
Where Alien differs greatly, though, is the sheer understatedness of the whole thing. From the lighting and sets to the superb ensemble acting, the whole movie is flawless. The alien is totally believable with a life cycle of its own.
Scott paints his canvas with greys and blues, then to complete his composition, adds a splash of scarlet - (you'll know it when you see it).
Like Wise's The Haunting, Scott's Alien sticks to the adage 'less is more'. Thankfully, we hardly see the alien though one could argue for a change, as the design of the alien is so good, whether seeing just a tad MORE of the alien would have helped the audience along a bit.
It's a small point, for it doesn't detract from the fact that Alien is one of the most important films of its genre in the last 40 years. This year Alien will be 23 years old. A new generation of DVD viewers is now enjoying a movie that hasn't aged a jot and can still hold its own in the 21st century.