Chilling psychological sci-fi classic still great today

Rating: 8/10 (27 May 2009)

Maybe not as powerful and surprising today because we've become used to that kind of film (becaused copied so many times) but back then it was very fresh and surely terrifying. The tempo is slow but it works in context and contributes to create suspense and intensify surprises. The atmosphere and visual design are great and still look fine in the 21st century (with a couple of exceptions: one being a particular "head"). The premise of the film was like a B-movie but everything was done to make it a quality A-movie including the actors who play seriously without any "camp" factor. Sigourney Weaver, in her first movie role, created a standard for strong female heroes that was extremely rare in those days. The alien creature as designed by Giger was a stroke of nightmarish genius recognizable and memorable amongst all others. It was even more effective because it was glimpsed so quickly and infrequently. Alien and the sequel Aliens have influenced tons of films and video games afterwards, especially visually. It's certainly a classic in the sci-fi thriller genre and should be seen by everyone. How I wish I could have seen it back in its heyday, but then perhaps I would have been psychologically scarred forever by its chilling images ;-)
Rating: A strong 8 out of 10