Really, what can I say? It's perfect. That's all.

Rating: 10/10 (4 September 2008)

When I first watched Alien I simply did not have the attention span to sit through it. That's the same story as pretty much every one-star review you'll ever read. They, and likewise I when I first watched it, watch the first hour and realize nothing has happened and turn it off. I remember saying, "Who can open up a movie in such a boring way?" But after turning it off after the first hour, I came back later and finished it upand was amazed at the pure intensity of the last half hour. I didn't realize what I was supposed to realize in the first five minutes: everyone on this ship is already in a life-or-death situation. That is why it is called a survival horror movie. That's the pure genius of the slow opening. That's what I and all the people who think this movie is boring missed. Luckily, after finishing the last 30 minutes the first time I realized this and watched it again. And again.
The atmosphere and feelings of true desolation were a perfect execution of the brilliant tagline, and to this day I'm hard pressed to think of another movie that rivals Alien in pure doom atmosphere. But with doom always comes melodrama, and the casting and acting both diminish it.
Alien also succeeds in perfectly placing the two shock moments. It knows how to use them to their most effective potential, with flawless execution, by using the slow pace to deceive you. If you have not seen this movie or any of the spin-offs, do not let anyone ruin these moments for you.
But simply the main standing point that sets this movie apart from every other movie about aliens is the creature itself. In modern movies, creatures are thrown in with little thought or design, and Alien may be the single only creature film I've ever seen with a creature is not laughable in any way. Instead of stooping the stupid idea of making a humanoid alien that can talk, think, Alien defies the clichés by creating the most perfect instrument of death ever filmed, ever thought of, and has never yet been rivaled.
I don't what else there is for me to say. Alien is a true survival horror movie that not only started the sub-genre but puts all others in that sub-genre to shame. There are no pointless sex scenes to make you realize you're watching yet another tiresome, typical Hollywood horror movie. No pointless subplots or gimmicky action scenes. Alien is true, simple terror that copies real life rather than copy other movies to make money.