One of the greatest films ever made - sci-fi or otherwise!

Rating: Null/10 (21 February 2003)

ALIEN (1979) **** Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Yaphet Kotto, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Harry Dean Stanton, Veronica Cartwright. Ridley Scott's genuinely scary and shockingly violent sci-fi masterpiece that re-created terror in the genre and spawned a zillion rip-offs. " In Space No One Can Hear You Scream" was the film's tag-line and appropriately so: a space mission picks up an alien hitchhiker in deep space after being duped into tracing a distress signal and end up with several bloody deaths and one nasty monster. Spooky production values (which deservedly copped an Oscar for Best Visual Effects) and stunning creature inspired by artist HR Giger. Weaver is memorable in her breakthrough performance as is the alien's first appearance a la Hurt's exploding chest! **noteworthy: this film was actually inspired by a 1958 sci-fi B-movie, "It! The Terrror From Beyond Space" (!)