Cameron RULES

Rating: 10/10 (1 August 2003)

Possibly the most frightened i have ever been whilst watching a film was when i saw this at the age of 12. I shouldnt really have been watching it but there you go. I remember being absolutely petrified all the way through and the only real piece of gore in the film is where you see a chestburster come out of a crewperson. So that wasnt why i was scared. However i WAS scared because of its unique style in portreying darkness using very moody soundtracks, excellent props and most of all the excellent use of the alien creatures. You dont really get to see the creatures very much as most of the tention built up by them is implied. What Cameron has done here is to coax the viewers great imagination and mould it to the dark visions he and Geiger wanted to represent. It is genius film making due to its faultless plot, great cast and dialogue but most of all because it is a sequel (in my mind better than the first). I have no clue as to what goes on in H R Geigers mind but to create what is essentially the devil (or what it represents - pure evil) i feel is touching the boarder of genius and insanity. The essence of the film found my deepest fears and played with them like a cat does a mouse but instead of it being a nasty experience (as it should have) i felt compelled to watch it even at the age of twelve. I am now the ripe old age of 26 and i have probably seen Aliens more than i have any other - star wars included. At a guess i'd say at least 100 times or more. Call me a nerd but i still do not tire of this fantastic piece of storytelling. I just wish they hadn't ruined what could have been a fantastic ongoing plot featuring an adult Newt, Hicks and Ripley in the third and fourth installments of the genre. Alien 3 was awful and alien 4 was just ghastly. The new 'plot twists' they tried to create were just an insult to the first 2 films. Had they kept it simple and persued the route of the Dark Horse comics (earth is over run by aliens and the story centres on Hicks and Newt) they would have had so much more credibility.
Ultimately i have to say this is my number one favourite film of all time. The darkness, the futility, the pain, the horrifying reality, the disaster and the humanity all added together create the most fantastic visualisation of any horror film i have ever seen. It just cannot be missed. Drink in the darkness people because this is the best (or worst) you will ever see.
A most definite Ten out of Ten