Alien

The **Aliens** are the main antagonists of the 2002 science fiction-religious film *Signs*.

## Biography

The movies begins with the Hess family waking up one morning. We see Graham Hess, waking up, sensing something is wrong. He goes to the doors of the kids to check on them. As he is brushing his teeth, a girl screaming can be heard. This wakes both him and his brother, Merrill. They run to the back cornfield. We then see Bo, Graham's daughter and youngest child, walking in a corn maze. We then see Morgan. Morgan says the dogs woke them up. We then see a giant crop circle, part of a formation of 2 more circles, the others having things connected to them. Morgan thinks "God did it." Graham dismisses it as a hoax. Police Officer Caroline Paski, comes by to check out what's going on.

That night, Bo wakes Graham up and says a monster is outside her window. She then asks for a glass of water. As Graham tries to relax her to sleep, he sees the shadowy silhouette of a figure standing on the barn roof. Alarmed, he wakes Merrill up and they try to scare away the figure, believing it's Lionel Pritchard, a local prankster. The brothers debate how to do. Graham is reluctant, but Merrill is eager. The brothers run screaming around the house to frighten off the intruder. Things get strange when the figure jumps within a second. And the movie at that point hints that this intruder could not be human. The figure jumps onto the roof, and Merrill tries to make of it. The figure then jumps off fast and into the cornfield.

The next day, Sheriff Paski stops by to investigate the intruder. Caroline tries to make of what they saw. However, she, along with Graham and Merrill are frustrated. The investigation is cut short by Bo, saying that the TV is reporting numerous crop circles appearing in India. On that night, the dog barks incessantly towards the cornfield. Taking a flashlight, Graham walks into the cornfield trying to find out what is in the cornfield. A noise is heard and Graham enters the crop circle. Graham yells that the whoever is causing the circles is "wasting their time." As Graham walks back to the house, he hears a noise and spots a thin green leg among the cornrows. He runs back to the house, frantically, petrified.

The family then watches new about reports of several unidentifiable and mysterious lights hovering over Mexico City. The following morning, Merrill tells Graham about a news report of a recorded video of a bird hitting something in the sky - in the same area where the lights were hovering. It's learned that the spaceships can turn cloaked. Graham receives a cryptic phone call from Reddy, the man who killed his wife, however it's cut short. Graham goes to see Reddy and finds him sitting in his car wearing a bloody shirt. Meanwhile, a frightened Merrill watches news of an alien walking outside during a child's birthday party in Brazil. Reddy tells Graham that he is going to the lake, since none of the aliens have been seen near water. Before leaving, Reddy pauses to apologize for the accident that killed Colleen and tells Graham that he trapped an alien in his pantry. Investigating, Graham uses a kitchen knife to see the reflection of the alien under the door. A clawed hand reaches out and a startled Graham cuts off two of its fingers.

Back home, Graham gives his family the options to stay at the house or head towards the lake. They vote to stay, not wanting to leave their home. They board up the windows and doors, preparing for any possible attack. Meanwhile, it is reported that more mysterious lights have been spotted worldwide and that the aliens are hostile. Merrill suggests that the crop circles in their cornfield, among others, are for alien navigation.

Graham prepares dinner for the family, with each picking their preferred dish. They are interrupted when they hear a baby monitor, which they had earlier discovered could pick up the aliens' communications, alerting them that the aliens are approaching. They listen as the aliens, seeking a way in, walk around the house. The dog, which was accidentally left outside, barks alarmingly but is quickly silenced. Merrill suddenly realizes that the attic door was left unprotected and they quickly move to the basement, barring the door. In deleted scenes, Merrill and Graham try to find a way to keep the attic door from opening, allowing to think up a plan, which will end up being the basement. Merrill holds the door, just in time for the aliens to try to bust in. Graham finds a china cabinet and blocks the door. They then take the kids to the kitchen.

The aliens can be heard inside the house and try to enter the basement. An alien grabs Morgan from the disused coal chute. It is driven away, but Morgan has an asthma attack. Graham realizes his inhaler was left upstairs, so he calms Morgan, hoping that the boy's breathing would return to normal.

The next morning, Morgan's condition has improved and the radio reports that aliens are retreating. They return upstairs but are ambushed by a lone alien, who takes the comatose Morgan hostage. Graham notices two fingers are missing, meaning it was the alien trapped in Reddy's pantry. Graham suddenly remembers the night that his wife died. She was pinned by a car and the Sheriff tells Graham that when the car is moved his wife will die. He talks to her and she tells him to let Morgan have fun and be silly, and for Bo to always listen to her brother because he will take care of her. She then tells Graham to "see" and "tell Merrill to swing away."

Graham realizes there was meaning in his wife's final words. Looking around, he sees Merrill's mounted record home run bat, next to Merrill. He tells Merrill to "swing away." Merrill understands and grabs the bat. Sensing an attack, the alien sprays a toxin into Morgan's face. Merrill swings at the alien, who then drops Morgan. He hits it again making the alien fall backwards and causing one of Bo's water glasses to spill on it. The water acts like acid on the alien's skin, so Merrill starts smashing all of the half-filled glasses, before finally knocking the alien into a table, where water glasses spilled directly onto its face, killing it.

## Relationships

### Enemies

* Graham Hess
* Merrill Hess - Killer
* Morgan Hess - Attempted Victim
* Bo Hess
* Ray Reddy

## Trivia

* The aliens' intolerance for water was heavily criticized by fans and critics alike, due to Earth, the fictional species' target, having an atmosphere and surface predominantly made up of water.
	+ This caused an online theory that the aliens aren't aliens but rather demons. This is the case due to the fact that: The evidence is that fact they hint that fact mainly holt water is more affected and the final reason is that there's multiple references to religion and hell. The only evidence that shows they could be aliens is the cornfield mark shown at the beginning of the movie.

## References

* 10 of the Most Underrated Horror Scores!
* 'Signs' of distress / Shyamalan's puzzling plot circles go flat quickly
* Film Theory: What The Alien In Signs Really Mean