Alien ---- ***1/2 (out of 5) (1979)
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt
Director(s): Ridley Scott
Screenwriter(s): Dan O'Bannon
Released on: May 25, 1979
Reviewed on: April 24, 2004
Rated: R - for violence, gore, and profanity
ALIEN, a defining film that launched a franchise and started the entire "people trapped in confined space with hostile creature" premise, doesn't seem to have lost any of its bizarre and creepy appeal even after 25 years. Not to be a generic critic or anything, but ALIEN deserves to have full credit for the phrase "edge-of-your-seat." It's a gripping, intriguing, atmospheric horror story in space that never ceases to deliver valid shocks and genuine suspense.
Deep within the regions of space, a massive vessel in which eight crew members reside is beginning its trek home after a long mission. The first half-hour introduces us to these interesting characters who seem bored with their daily routine procedures and are just prepared to head home and collect their paychecks. During their morning rounds, they discover a beacon on a nearby planet that they are forced into checking out because of their orders to investigate any signal that hints at extraterrestrial life. Three crew members exit the ship and, after extensive exploring, they come across a room full of egg-like pods. Kane gets a closer look, and one of them suddenly opens. A creature called a "facehugger" launches out of the pod, forces itself through Kane's space helmet, and latches itself onto his face.
The unconscious Kane is brought back to the ship and left in a quarantine room for a while with the unknown creature's slimy fingers firmly gripped around his cranium. The next morning, they check in on him to see that the creature has disappeared from his face. Riply (Sigourney Weaver) is startled upon finding it when it drops down on her. It appears to be dead, and Kane wakes up in good condition with no memory of what happened. His crew members, however, are unaware that the facehugger laid an embryo in his chest while its tentacle was down his throat. During a dinnertime segment, Kane begins choking and retching, and a phallic-looking creature explodes out of his chest, spraying everyone around with blood. It leaps out of Kane's corpse and slithers off on its own. As it grows larger and taller, it begins killing off each of the crew members one-by-one as they attempt to survive the ordeal.
If the plot description worries you that I've revealed too much about the basis of the film, then fret not, because the mere summary of the foundation of the film won't take away what you feel and experience as the horrific menace of ALIEN plays out. This flick is one of the best creature features I've ever had the privilege of viewing in my lifetime whose only flaws are a few dull sequences here and there and less action than one might hope for. If I've given you the illusion that the film is littered with gore, then don't worry because I assure you that the only scene with that kind of impact is the "dinner scene." However, there are also some concepts that could hugely rub off on someone as disturbingly bizarre. So, as you're popping ALIEN into the VCR or DVD player, make certain you have neither a weak stomach or an impressionable psyche.
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