In Space no one can Hear you Scream: A discussion of the Alien franchise and other Horrors in the Sci-fi genre…

It’s 1979, Star Wars has broken hundreds of box-office records and 20th Century Fox was at a high-point, looking for a new Science Fiction movie that’s where Alien came in. This Halloween, I wanted to talk one of my favourite movies, the Sci-Fi Horror classic. Be warned there are major spoilers here for the movie, it you’ve seen it read ahead and I hope you enjoy my spooky post. For more Sci-Fi Horror related stuff, I will be posting a comprehensive post at the start of next week.

Written by Dan O’Bannon (John Carpenter’s first film: Dark Star) and directed by Ridley Scott (too many great works to mention) is a film I would call near perfect. Filled with an excellent gritty/worn in universe, absolutely chilling design work by H.R. Giger (the perverse genius) and Ron Cobb, fantastic sound design, on-point realistic writing and dialogue and too many other things to mention. 

The main plot for Alien follows the crew of the Nostromo (a mining vessel): Ripley (the main protagonist/Sigourney Weaver), Dallas (Tom Skerritt), Kane (John Hurt), Lambert (Veronica Cartwright), Parker (Yaphet Kotto), Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) and Ash (Ian Holms) as they receive a distress call from a nearby planet Lv426. When their small landing vessel breaks down; Kane, Lambert and Dallas explore the wastelands of Lv426 and horrid conditions turn from bad to worse:

To explain my way through the plot would be unnecessary, from the iconic scene when the Ash dissects an all too realistic looking Face-hugger ( filled with different pieces of liver), the horrifying scene where the Chest-buster rips it’s way through Kane, another grim scene when Ripley finds out that Ash is an android that was sent to obtain the Xenomorph to any scene with the monster itself.

From it’s excellent use horrifying atmosphere, it’s fantastic world building from the ship that felt lived (as seen below) and the giant wasteland of a world Acheron (both concept artists creating an excellent mesh that separated but brought together the two worlds), the real banter between the crew between characters that could very much exist as real people in our own world and of course the Xenomorph itself.

It’s unquestionable to say that Alien and it’s sequel Aliens (a film to go through at a later date) are absolutely revolutionary when it comes to both Science Fiction and Horror, glaring into a very possible and terrifying future in the depths of space. It meshes both genres to perfection much like it fused both worlds of the Nostromo and the Xenomorph… where being alone in the universe really doesn’t sound so bad after all. 

In fact it has been so revolutionary in the genre and sub-genre that quite a lot of fiction in the genre tends to heavily copy from it’s original premise (of Star Beast, the original title) from the recent movie “Life” to several episodes of Doctor Who with many more movies that you would find in your nearest bargain bin (I fear, in a few years, that reference might disappear entirely…).

I feel that I have become awfully side tracked in this discussion on a film that I could talk about for hours at a time. It’s one of my all-time favourite movie which is not just because of it’s dark perverse nature and grim Sci-fi, which there is just the right amount on both ends but how the characters cope, especially Ellen Ripley, with facing a seemingly invulnerable, intelligent beast that is the Xenomorph. But, hey that’s enough from me.  and I would love to know your personal thoughts on it fellow Future thinkers and Intergalactic travellers down in the comments below…

 I will be here Monday to talk more about the Horror in Sci-fi, but this should hopefully tide you over and before I forget, have a great spooky Halloween: 

Michael McGrady, Signing off.