Walter Hill month: Alien

Editor's note: Starting off Walter Hill month with the movie that would have been his biggest film if he had decided to direct it, instead of passing it off to the director of The Duelists, Ridley Scott.

A Review by Forrest Humphrey 

If there's a film I've covered thus far where I felt a tad out of my depth, its Ridley Scott's 1979 masterpiece, “Alien”. To elaborate, I don't think its actually possible to undersell the impact this film had, continues to have more than forty years later. A pinnacle work of both the Science Fiction AND Horror genres.  Numerous sequels, prequels, crossovers, comics, novels, video games and more spun from it. It launched the career of one of the most beloved actresses of modern film and spawned one of the most instantly recognizable and terrifying monsters to ever hit the big screen. The ongoing  legacy of  “Alien” would take dozens of pages to properly chronicle. 

I'm not even going to entertain the question of “but does it hold up?” The answer is yes, but Ill go into why. The basic premise: the crew of the commercial ship, the Nostromo,is on its way back home when the crew are drug from stasis to investigate a distress signal from nearby planet LV-426. What follows is well trodden territory by this point: one of the crew finds eggs, gets the first iconic face hugger of the series and one chestburster later, the iconic Xenomorph is loose on the ship, growing rapidly and easily picking off the crew.

'Alien” is a different beast from its sequels. There are no space marines here, no fanatic action movie scenes. This is a slow, tense and masterfully crafted horror film. Its in no hurry to start a bloodbath, letting you get to know its characters and ponder the increasing strangeness of this alien creature, building tension until everything goes horribly wrong. The crew are vastly out of their depth, with few weapons, little combat training and once their parent company finds out they discovered alien life, they are considered expendable in the mission to preserve this violent monster for study. With its slick black body and ability to crawl on nearly any surface; and of course its distinctive blade-like tail, double jawed mouth and huge claws, the Xenomorph could be anywhere and if it finds the crew, death is almost a guarantee. And once they find out it bleeds acid of all things, even killing it becomes nearly impossible as spilling its blood could eat the hull away resulting in death via lack of atmosphere. The Xenomorph is easily one of the single most famous and beloved movie monsters of all time for its disturbing visual design, unique life cycle, penchant for intense violence and primal cunning. 

Fantastic cinematography and use of lighting and shadow, sound design and a subtle but extremely effective musical score from Jerry Goldsmith all serve to create a thick, oppressive atmosphere as the small crew desperately try to survive, coupled with excellent performances all around from the likes of Tom Skerritt and John Hurt. The true star, of course, was Sigourney Weaver. Her portrayal of the vulnerable but resourceful, intelligent and determined Ellen Ripley instantly became one of media's most beloved action heroines. This was Weaver's first major role, and its one of the biggest examples of a “star making role” out there. 

If for some reason you haven't seen “Alien' please correct this mistake, there's a host of reasons it's been praised for so long, up to being included in the Library of Congress for its cultural importance. The franchise might have spent the last few years getting trampled on with terrible prequels and crossovers, but none of it could ever diminish the excellence of the film that started it all.