Streaming Gems: Alien (1979) - Opinion
Photo from Screen Rant
From Shane Conto
Sometimes films turn out to be a perfect story, don’t they? Great films have so many things going for them and come together to offer something special. You could have a great concept that will intrigue an audience and hopefully keep them compelled throughout. Sometimes you have a filmmaker on the rise who is ready to make a name for themselves. A group of great characters can go a long way as well. But having the right actors to bring those great characters to life can be the perfect combination for success. All of this…and a killer tagline…made Ridley Scott’s 1979 science fiction horror film, Alien, a classic.
In space…can they really hear you scream? They sure can inside a movie theater where many people back in 1979 just witnessed one of the most bone-chilling flicks up to that point in the history of film. There are so many reasons to fall in love with Alien. The titular creature is truly iconic at this point as most can probably recognize the dangerous and terrifying Xenomorph. The elongated head, the double mouth, and its creepy hiss all combine together thanks to H.R. Giger who became famous for his impressive work on Scott’s film. But it is more than just the creature. The “face-huggers’ that impregnate their victims. The creepy vase/egg type relic that houses the “face-hugger” is equally as iconic. The Nostromo is one of the most recognizable ships in pop culture. These are certainly the most basic and surface level reasons why you should check out such an iconic film.
But what about the actual horror? Scott is able to maximize his smaller budget to craft frightening moments that live on in the culture conscience today. The chest bursting scene is one of the most famous scenes in all of film AND it is still horrifying to experience. Unnerving. Shocking. Surprising. The perfect way to describe such an ordeal. There are plenty of great moments in this film from an android completely losing control to a frightening air shaft lit only by a singular flame to one last surprise when you thought we were all safe. Scott showed great talent in the tension and suspense department (and it is kind of a shape he did not go back into this genre too many other times since).
But you have to have a great hook, don’t you? That tagline and trailer for Alien after both legendary in their own right which certainly got plenty of butts in seats back in 1979. But the idea of a crew of blue collar workers in space getting caught up with a pure killing machine is a pitch perfect concept to intrigue you. But it is the execution as well that gets you. The pacing is pristine. The storytelling feels fresh as it navigates familiar genres like slashers, extra-terrestrial science fiction, and high concept sci-fi. There is the visceral fear of an unstoppable creature picking off this crew one by one. There is interesting exploration of themes like the err of humanity in its capitalistic greed and its drive for creating artificial sentience. The film takes your basic slasher structure and adorns it in top tier genre trappings that mix perfectly together.
But why would we care? Scott and Dan O’Bannon’s screenplay makes us care thanks to this ragtag crew of characters. Sigourney Weaver became a star thanks to her strong and confident performance and Ripley has gone down as one of the most iconic and strongest female characters in film. Ian Holm (a beloved and well respected character actor) brings plenty of life to this now iconic android called Ash. But it is the whole crew of character actors who breathe life into these authentic and empathetic characters. Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, and Yaphet Kotto. Now that is quite the ensemble.
What else can I say to convince you why Alien is a worthwhile stream for you? I probably don’t have to say anything else. I probably could have just said that this is one of the greatest sci-fi AND horror films of all time created by one of film's most well respected filmmakers. So turn the lights down, take a seat, and hopefully your neighbors cannot hear you scream as you take in this iconic piece of cinema.
You can find Alien (1979) streaming on Peacock.
