Yet, more iconic than the creature’s look, its entrance into the world is something that retains a raw visceral power that once seen never leaves the viewer. The Chestburster sequence is a bravura moment of shocking intensity that acts as a perfect coda to the film’s methodical build-up in the first act. The scene in which Kane (John Hurt) births the Alien via his stomach is hard to watch even with the familiarity of repeat viewings. Part of its charm, if that could ever be an applicable term to something so shocking, is the reactions of the cast that mirror perfectly those of the audience. The look of true shock and revulsion on the faces of the actors – who were completely oblivious to what was about to happen at the time of filming – adds yet another subtle layer of realism to a movie that is already saturated with a genuine feel of authenticity. The Chestburster adds an additional element to the creature skilfully employed by Scott, the dramatic insect-like evolution from the Facehugger to the wildly different Chestburster forms adding an extra element of anxiety to the creature – what would it look like next!?
Despite the amazing design work on the adult creature, Scott was not entirely happy with it, feeling that it would at some point reveal itself to be essentially a man in a suit, killing the atmosphere instantly. This led to Scott taking the “Jaws in space” pitch more literally. Acknowledging that in both Jaws and John Carpenter’s Halloween, what you didn’t see can scare more than any visual effect, Scott worked hard to keep the creature barely seen.
It was a tactic that would pay off handsomely; Giger’s work was not hidden away, but filmed in either extreme close-up, from the victim’s point of view, or with the creature in bizarre contorted positions. This gave little away about the creature’s true form and allowed the audience to use the best special effect in the world: their own imaginations.
Yet, beyond the creature and the exceptionally well realised world, Alien is clearly a genuinely classic movie if only judged by the influence it continues to exert on all modern films. Every spaceship from the Icarus II in Sunshine through to the Event Horizon mimics the heavily detailed ‘pipes and grime’ style of the Nostromo, while every crew wear jumpsuits and looks like they could do with a good night’s sleep. It even predated Cyberpunk by five years, with the subplot involving callous, faceless mega corporations manipulating events from afar and a strong distrust of technology, embodied by the computer MUTHUR lying by omission and, of course, the insidious company android, Ash. However, the strongest influence Alien has upon cinema is the use of a strong female character. Before Alien, women in sci-fi were either love interests or simpering scream machines for the men to protect. Yet, when Scott and writer Dan O’Bannon whip the carpet out from under the feet of the audience by killing off the presumed hero Captain Dallas midway through the film, Ripley finally comes to the fore in assured style to lead. Instantly Ripley’s character became the touchstone for all modern female heroes, although thanks to James Cameron’s unsubtle take on the character, this template has been reduced to simply giving a woman a gun in place of actual character development. However, it is impossible to overstate Ripley’s impact on modern filmmaking.
Ultimately, Alien is an incredible film. Powerful, scary, influential, iconic, beautiful and timeless, it transcends the limits of the sci-fi and horror genres that spawned it to become one of the true cinematic greats.
To find out more about this exciting phase in SciFiNow’s forum feature, hit the link and check out the other movies that made our shortlist. Clue: Battlefield Earth is not one of them.
Don’t forget to log on to our forums to discuss the films on our shortlist, and to read any of the other articles in this series as they are written, click on the title below.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Blade Runner
Planet Of The Apes
Forbidden Planet
ET The Extra-Terrestrial
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Alien
The Matrix
2001: A Space Odyssey
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
This article originally appeared in the print edition of SciFiNow issue 35 by Lee Medcalf To buy a copy of the magazine or subscribe, go to www.imagineshop.com, or call our subscriptions hotline on +44 (0) 844 844 0245.
