I can’t believe it’s already the middle of the month and the half way point for 31 Days of Horror. There are too many choices and not enough days.
Today’s pick is the classic 1979 sci-fi horror Alien. Written by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett and directed by Ridley Scott, this movie changed the face of sci-fi horror for ever.
A small crew seven man crew, Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt), Executive Officer Kane (John Hurt), Warrant Officer Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), Navigator Lambert (Veronica Cartwright), Science Officer Ash (Ian Holm) and two Engineers, Parker (Yaphet Kotto) and Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) are awakened from their sleep to a distress signal from the moon LV-426. Upon landing Dallas, Lambert and Kane find an derelict alien ship, inside they find a giant dead alien and in the cargo hold a bunch of eggs. One of the eggs opens for Kane and a creature attaches itself to his face.
Following protocol Ripley refuses to let them back on their ship but Ash lets them back on. Kane is alive but the creature is doing something to him. Later the creature apparently dies having completed it’s task and Kane wakes up. The crew are about to continue with their journey home and have a quick meal when something bursts out of Kane’s chest. The alien grows quickly and starts picking off crew members.
Alien was a game changer. Science fiction horror films were usually kind of cheesy up until this film and after Alien, the imitators flooded the screens. The movie also kicked started a long running franchise that is still going today. But the original is still the best. Quiet, intense and horrifying. Here’s my original post and here.
