“In Space No One Can Hear You Scream”: ‘Alien’ is 40 and Still Fabulous

alien TV series
Alien (1979) | 20th Century Fox

What do you get for a forty-year-old who has everything? May 25, 2019 is the 40th anniversary of one of the greatest sci-fi-fi horror movies of all time. I like to think of it as a birthday because Alien (1979) is a living entity. The franchise is alive and well, save for a few bumps in the road. We won’t be talking about that time the Alien franchise had a dirty affair. Prometheus (2012) is the ugly stepchild we’ll keep in the attic for the rest of the party. If anyone gets a call from AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004), tell them the party is cancelled. Same goes for Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007). They are just not invited, but we don’t need them getting mad at us. Alien: Resurrection (1997) is in a nursing home, so if you’re visiting and you slip up, telling them there’s a party you’re in charge of ice and extra booze.

Happy birthday, Alien! You’re 40 years old, and you look great! You blew us away in 1979. You’re still blowing us away, and you make it look like cake. No other sci-fi horror flick can hold a candle to… okay, that’s enough of that. This is a serious party. We’re all grown ups. I’m not going to walk you though this movie like there’s beer pong happening in the dining room. We’re all spiffy and dressed to kill. I’m wearing my H.R. Giger tie and my Face Hugger socks, but my jacket is closed, and I’m not removing my shoes at the door.

I was only ten years old when Alien first hit the theaters, so I wasn’t lucky enough to see it on the big screen back then. It was rated R. That was a bold move. People were calling it Star Wars for adults. I wanted to be an adult. They sat me at the kids table and I wouldn’t get to see Alien for a few years. My older brother teased me that he had seen it, and he got to see a woman in her underwear. That’s crazy! George Lucas said women don’t wear underwear in space. That’s what Carrie Fisher told us, anyway. Not your movie, George. Director Ridley Scott wanted Sigourney Weaver in her underwear. Technically, he wanted the whole cast to be nude when they woke from cryosleep, but the studio wouldn’t allow it. Hey, if you’re getting an R-rating for violence and language you may as well go for some skin. Realism was the goal here. Topless? Scott thought he could bargain for it, but the actor playing our hero, Ripley, was having none of that. We got underwear, and until I heard the commentary on the 1979 theatrical release on my digital copy, I never knew there was a chance. It would have been distracting. We got the idea. In the future space cargo, personnel don’t regress to twelve-year-old perverts around co-workers in their birthday suits. That fact was driven home in Starship Troopers and Battlestar Galactica. No key parties in space, fellas. Not even in the ‘70s.

We’re screening Alien in the back yard right now. Grab some popcorn and bring your cocktail. Have a seat and watch the movie that was the birthplace for all the tropes you see in modern sci-fi adventure. Notice I don’t call the subsequent films sci-fi horror. Nope. Only Alien succeeds (or even attempts) in bringing you the terror that is necessary to describe a film as horror. It’s darkly lit. The sets are intricately designed. The characters talk over each other and emote frustration and fear the way people do in real life and death situations. You don’t see the Xenomorph, as it was later named until more than an hour has passed. Even then we only see a dark vicious shape that is slick with moisture and built to look like a hangry steel demon.

Harry Dean Stanton was worried he didn’t look horrified enough, but he was reassured by Ridley Scott that he only needed to look like he was seeing something he’d never seen or imagined he’d ever see. His is not the first death, but it’s the saddest. And its the first death at the “hands” of the Xenomorph… as an adult. As a rugrat it burst through Kane’s chest at dinner. That scene was the first shot fired in a revolution. Bursting though the body would become common in and out of the franchise. Air lock death scenes would become all too common, too. You need to see the original Alien to appreciate where that all comes from.

Ridley Scott made a work of art, playing with set pieces, adding smoke and atmosphere, using strobes and small spotlights to contribute to the mood as much as a score typically should. He would continuously add fresh spray paint to the interior of the Nostromos to achieve a sheen that was otherwise lost to the dark set. The moon LV-426, which was the source of the distress signal that brought them to their fateful encounter was a gloomy place. The simplicity of the set was made more detailed and dreadful with CO2, camera tricks and video monitors; essentially smoke and mirrors. Modern films with larger budgets may never be forced into the ingenuity it took to bring Alien to life. CGI hasn’t ruined special effects, but it’s changed how things are done. Today a Face Hugger’s underside is made of pixels and underpaid digital artist sweat. The guts of the creature in 1979 were made from oysters and clams. That reminds me. There’s a raw bar out back by the pool. Don’t worry. You can still see the screen from there.

There are only a handful of movies I watch multiple times. Alien is one of them, and for good reason. It’s one of the best films ever made. All categories. If I go a year without seeing it, I feel like I’m missing something. I have a great appreciation for the “old movies,” but somehow Alien still doesn’t feel like an old movie. It stands up to time. It stands up to the rest of its own franchise. I wish I could see it for the first time with what I know and what I’ve seen. I imagine I would still be blown away.

If you’re staying for the after party, I have a recommendation. Before I’d ever read comparisons, I learned that the influences were confirmed, I picked up on a few themes from some even older sci-fi horror films that reminded me of Alien. Of course, it’s the other way around. If you love Alien, I highly recommend Planet of the Vampires (1965) and The Thing from Another World (1951), the latter of which was remade as The Thing (1982).

Ripley : Whenever he says *anything* you say “right”, Brett. You know that?
Brett : Right.
Ripley : Parker, what do you think? Your staff just follows you around and says “right.” Just like a regular parrot.
Parker : Hey, Brett, Alien is the greatest sci-fi horror film of all time, right?
Brett : Right.


Related Article: ‘Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood’: 10 Things You May Not Know

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