Ruthless Reviews

ALIEN

By Goat: March 7, 2006

Directed by Ridley Scott

Written by Dan O’Bannon

Starring:
- Tom Skerritt as Dallas
- Sigourney Weaver as Ripley
- Veronica Cartwright as Lambert
- Harry Dean Stanton as Brett
- John Hurt as Kane
- Ian Holm as Ash
- Yaphet Kotto as Parker
- Bolaji Badejo as Alien

Every time I view Alien
I can’t help but to marvel at this timeless masterpiece horror classic,
the best of its genre ever made. Ridley Scott, with the help of
breathtaking, brilliant Alien design from Oscar-winner H.R. Giger,
takes the viewer to the very end of the nightmare tunnel, the darkest
recesses of the worst nightmare. And maybe a little farther. This movie
was made on a shoestring budget and the old fashioned way; with
imagination and talent. The end result is the absolute
epitome of horror that gets better with age. The Nostromo is a mining
ship, a huge towing vessel, complete with dark, claustrophobic and
unforgiving sets. Most of these these were made out of old airplane
parts and the result was and still is a spectacular achievement in
horror. The flickering lights, gently swaying and clanking chains and
dripping water all providing a sinister environment for a most
unwelcome guest.

The crew and cast are (or were) a blue-collar
lot of unknowns, but the chemistry and acting is superb, disturbing and
believable — enhancing the absolutely real horror that awaits each one
of them. There are no superheros here, as they were in no way prepared
for what awaited them. They are scared, and rightfully so, and no one
projects this better than Veronica Cartwright as Lambert, the very
embodiment of a hysterical, sobbing woman scared out of her wits…and
for very good reason. This is simply the scariest movie ever made, so
enough niceness and on with the review!

Alien is truly awesome from beginning to end. The hands on effort and
imagination of Ridley Scott is stunning, even in this day and age of
special effects and CGI. The designs of Giger are wildly original,
horrifically breathtaking and unforgettable. The editing by Terry
Rawlings was crisp and parsimonious, making for a perfect storm of a
horror flick. No one who has seen Alien will ever forget the
dinner scene, one of the most dramatic even to be presented to an
unwary viewer. Even the actors were unaware of what was coming down,
maximizing the effect of the event. Memorable!

Film can never get any badder than the Alien.
It is almost always dangerous to project an absolute about anything,
but as far as I am concerned, everyone else can just flush their
so-called monsters or baddasses down the sewer (Green Goblin in Spiderman?
Yeah, right!) I’m sorry, there just can’t be anything in reality or the
human imagination that can top this creature that we barely get to see
during most of this classic. The metaphorically rich design of this
snarling, biting, chomping, eviscerating and head-banging nightmare can
never be duplicated or topped. If you disagree with me, you are wrong.
If you think the Predator
had a bad attitude, you will not believe the unchartable hostility that
the Alien carries around as second nature. The Predator, as tough as he
was is about the equivalent of the Pillsbury Doughboy when compared to
this “bad boy”. Ash said it best, “It’s structural perfection is only
matched by its hostility…Perfect organism…unclouded by conscience,
remorse, or delusions of morality.” Chilling.

Every time I
revisit this movie, I must take pause to reflect on the enormous raw
talent and creativity that made it possible. The ships are organic,
almost alive as was terrifyingly demonstrated by the creepy, cavernous
spaceship that surrounded an even creepier Space Jockey. I cannot say
enough about the use of lighting and sound, both of which complimented
Goldsmith’s wonderful musical score. Ridley Scott is a genius; his
creativity with using ordinary objects and hands on attention
to detail make this film what it is. The design of the Alien monster is
a feat that will probably never be duplicated. As far as violence goes,
violent does not begin to describe his methodology….Heart-stopping is
more accurate.

From the terrifying sets to the even more
terrifying Alien, with a very sinister elongated head replete with rows
of smashing teeth, the viewer is uneasy and usually scared shitless,
time and time again. The movie literally oozes with organic evil as the
makers of Alien put on a clinic of how to scare you properly!
Ridley Scott shows you just enough to make your imagination and senses
run wild as the viewer only get glimpses of the terror of all terrors.

There
are 3 scenes in this movie that really stand out. First, of course is
the Last Supper chest-bursting scene. Much has been said and written
about this, you must see it to believe it, one of the most dramatic
scenes ever attempted on the screen. It was brilliant!

The
second scene was when Brett went to retrieve the cat, Jones. You just
knew, you just knew that when Brett went through those double doors
that something terrible was about to happen. The sets literally emanate
haunting malevolence as the aforementioned trio of inconsistent
lighting, the swaying, clanking chains, the dripping water and the
dirty, grimy mining machinery, are all poised to come alive at any
moment! Here is where first Jones and then the doomed Brett get a first
look at the monster and brother what a monster he is! I still get chill
bumps as Jones is a non-human witness to an unparalleled Ruthless
brutality with those chains still swaying and clanking. HELL YES!

he
third memorable scene employs what a great horror movie always employs
and that is the unexpected and ingenious plot twist. Ash is revealed as
a Company planted robot, charged with bringing the alien back to earth
in an ultra violent and equally terrifying reality check at Mother’s
console. That oozing milk-mouth, and the reverberating and super
chilling voice of the freshly decapitated Ash, did nothing to encourage
what was left of the Nostromo crew. He coldly let them have it between
the eyes as to what they were really up against. Unforgettable.

Preferred Ending:

Somehow it just didn’t seem right for Ripley to get the best of this Alien from
Hell, even with the brilliant twist of the monster stowing away
(again). My preferred ending is for the Alien to fall madly in love
with Ripley, squick her, (an amorous adventure that she unfortunately
will not survive) and to direct the craft to The White House, where he
again falls madly in love with First Lady Rosalyn Carter.

Special Ruthless Ratings:

The number of times I realized this movie was 27 years old : ZERO, only Mother’s computer console looked dated, no big deal
The number of times the oppressive sound-track made you reach for your knife: ZERO, it was magnificent
The number of times you freeze framed to try to see Ripley’s Camel-Toe when she was semi-naked in the Escape Pod: 198
The number of times you realized you were watching the scariest movie ever made: 27
Were you surprised when the sequel, Aliens was damn near as good as this one?: Yes
Was this Ridley Scott’s best work ever?: Yes; Blade Runner is a close second, though
Didn’t he make Hannibal too?: Don’t remind me
Anything else?: Nope