Alien

Yes, we all know of Ridley Scott's sci-fi marvel that is Alien. The chestburster, well, bursting out of John Hurt's chest. The tagline reading, "In space, no one can hear you scream." We all know that. But there's more to it.

One question that I had slightly persisted as I watched Alien. What genre does it qualify under: sci-fi or horror? On the one hand, it's set in outer space so therefore it's a sci-fi film. Yet on the other hand, it's basically the freakiest shit I've seen since God knows when so therefore it's a horror film. I'm just going to say it's both.

Of course you can't talk about a film without even mentioning what went into it. I personally think it was a very smart decision to make Ripley a woman because let's face it. There are enough male heroes out there. Let the women have some fun. (Oh, Ripley was originally written as a guy, so that's why I'm saying that.) Also, the score by Jerry Goldsmith is pretty much the most horrifying score alongside John Williams' for Jaws and Bernard Herrmann's for Psycho.

I'm not sure if this was the screenwriters or Scott's idea, but the immense suspense building up to each appearance of the alien is genius. It's possible that Jaws provided some inspiration for that aspect of Alien, but for now I love that concept.

Much like when I saw The Silence of the Lambs or Halloween or Rosemary's Baby, I'm really grateful I saw this in the middle of the day. I'd probably have nightmares had I saw it at night. Probably.

My Rating: *****