he commercial towing vehicle Nostromo is on its way back from a routine deep space mission when it intercepts a distress call from the nearby planet, LV-426. The onboard computer Mother awakens the crew from their cryogenic sleep, and on orders from their company, Weyland-Yutani, they set down on the planet. There they find a derelict alien craft that appears to have crashed years before.
While crew members Dallas (Skerritt), Kane (John Hurt) and Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) set out to investigate, Lt. Ellen Ripley (Weaver) stays aboard the Nostromo to try and decode the message. Kane quickly discovers a hold full of ominous-looking eggs, and when he investigates further, the small alien within attacks him and attaches itself to his face. Too late Ripley realizes the message they took for a distress call was actually a warning. Dallas and Lambert bring Kane back to the Nostromo, but Ripley, who is the senior officer on the Nostromo when Dallas is off ship, refuses to let them in without following quarantine procedures. Against her orders, Science Officer Ash brings Kane aboard.
All attempts to remove the alien parasite from Kane fail, but at least it seems to be keeping him alive. The crew is undecided about how to proceed, but fate seems to take matters into its own hand when the alien inexplicably dies, leaving Kane seemingly untouched. But during a brief celebratory dinner before the crew heads back to cryo-sleep, a new alien lifeform bursts forth horrifically from Kane's chest. At first the crew tries to hunt this new alien down, but they soon realize that it's hunting them. And to make matters worse one of the crew may know more than he should about the seemingly unstoppable creature that is rapidly depopulating the Nostromo.
Great SF. Great horror. Great film.
Although Alien is about as blatantly science fictional as any movie can be, it's also one of the finest horror films of recent decades. This is not a slam-bang action thriller but rather a tense, suspenseful story that trades in sheer terror. Director Ridley Scott does an excellent job of upping the ante as the crew realizes their brief diversion to LV-426 is turning into a nightmare that they might not make it out of. As crew members succumb to the fearful--yet almost unseen--alien one by one, Scott cranks up the fear to heart-bursting levels.
Another excellent touch is the Nostromo itself, which looks more like a well-used oil rig than the pristine white ships many SF movies favor. Scott's future is a gritty one where characters are forced to get their hands dirty at every turn, and there are no sterile, antiseptic robots to take care of all the messy work. This also leaves plenty of hidey-holes and dark passages for the alien to hide in, something it does with frightening regularity.
If there is a problem with Alien it is that it might not stand up well against its action-packed sequel, Aliens. The two films are about as diverse as can be considering they are direct siblings, and viewers looking for cool effects and non-stop action might overlook Alien for its high-octane sequel. Because, while Aliens is a movie perfect for repeated viewings, Alien should probably be savored sparingly, since knowing when and where the alien will strike tends to dilute the terrifying ambiance.
But that is certainly no condemnation, and Alien undeniably stands up well on its own as one of SF's finest films. The recent release of the fourth Alien movie--Alien Resurrection--should provide a perfect excuse for viewers who want to turn on their VCRs, turn off their lights, and be utterly terrified.
