Hey guys, apologies the blog is a day late with no heads up from me. I thought I could watch and write up Alien in the time I had, but I was wrong. Man gotta live, so man gotta work, so man gotta sleep!

But we’re here now- so thanks for coming. Unlike most of the films I’ve watched so far, you will undoubtedly, dear reader, have heard of Alien. You may well have seen it too! I however, have not. While pretty well versed in pop culture, especially the nerdier end of it, this particular series passed me by until now. Part of this is because Alien is a horror flick- and until fairly recently I didn’t watch horror films. But having been talked around to watching a damn good one (The Orphanage), and convinced of the genre’s worth by horror nerds, I am occasionally dipping my toe in these days. Alien of course is horror/ sci-fi, so it already had one foot in my door* already. The main reason though, that I chose this film for my tenth week reward watch is because there’s an Alien Tabletop-Role-Playing-Game on it’s way this year–and I love that shit. 

*insert Kenneth Williams noise

Spoilers throughout!

So I sat down to watch Alien, prepared for some serious terror and quality film-making. I got both-though not quite to the degree I expected. The director Ridley Scott is one of Hollywood’s biggest names, and rightly so, with a body of work including Gladiator, Blade Runner and Thelma and Louise, the man makes good films! And with Alien being what put him on the map, its fair to come in with some expectations. The film begins with several lingering shots of the exterior of ‘The Nostromo’, the ship upon which 90% of the film takes place. We then get long panning shots of the interior of the ship. I mention this because it establishes early on that this film is going to be- for want of a better term- cinematic. And indeed having watched the whole film, part of its strength is a willingness on Ridley Scott/the camera teams’ part to take their time establishing the set and the atmosphere. Throughout the film they deftly depict the vast blackness of space, the cold mechanical interior of the ship, and human moments of tension and terror that really sell the film and its action.

Along with this camera work is some truly excellent sound design. If I had to point to the films best feature, the audio is what I would point to. The sound effects of bleeping computers, failing radios, down to the Xenomorph’s (the Alien of the title) breathing- it all feels authentic and creates a suspenseful mood. Coupled with sparing use of music-and expert use of silence-, musical stings and bursts of sudden, shocking noise, the film expertly strings along the heart-rate of the viewer.

Another thing I would like to highlight is the practical effects used in this film. I’m not one of those who decries the rise of CGI or anything- I frankly don’t know enough about it. But there’s no doubt that some of the practical effects on display in this pre-cgi film are exceptional. The part where Science Officer Ash (Ian Holm as a treacherous android, at this point in the film mostly exploded) is reawakened and his head made to talk whilst sinuously clinging to the remains of his body is remarkable. It should not look real. But it does.

However I must admit, some of the effects have not aged so well. The movement of the baby Xenomorph when it dashes away having killed Kane (John Hurt) is hokey; to the point of pulling you out of the film momentarily in the cold light of 2019. However I think most viewers with any knowledge of what they are watching (i.e most of them) will forgive this kind of thing, the film is now 40 years old after all! In the same way that you accept that Casablanca is devoid of colour, you accept as a viewer that this is not all going to look photorealistic. So it does detract, but not too much.

Sigourney Weaver is the films’ protagonist, being the Third Officer Ripley on the Nostromo and the only one with any damn sense! But she and indeed all the cast play their parts well and the characters are pretty well defined- I especially like the low-key class conflict between the mechanical staff and the technical staff. We watch as the crew are picked off person by person by the Xenomorph, until Ripley ends the film in a desperate struggle for survival, detonating the Nostromo, only to have to tangle with the creature again in her escape shuttle. Ripley is capable, but human and Weaver’s delivery gives her an emotive but commanding quality. Did her stripping half naked towards the climax via a convenient plot point add anything? No, and it does spoil the fact that we have a competent female protagonist in a 1979 genre film a little. But Weaver’s performance is good enough to gloss over it.

All in all the film is really good and I’m glad I watched it- but it didn’t quite tip over into masterpiece territory for me. Though in the interest of honesty and trying to give a full understanding, I didn’t watch the film in ideal circumstances. A crowded house at nighttime necessitated that I keep the audio low, and writing notes on a film can sometimes distract from the experience. In ideal circumstances, perhaps I’d be giving this 5 stars. But make no mistake, it’s a country mile ahead of anything else I’ve had on the blog!

4 stars!: ****

Until next time readers! I can’t lie about your chances, but you have my sympathies…

-Tom

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