Alien (1979) often takes the cake as one of film’s greatest science-fiction stories, depicting a future where space travel has been monopolized for commercial resource gain, leading to the crew of a ship running into a monstrous creature unlike anything they have seen before. With the film spinning off into several sequels and prequels, the franchise is often viewed in its science-fiction, action context, something that was exasperated when the franchise crossed over with the popular Predator franchise, leading to several spinoff comics, books, and merchandising opportunities. But one thing that is often forgotten in this franchise is its horror roots. Alien (1979) is a horror movie before anything else, doing something new with the horror franchise that forever changed the genre.
While The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari used a distinct visual style to highlight how uncomfortable a world can feel when it appears different than audiences know it should look, Alien (1979) uses a familiar visual style with the abject and unknown horrors of space as a backdrop to create its dread. This ties all the way down to the now famous marketing tagline, “In space, no one can hear you scream.” Alien (1979) uses almost bland, tight quarters within the vast void of space to highlight the idea that there is nowhere to run. Unlike films like Psycho, the protagonists cannot just drive away and escape their enemy. This is one of the best uses of space in any franchise, especially one that is so tied to science-fiction, creating a fear of the dark and the unknown by highlighting just its physical properties.
The other avenue of horror that this film takes is body horror. For a long time in cinema, there were physical and political limitations to what could be depicted on screen. This went all the way from actually showing someone die or get mutilated to the actual depiction of blood and gore. Needless to say, this film earned its R rating, utilizing body horror in a very distinct manner that adds to the general ambience of the film.
The first time body horror is depicted here is when the facehugger attaches itself to Kane. First and foremost, is the depiction of this new, alien creature. The facehugger itself is shown to be almost bug-like in its movements; however, it has some kind of skin-like outer shell that almost always has a wet texture. Even before it comes in contact with Kane, the creature comes across as gross and familiar enough to create a sense of uncomfortableness with the audience.
But then comes the part of the movie that really made audiences skittish and fearful. The facehugger rapidly approaches Kane and jumps onto his face, inserting its body’s protrusion down his throat and clamping onto his head with its tendrils and tail. This visual is horrifying enough, but then it is revealed that the creature laid an egg inside Kane, which bursts from his chest, giving birth to an alien. There is a lot to unpack here; but it should be very clear from the get-go that the filmmakers are using several tactics within the body horror landscape to make this scene as uncomfortable as possible. Between the creature’s rapid movements, the speed at which it attaches to Kane, and the chest bursting alien, the filmmakers start to double down, almost asking the question “Oh, you thought that was bad? Just look at what happens next.” And what happens next, is just furthering this horror into overdrive.
Fans of more modern films may be confused as to why Alien (1979) takes so long to reveal its titular creature, but the buildup is really what makes the horrific reveal work so well. By the time the creature shows up, the suspense is at an all-time high, and this is right where the filmmakers want it. The alien itself, referred to as a Xenomorph, takes all of the facehugger aspects and dials them up to an extreme degree. The typical idea of what alien life may look like is completely bastardized here, with the filmmakers proposing a creature that takes more inspiration from bugs than anything close to humans. As the alien’s hunt commences, its features become more pronounced, such as its acid blood, spikes tail, and of course, its tongue that is also a tiny mouth within its mouth. Just describing it, words like overdesign come to mind; however, when it is shown on screen, it more so feels like a subversion to what anyone would expect. This dials up that fear factor and truly shows how much fear can be derived from such an uncomfortable sight.
Alien (1979) is full of science-fiction drama and plot contrivances, but at its core it is a classic horror film that utilizes all of its other aspects to create a kind of horror that combines elements from other subgenres to create something very unique and inspirational for future films. By just isolating the elements that make this film horrific, you can really see how well the film slowly builds into its more fantastical elements, creating a horror landscape that constantly one-ups itself as the film seeks to astonish its viewers.
The newest entry in the Alien franchise, Alien Romulus, is now available on VOD.