“Alien” is one of the first “horror” movies I’ve
seen in quite a while, and one of the only I’ve ever actually enjoyed. In the
horror genre, there are two major sub categories. On one hand are gore movies,
which only seem to have somewhat of a plot to tie together bloody scenes and
cheap jump scares. On the other are what
you might refer to as thriller or suspense movies, which use atmosphere to
develop a genuine sense of fear. I think that it is a testament to its ability
to resist age that Alien, with its outdated visual and audio effects, manages
to capture such an atmosphere almost perfectly even today.
In my opinion, a great thriller
story is one that is mildly believable, if not very likely. For this same
reason, I appreciate Survival Horror video games such as Resident Evil and
Silent Hill. With the possible exception of a scene or two, Alien manages to
maintain this same sense of potential realism for its entire duration. While
plenty of violent scenes are present, none of them seem to just be there for
the sake of violence and gore. Another thing I hate about typical gore-horror
movies is that very commonly the monster or entity is unbelievably invincible
while everyone else is as durable as cotton candy. While the alien in Alien may
be guilty of this to some extent, I can at least say that it’s remotely
believable. Nobody ever trips and breaks their leg spontaneously, somehow
incapable of movement. A fair number of good filming techniques contribute to this
believable factor.
Arguably one of the most common and
important techniques in establishing atmosphere is lighting, and Alien handles
this incredibly well. I don’t believe that it’s necessary for a movie to be
pitch-black to be suspenseful, and Alien serves as proof of this, with its
mildly dark but contrasting lighting, as well as its purple-bluish hue
throughout the majority of the film. The sound effects and soundtrack aren’t
quite as good as the lighting, but serve their purposes well nevertheless,
helping to establish a believable sense of isolation and suspense.
The acting in this movie is perhaps
its greatest strength, with the majority of character interactions (and
reactions) being very believable, helping pull the viewer into the movie. Sigourney
Weaver plays an excellent role as the protagonist, although it isn’t at first
clear who the protagonist is. The one exception is one of the crew members,
Lambert, who is more akin to a typical dumb blonde in a gore movie. Regarding
the story, I have stated many times already that it maintains a sense of
plausibility. The sci-fi, futuristic theme of the movie is quite believable and
well executed as well, given once again that some of the movies special effects
are dated. Even an out-of-the-blue sci-fi plot twist is not beyond credibility.
The movie also carries undertones that the greed of human beings (and
potentially other unspecified beings) is ultimately responsible for the events
that transpire.
Overall, I enjoyed this film, and
certainly don’t regret having seen it. It’s not the greatest I’ve ever seen,
but it’s far from the worst, with its quality acting and atmospheric
techniques. It was enjoyable enough that I am interested in watching at least
one of the sequels when I get the chance. On a one to ten scale, I rank this
movie an 8/10. Ultimately, I would recommend this movie, as it represents a
quality suspenseful experience far better than any gore movie could ever offer.
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