Alien – 1979 (WINNER)
OK, this was one seriously creepy movie. It was a science fiction/horror movie. Director Ridley Scott hired fantasy artist H.R. Giger to design the sets, and of course, the monster alien. Producers almost rejected Giger’s work, saying that it would be too disturbing for audiences, but Scott persisted and got his way. And thank goodness he did, because this movie spawned a huge franchise that has made billions of dollars. So far there have been five sequels, two crossover films with Predator, novels, comic books, web series, board and video games, and eight short films directed by Ridley Scott, himself. The alien has become an iconic figure in pop culture, synonymous with the sci-fi and horror genres.
Everything was dark and misty, making everything creepier. The enigmatic space ship on the alien planet was fantastic! The mysterious Space Jockey with its chest torn open from the in-side-out, was a wonderful means of foreshadowing what was to come. The scene where Kane enters the egg chamber, the opening of the egg, and the attack of the face-hugger were both frightening and exciting to watch! And acid blood that ate through the metal flooring of the space ship was awesome!
And that brings us to probably the most iconic part of the film, the chest-bursting scene. When Kane falls convulsing onto the table and his crewmates are trying to hold him down, I don’t think anyone saw what was coming. But that single violent spout of blood that erupted from his chest made everyone freeze in fear. Then the thrashing continued until the alien forced its way into the open air, and we got our first look at the horrifying little creature. Blood splattered over all of the stunned people, and the alien glared at them with nothing but malice in its… well, it didn’t seem to have eyes. Its teeth looked like thick metallic needles. Its leathery little tail slithered through the blood of its victim. Disgusting, but very cool!
It was amazingly done. It was clearly a kind of animatronic creature, and at first, it didn’t need to look any more realistic than it did. There is no basis for comparison to anything real. But then the effect turned a little weird and lost some of its effectiveness. After growling at the onlookers, it ran off the table. But how did it run? We never get to see its legs, but it slides across the table like an inanimate object connected to a mechanical track. I understand that it would have been difficult to create a believable effect of moving legs or a running motion, but for me, the otherwise convincing creature illusion was broken.
After that, the monster grew at a literally impossible rate, so that with the space of a few hours, it was an eight-foot tall xenomorph. Never-mind that in order to increase its mass, it would have to consume and metabolize at least an equal amount of mass. But ok, suspension of disbelief. And the addition of the tongue that seemed to be a second mouth was so creative! Either way, the resulting massive creature, if it was real, would be terrifying beyond belief, which was the whole point. Scott knew what he was doing and he did it well. Great job everyone!