Movie: Alien
Genre: Science Fiction/Horror
Year: 1979
Director: Ridley Scott
Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt and John Hurt

Snapshot of Story:
A mining space ship lands on an uncharted planet only to find deadly creatures that spawn from the human digestive system and wreak havoc on their ship. The later version Aliens (1986) by James Cameron is equally electrifying to watch.

Storyline:
This movie can also be categorized in the horror section since the aim is to shock and provide heart thumping action. Ridley Scott like other great directors of his time sets a new bar in entertainment with the Alien movie. The special effects at it’s time were nothing of its kind seen anywhere else and coupled with the excellent plot made this movie highly entertaining to watch.

The crew land on a planet and discover another alien ship that had landed and perished. They discover an area where some eggs where developing and take back a crew member that was infected by one of them. This sets the beginning of the horror that takes place on the ship with the deadly creature running amuck.

In one of many memorable moments in the movie we see Sigourney Weaver who plays Ripley confronted by the creature in the escape hatch and the stroboscopic light effect reflecting of the alien and Ripley heightens the intensity of this scene. Ridley Scott makes clever use of the lightning and the stroboscopic effect of the ship lights to create a macabre and sinister atmosphere.

In another scene we see the robots head placed on the table as they manipulate the electronics inside of it and looks very realistic.

Sigourney Weaver who plays Ripley gives a very believable performance throughout the movie and she continues to be the star in each of the subsequent Alien chain of movies that follows.

Final Thoughts:
The movie at its time created a new dimension in horror and also crossed the border of science-fiction to horror. Like other great movies it set the stage for new film making that was to follow.

Rating:
8.5/10