Alien 40 Years Later: In Space, Everyone Wants to Save the Cat

Looks like somebody missed the Biology class where they covered that some ambush predators having the ability to go into a dormant state...

So this past Sunday I went and saw a 40th anniversary showing of Ridley Scott's iconic 1979 film Alien, continuing an inadvertent trend of me watching my first horror films again. Before watching this film I believed that is was one of the 'universal films', films that everyone has watched at least ones, but it seems like I'm in the minority among my friends, so there's another reason to cover it. Once again I am impressed at how well some of these films hold up throughout the years, though Alien is not unique in having some instances of things that have aged like milk. However, the overwhelming majority of Alien remains stellar, being a breathtaking example of exceptional set and costume design, suspense, and lighting from start to finish.

The flamethrower. Is it ever used on the alien? No. Does it look badass and capable of doing the job? Hell yes.

The plot of Alien is pretty conventional for the horror genre, with our group of protagonists being mercilessly slaughtered by the antagonist until the 'final girl' puts an end to it. However, in terms of setting it's radically different, taking place on the equivalent of a towboat in space at some point in the distant future. Our group of victims aren't foolhardy teenagers, but working men and women who are just trying to tow a fuel refinery back to Earth, and if anything they're more victims of circumstance. They're also resourceful and close knit group of people that (while scared out of their wits) are willing to step up and put it on the line for each other, because what other option is there? There's also no real protagonist/'final girl' archetype, with each crew member seeming pretty alright on the whole, with the captain, Dallas, and his first mate, Ripley, being the only standouts. Though they both seem to be our main characters, fated to reach the end alive, they each are subversions of tropes/stereotypes. Beginning with Dallas, he's the cool-headed leader of the group, selecting himself to undergo the risky plan of chasing the alien into the airlock through the ventilation system.  In comparison, as shit is hitting the fan the rest of the crew is losing it, even though they are in positions of safety. Obviously it doesn't go to plan, and Dallas gets hugged to death, but even when stuff goes sideways he's keeping it together and putting on a brave face with his worried final line and quick (and ultimately fatal) choice of escape route the only indication of his true panic. Moving onto Ripley, she's unusual in regards that she's kind of a badass. Outside of Dallas and the science officer, she's ultimately the most cool-headed of the bunch (though perhaps only by virtue of being the only survivor), rightfully assuming command after Dallas' death. She's also a decisive leader, choosing, like Dallas, to put herself at risk and in a vulnerable position for the good of the group. She's still scared witless, but when push comes to shove she's able to push past her panic to both escape and successfully kill the alien with her ingenuity. While watching this however, I realized that the alien wasn't the only menace aboard the ship. Jones, the ship's cat, is honestly the second deadliest thing on the ship, getting at least one crew member separated and then killed. On top of this, the crew is willing to put themselves at risk to track him down, even as they are on their last legs in terms of manpower. Priorities, PLEASE. In addition, though it is a relatively postmodern film by our standards, it does have at least one instance of blatantly old-school attitudes, especially towards women in stressful situations. When faced with death, the second female member of the Nostromo's crew does nothing but stand and scream hysterically, which while arguably possible, she had an entire minute to flee or even get out of the way so her partner could torch the xenomorph. The end result is that both are killed in my sole case of 'What the Fuck?' in the film. It's a shame that for me, the weakest portions of the film are found in the final ten or fifteen minutes, I mean it was so close to being perfect by me. At the end of the day, the story of Alien remains a humanizing and more horror tale, where bravery, decisiveness, teamwork and cunning do improve chances of survival, but are by no means guarantees.

They're lean, mean, only occasionally obscene, and fully ready to get back to Earth with their shares. That's essentially all we really get to know about the crew, but they still feel like real people even without complex backstories.

Even today, Alien is praised for its production design, with the result of the hard work of all hands of the crew creating not only a genuinely isolating film, but a modern masterpiece of suspense. Despite the fact that the exterior shots of the Nostromo and some of the CGI do show signs of aging, they still project this feeling of far future realism to the film. Though we may be able to easily and routinely traverse the stars, a towboat still looks about as attractive as a towboat today. The Nostromo's interior is cramped, gritty, and mechanical, leaving no impression that this ship is built for comfort. It also makes few technology predictions beyond the hibernation pods. You won't see any holograms here, but you will see a lot of early computers, grainy monitors, and a whole lot of other bits of analog tech, which greatly aids in the feeling of 'realism'. On top of this, there's a naturalistic approach in regards to the lighting, with much of the light coming from floodlights, console lights, and ship lights. The result of this is sparse and high-contrast lighting throughout the film, leaving much of the ship in utter darkness and subtly indicating safe places by the presence of light. The soundtrack of the film does have the traditional horror stingers at times, but on the whole it's a rather quiet film. When the non-horror parts of the soundtrack appear they are nothing like the soundtracks of older horror films with their overpowering tunes. Alien's music is a part of the set, not something added in post-production. Tangientially related is the incorperation of a heartbeat into the background in scenes where the tension is implicit so as to subconsciously increase the feeling of suspense. When writing this review, the only parts of Alien's soundtrack I was truly able to remember was in its quieter moments that are either devoid of or have a subdued, more atmospheric kind of music.

Props to the production and post-production crew for making the alien vessel a place of dread before we have any reason to be wary.

Forty years later, Alien is still entirely worth watching, not only as an example of a masterful horror film, but also as an exemplar of fantastic production design. It's also a film that takes place in the future, but one that doesn't feel too alien from our own it its depiction of fallible people struggling to survive, not only against alien lifeforms, but unknowingly against the uncaring objectives of the Weyland-Yutani Corperation, who views the crew as expendable. It definitely could have been better or improved, and I would be interested in seeing some sort of a remaster/fan edit, but even as it is, forty years later, Alien still offers a truly frightening story of first contact (for some) in the cold depths of space.

Similar to MacCready, Dallas carries a measure of action-hero energy, and while it would be pretty awesome if he was able to torch the stowaway in the vents, I do enjoy the subversion of my expectations.