When I started watching "Alien" for the first time today, I already knew that everyone but Sigourney Weaver dies. I already knew what the aliens looked like and that Ian Holm is a milk-bleeding robot. So how come I found myself sweating through the second half, fighting the temptation to fast-forward to the death scenes like a child?
It must have something to do with Ridley Scott. The sets are impeccable, the actors fine, the script nothing I'd blow out of an airlock. But it's Scott's patience that makes this so suspensful, his willingness to let the story, which sees a spaceship unwittingly take on an alien organism, advance at an almost leisurely clip before the xenomorph (that's what geeks call the alien) begins exterminating the crew one by one. It's that the that the characters act and talk like bored spacers instead of movie heroes (something remedied in the subsuquent installments) that makes the film eerily palatable despite the far-flung setting. The crew bitterly does their job, and winds up with a serious problem on their hands, and copes as well as we could expect them to. What better way to gain our sympathy, our attention?
"Alien" is a jump-scare sort of movie that was released years before everyone became so familiar with stupid horror pics that saw monsters stalk and butcher the characters for the audience's amusement. But Scott's did something more effective than killing to captivate; it scared.
4.5 out of 5
3 comments:
This is a good review; I really liked your turn of a phrase that the script wasn't something you'd blow out of an airlock. Maybe reviewing the cultural classics could be a special weekly installment on your blog that you'd mentioned earlier? You've already got a lot of mini-reviews under your belt.
I am really glad to find that I wasnt the only one who hadnt seen this movie. I saw it for the first time less than a month ago.
In case you are interested, the second sequel is the Core movie at CollegeSquare Sept 12/13 at 10pm.
Dustin: Thanks! I've considered doing a feature where I'll use a hundred words or two to discuss my favorites, even if they're films I've reviewed before. I think I might have something like a "key scene" thing where I describe one of my favorite parts from the film, and possibly post a clip if Youtube has any.
Clare: Pretty sweet, ain't it? I've seen the signs advertising the film for College Square. I was thinking I might watch the DVD and review it in the college paper that week and encourage people to check it out.
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