Alien: Director's Cut
Ridley Scott's 1979 horror classic is back and looking
better than ever! Despite its age, Alien still holds up
today and even manages to look better than most modern
horror films. It's a simple story really, the crew of a
space ship called the Nostromo are alerted to a distress beacon, they go to investigate and find an alien ship on a planet, from there on everything goes pear shaped and we watch as they struggle for their lives and try to escape the evil creature as it begins picking them off one by one.
What makes Alien so scary is the build up to the carnage, the first half of the film eases you into the terror, by not bringing out the big guns straight away the audience is kept in suspense. The alien does not make an appearance until well into the film, and even then it lurks only in the shadows, and it isn't until the very end that we see it clearly. This is what horror is about, not knowing what's out there. That is the atmosphere you get when watching this film, the creature stays in the dark, keeping you on the edge of your seat, this tension is ,essentially, what makes Alien so effective. Scott keeps you on your toes, he keeps you guessing, so that you're constantly afraid of what could happen and when the big shock comes, it pays off.
The horror also works thanks to the cast, who are all believable in their roles. Also, the dialogue they deliver is very real, the writer isn't trying to be witty or qoutable with every other sentance, the conversations between the crew are chaotic, people talk over each other, it's all very natural. There's a real energy and spontaneouty here that's missing from most of todays films, which is a real shame, but only goes to show you how great Alien is, especially for its time.
The alien itself looks incredible, it is truly horrific, the stuff nightmares are made of. The designs have a very perverse quality to them, there is sexual imagery present throughout. The idea of rape is used on a couple of occasions, with the alien facegugger inserting a tube into Kane's mouth to lay its egg and also with Ash rolling up the porn magazine and trying to force it down Ripley's throat. This basic fear is invoked within the audience to chilling effect and is part of what makes this film so terrifying.
The special effects are nothing short of breathtaking, the design of the alien is quite sleek but also slightly mechanical, therefore the fact that it is animatronic serves it well. The Nostromo looks very creepy indeed and it's sheer vastness is captured perfectly during the establishing shot of it flying overhead at the beginning and subsequently when the camera drifts through the empty coridoors before we meet the crew. This only adds to the tension, we know that the ship is enormous and therefore we know that the alien could be hiding anywhere.
What about the differences between the original and this director's cut though? Well, it's nothing major, there have ony been a few noticable additions, such as the cocoon scene where Ripley finds Dallas who begs her to kill him. The surprising thing is what has been cut, Scott has gone back and trimmed a few scenes, mainly at the beginning. The initial shots of the ship and of the crew waking up have been shortened, but so has the scene where Kane comes into contact with the facehugger, it now cuts away sooner, this is the only change I was disappointed with, but it's nothing too distracting.
If you have never had the chance to experience Alien on the big screen then I urge you to go see it as soon as possible, and if you have never seen it in the first place, well, that's all the more reason to go, this is a true horror classic and a film which still manages to scare. With great direction, cinematography, set design, dialogue and special effects, this is one film you can't afford to miss.
Rating- 9/10 |
