Though perhaps more sci-fi than horror, I feel justified in placing Ridley Scott's grim outer-space venture on this list due to its incredible implementation of intricately crafted atmosphere to create a sense of claustrophobia, isolation and, most of all, terror. While monster flicks tend to have little lasting horror in them, Scott's creation is as terrifying now as it was when it was released for the first time over thirty years ago. As an almost invincible, terrifyingly calculated predator, the sleek extraterrestrial in Alien is undeniably one of the scariest beings to ever stalk the screen.
However, while the design of the monster is utterly perfect, it is the direction more than anything else that gives Alien such horrific credibility. The spaceship in which Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and her crew reside stands in stark contrast to the pristine, white minamilist designs familiar to audiences of Star Trek and Lost in Space. In his vision of a spaceship, Scott creates cramped, bleak conditions. Long, empty corridors are choked with buzzing wires and hissing pipes. Light is minimal and ambient noises constant. The set design evokes the claustrophobic atmosphere of a sewer or a mine. Indeed, floating through dense, pitch black space, confined only to the cramped ship, the characters in Alien may as well be trapped underground.
It is through the sense of isolation and claustrophobia that the horror stems, as well as fear of the unknown juxtaposed with a sense of dreadful knowing. In the scenes where the crew explores an abandoned terrain littered with the skeletons of giant humanoid creatures, this feeling of fearful epistemophilia is paramount. We the audience have no idea what has happened to these creatures, but we are burdened with the dreadful knowledge that it is going to happen again to our protagonists. And the skeleton with the shattered ribcage is particularly foreboding.
Our fears are realised in one of the most horrific scenes of the film. Upon discovering a hive of strange egg-like items, crew member Kane (John Hurt) falls foul of one of the creatures dwelling within the eggs. As he peers into the freshly-opened shell, a repulsive insect-like beast in the shape of a bony hand, leaps onto his face, curling its crooked claws around his skull and refusing to let go. Unable to prise the creature from Kane's face, his crewmates take him back aboard ship with the entity still attached. While this may be horrific enough, it is not until later when the true terror begins and the real monster is introduced.
In a sequence of horror matched only perhaps by Psycho's infamous shower scene, a seemingly recovered Kane interrupts tea-time conversation as he begins to spasm feverishly before collapsing onto the dinner table. It is at this moment that it becomes clear that the face-hugging creature left more than pinch-marks in Kane's body. As he writhes in pain and his friends struggle to hold him down, we see an ominous bulge emerge from his chest. After several seconds of intense confusion and absolute panic, a spray of blood spurts forth as Kane's chest erupts, ending his life and unleashing the deadly creature that will wipe out all but one member of the crew.
So continues the terror as the deadly dual-mouthed, acid-bleeding alien stalks the ship's corridors and ventilation shafts, picking off the crew members one by one. Another of the film's most memorable scenes is the one which involves the death of the ship's captain, Dallas (Tom Skerrit), who crawls through the air vents armed with a flamethrower as Ripley tracks his movements on a monitor. The dread escalates as Ripley spots a blip on the radar that is heading straight towards Dallas' position, to the point that it is apparently right on top of him. Unable to detect anything, Dallas informs Ripley that she must be mistaken. Suddenly, a flash of flame, a glimpse of the alien's glittering jaws, an abrupt scream and another chief protagonist meets his demise. No visual gore or drawn-out violence. Just brilliantly-crafted atmosphere and suspense. Other notable scenes of horror include Ripley's stand-off against crew member Ash (Ian Holm) as he reveals his treacherous plans, proving that the alien is not the only predator on board this cramped spaceship; as well as Ripley's final encounter with the creature in the escape pod, just as we come to believe that all will be well. The sudden, unpredicatable reappearance of the alien remains one of the jumpiest moments in cinema history.
All in all then, it is clear that Alien well and truly earned its position on this list, not merely because its horror remains intact after three decades but also for its ability to transcend genres, its remarkable crafting of atmosphere and its creation of the ultimate silent killer. Michael Myers in alien-form, Scott's monster is as cunning, brutal and efficient a villain as the horror genre has ever seen.
However, while the design of the monster is utterly perfect, it is the direction more than anything else that gives Alien such horrific credibility. The spaceship in which Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and her crew reside stands in stark contrast to the pristine, white minamilist designs familiar to audiences of Star Trek and Lost in Space. In his vision of a spaceship, Scott creates cramped, bleak conditions. Long, empty corridors are choked with buzzing wires and hissing pipes. Light is minimal and ambient noises constant. The set design evokes the claustrophobic atmosphere of a sewer or a mine. Indeed, floating through dense, pitch black space, confined only to the cramped ship, the characters in Alien may as well be trapped underground.
It is through the sense of isolation and claustrophobia that the horror stems, as well as fear of the unknown juxtaposed with a sense of dreadful knowing. In the scenes where the crew explores an abandoned terrain littered with the skeletons of giant humanoid creatures, this feeling of fearful epistemophilia is paramount. We the audience have no idea what has happened to these creatures, but we are burdened with the dreadful knowledge that it is going to happen again to our protagonists. And the skeleton with the shattered ribcage is particularly foreboding.
Our fears are realised in one of the most horrific scenes of the film. Upon discovering a hive of strange egg-like items, crew member Kane (John Hurt) falls foul of one of the creatures dwelling within the eggs. As he peers into the freshly-opened shell, a repulsive insect-like beast in the shape of a bony hand, leaps onto his face, curling its crooked claws around his skull and refusing to let go. Unable to prise the creature from Kane's face, his crewmates take him back aboard ship with the entity still attached. While this may be horrific enough, it is not until later when the true terror begins and the real monster is introduced.
In a sequence of horror matched only perhaps by Psycho's infamous shower scene, a seemingly recovered Kane interrupts tea-time conversation as he begins to spasm feverishly before collapsing onto the dinner table. It is at this moment that it becomes clear that the face-hugging creature left more than pinch-marks in Kane's body. As he writhes in pain and his friends struggle to hold him down, we see an ominous bulge emerge from his chest. After several seconds of intense confusion and absolute panic, a spray of blood spurts forth as Kane's chest erupts, ending his life and unleashing the deadly creature that will wipe out all but one member of the crew.
So continues the terror as the deadly dual-mouthed, acid-bleeding alien stalks the ship's corridors and ventilation shafts, picking off the crew members one by one. Another of the film's most memorable scenes is the one which involves the death of the ship's captain, Dallas (Tom Skerrit), who crawls through the air vents armed with a flamethrower as Ripley tracks his movements on a monitor. The dread escalates as Ripley spots a blip on the radar that is heading straight towards Dallas' position, to the point that it is apparently right on top of him. Unable to detect anything, Dallas informs Ripley that she must be mistaken. Suddenly, a flash of flame, a glimpse of the alien's glittering jaws, an abrupt scream and another chief protagonist meets his demise. No visual gore or drawn-out violence. Just brilliantly-crafted atmosphere and suspense. Other notable scenes of horror include Ripley's stand-off against crew member Ash (Ian Holm) as he reveals his treacherous plans, proving that the alien is not the only predator on board this cramped spaceship; as well as Ripley's final encounter with the creature in the escape pod, just as we come to believe that all will be well. The sudden, unpredicatable reappearance of the alien remains one of the jumpiest moments in cinema history.
All in all then, it is clear that Alien well and truly earned its position on this list, not merely because its horror remains intact after three decades but also for its ability to transcend genres, its remarkable crafting of atmosphere and its creation of the ultimate silent killer. Michael Myers in alien-form, Scott's monster is as cunning, brutal and efficient a villain as the horror genre has ever seen.
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