Alien

A fascinating legend, which has been delivering all subsequent films with a suggestive atmosphere of unknown evil for over forty years since its creation. A captivating performance by Sigourney Weaver, the impossibility of guessing what is in store for the crew in the next few seconds, accompanied by darkness, fear, and terror, with the help of minimal special effects. An incomparable accomplishment from Ridley Scott and proof that even a film where almost nothing happens in the first half can be perfectly breathtaking throughout its entire runtime. (2005-04-21)

The collective terror of the unknown in an isolated environment. The first serious sci-fi/horror movie with a blood-thirsty space monster…and the most artful one to achieve cult status. Unlike Cameron’s follow-up, Aliens, Ridley Scott’s Alien modestly, or even intimately, presents the creature in a gradual way, exploiting the mysteriousness and menace of the perfect, indestructible extraterrestrial organism at the top of the food chain, towering above everything that we know from Earth. The close-ups of the scared-to-death, realistically natural and poorly armed crew members, the visual exploration of the futuristically elegant and industrial bowels of their spaceship Nostromo, the creepy atmospheric music by the unrivalled sorcerer Jerry Goldsmith, and primarily H.R. Giger’s brilliant design of not only the monsters themselves make Alien a unique classic of the genre. It is an establisher of trends and a source of inspiration in which, even after forty years, it’s impossible to find a cliché or guess who will survive. (2024-08-18)

The most famous representative of its genre, its thematically related followers can’t even hold a candle to it. My big sister told me that during a screening in our cinema (during the totalitarian era – what a wonder!), a female spectator didn't manage to leave the hall and threw up during one tense scene. Nowadays, Alien probably wouldn't shock anyone, but back then it was something completely new, unseen. I have two people in particular to thank for that: Ridley Scott, who was in fine form, and H.R. Giger, without whose vision, the result would probably not have been so rewarding. (2003-03-02)

A classic that nowadays affects me more with its perfect visual design by R.H. Geiger, rather than a haunting impression, as during the first watch. Yet it is impossible to admire R. Scott's skill in inducing an atmosphere of danger and working with the "established" horror techniques that have become the quintessence of modern science fiction horror filmmaking under his guidance. (2004-01-27)

When a movie manages to frighten you to death even thirty years after its release, you must admit it’s good. And all you need to do is to show nothing, keep everything hidden and flash lights in the viewers’ faces and they will be terrified. If it weren’t for James Cameron, Ridley Scott would be the uncrowned king of the Alien saga. (2007-11-25)