'Alien' is, from my view, the single scariest movie ever put to 8mm film. It scared me more than any other film, and to this day continues to scare me.
The entire film has so much dark and tense atmosphere it's hard to relax at any point, the claustrophobic ship is suffocating in how cramped it looks, and overall the ideas of the film are simply horrifying.
Alien has been described as a "haunted house in space".
shareI don't consider this a horror film, it is more of a sci-fi/thriller
shareYeah. The SF setting distances the fear for me.
sharewhy cos its in space?
cant a horror movie be in space?
I don’t care if it’s in space, I still don’t see it as a horror film. It’s a sci fi/thriller.
shareI'd agree that it's a horror film. Its essence, its core, is horror and is about fear and the unknown. Because sci-fi explores the unknown, there's a touchpoint there, but Alien is more concerned with horror themes than sci-fi themes and is mostly interested in "the unknown" as it relates to our/humans' fear response to it.
Alien has all the trappings and clothing of a sci-fi, but its heart is that of terror.
This film -- an all-time favorite -- is one of only two films where I've ever jumped at a scene.
Yes, it was when the alien surprised Dallas in the air shaft.
The other film was Jaws.
Pretty good contender
shareI don't know about best ever, I always found the first half dull, or at least until they find the derelict. Then what stood out to me was the Space Jockey... until Prometheus totally fucked up that mythology decades later. Fuck you, Prometheus!!
It very well could be.
share