MicShazam

It just looks so lifelike. Stunning effects and not least the sets and lighting. There are high-budget movies from just 10 years ago that haven't aged a 100th as well. A lot of not-quite-there-yet CGI especially.

innerspaceboy

That stinks. I had a similar problem, (in that I don't own a TV) Thankfully the complete series including the KTMA eps is out there free to download if you look around.

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The Batlord

Honestly, though I love Alien the **** to death, I think the rubber suit can be a bit not-so-great at times whenever you see more than just the head (the head is quite possibly the high watermark of all horror though). That jumpscare in the vents honestly looks kinda goofy even if the entire rest of the scene was ace. A CGI alien would have been far worse, but the rubber suit still wasn't perfect.

And while the second half is slasher movie nirvana most of the time, it's still a bit more generic than the first half of the movie up till the chestburster scene. From second one till after that thing runs off screen is like the best sci-fi movie ever though, with the ultimate, can never be topped expression of what can happen when unsuspecting explorers encounter secretly hostile alien life on an uncharted planet. But if I didn't have the first half to compare the second half to I probably wouldn't have the slightest problem with it beyond that suit kinda sorta.

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MicShazam

I guess I agree, but at least they had the good judgment of limiting what you see of the alien most of the time. Think of that scene where Dallas is crawling around inside the ventilation system. You see it for like 1½ seconds. Probably way less.

What really makes me love the first half is the atmosphere and believeability of it all. I'm not joking when I'm saying that my favorite part of the movie is at the very beginning before anyone has woken up. That whole stretch from when the credits begin, to the first person wakes up from cryo. Audiovisual porn.

The Batlord

I'm not sure if that's my fav, but as an intro it's brilliant. I love just how you can always hear a low hum throughout the movie when on the ship, and you obviously notice it the most at the beginning, and it makes just about every second of the movie tense in a way that seeps into your subconscious. But srsly it's hard to beat the chestburster scene. Plenty of horror movies and sci-fi horror movies have gore, but how many of them feel that ****ing real? That looked halfway between a horror movie kill and a future National Geographic special and I can't think of anything that's ever felt the same. When I pick Alien over The Thing it's **** like that that looks so realistic and immersive that helps put it over the edge.

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MicShazam

I completely admit that I still involuntarily clutch my chest when I watch that scene
The movie just has this groundedness to it that no other movie in the same genre has had for me. I've mentioned before how I don't even like horror movies. Alien just has this incredible sort of flair to it that makes it something very special. Even as a Ridley Scott fanboy, I'll admit he hasn't come close to replicating that in any other movie. Like it's halfway some happy accident.

The Batlord

Might actually be both my fav horror and sci-fi movie. And Jesus Christ everyone talks about the Xenomorph, but how ****ing cool, nightmarish, and ****ing real does the facehugger look? Doesn't even look like a horror movie monster, and it isn't even something that goes RARGH DIE!!! The scene in the medbay when this hate**** lifeform is just lying on the peacefully unconscious dude's face without moving is like a dark mirror version of Star Trek and it's amazing. I'm glad HR Giger never did any more horror movie designs (that I know of) or else it might have become old hat rather than being the greatest anomaly in horror monster design.

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MicShazam

The face hugger is a great design. I watched Alien at way too young an age (8-9 years. Very permissive parents.), and that creepy little bastard had quite an effect on my young mind. It seemed so otherworldly, so fascinating, scary and lifelike. I think the way it doesn't just lob your head off, but insead sends you into a peaceful coma while pretty much impregnating you... it's all very Freudian and ****ed up. The grown aliens are more like aggressive tigers or something. Scary - but the facehugger has more dimensions to it.

And yeah, I agree that it's probably for the best that it didn't become all trendy to have H.R. Giger monster designs - even though one has to imagine he must have turned down a request or two.

The Batlord

Yeah, but that scene when *spoiler* the black guy whose name I can't remember dies and then the alien kills the woman with its tail by presumably going up through her torso was so much a rape scene. Even that part where Ripley is going down the corridor with the woman screaming over the intercom for way too ****ing long to not make you feel uncomfortable was def supposed to feel like a rape scene. So physical violation was very much a theme of that movie even beyond just the facehugger.

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MicShazam

That's a good observation. I agree that the movie points in a certain direction in more than one way. It's very sexual, in a way. Just like most of H.R. Giger's artwork is. And who hasn't realized what the under side of the face hugger looks like at this point?