Sin #54: Someone Can Hear You Scream

They say in space no one can hear you scream (pretty logical since no there are no air waves to carry sound). There’s been lots of screaming though, in the movies where a bunch of astronauts are haunted by a menacing extraterrestrial presence.

One of the best horror movies is Ridley Scott’s original “Alien”, a movie drenched in atmosphere and mystery; in it we’re introduced to the amazing creature design of Swedish artist H.R Giger, whose conceptual art resembles something between suggestive eroticism and decomposing organisms. The key to the movie is its pacing; it takes time to build and is reluctant to spoil the fun early on. The movie is wise in developing characters we care about (including the now iconic Ellen Ripley, played in all four films by Sigourney Weaver); once we see the creature (first, in the gasping chest-burster sequence, then as a fully grown specimen) we’re completely absorbed in the character’s ordeal. “Alien” remains a classic that stands out from the other sequels thanks to Scott’s taut direction; Cameron’s sequel is more action driven, Fincher’s is claustrophobic but ultimately pointless and Jeunet’s is more fantasy surrealism (the less said about “Alien vs. Predator” the better).

“Alien” inspired countless retreads but one of the few worthy films it inspired was John Carpenter’s “The Thing” (even though it is a remake of an older movie, the film owes a lot to Scott’s movie). “The Thing” uses the isolated Antarctic as a location and instead of giving a fully formed creature, it uses a parasitic entity that possesses living organism and turns them into demonic and hideous mutations (the special effects for these creatures are astounding). The movie is a terrific exercise in suspense that has, unsurprisingly, become a cult classic and possibly Carpenter’s most accomplished film.

The first sequence in “The Thing” features a spaceship crashing on earth. Whether this ship contained the original aliens or were another race invaded by the parasites is one of the story’s many mysteries (similar to the origin of the infamous “space jockey” in “Alien”). Since the aliens need hosts, the movie bases its suspense on the audience (and the characters) guessing who might be infected next. There’s a sort of irony in the end and room for a lot of speculation (there are, in fact, many web pages dedicated to analyzing the movie in astonishing detail).

The formula of claustrophobic settings, a group of naive adventurers and horrible creatures has become a tired and worn out cliché. However, if done right they can be engaging and horrific (like with the amazing Spanish film “Rec”), if done wrong they can be predictable and laughable. Some are interesting in concept but fail to deliver the goods; “The Descent”, for example, is the story of a group of women exploring some mysterious caves in America where they find unspeakable horrors deep within the subterraneous caverns. The setting is stylish and the film sells its locations convincingly and yet, it lacks any substance; the characters are shallow, the creatures aren’t scary and the movie ends on a weird and unconvincing note (leaving the audience to exclaim WTF?!).

Still, “Alien” and “The Thing” remain prime examples of the genre and pure movie thrill rides. The news that Ridley Scott will be back to the franchise with a prequel brings a level of excitement that we didn’t think was possible with the franchise (thanks to the damage caused by “AvP”). We can only hope that if someone is screaming out there, if might be worth for us to take a look.