Alien. 1979. USA. Directed by Ridley Scott. Screenplay by Dan O’Bannon, from a story by O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett. With Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto. DCP. 116 min.
Alien is justly considered one of the most terrifying films of all time, thanks in particular to the visual design of H. R. Giger and Carlo Rambaldi’s mechanical effects for the horrifying extraterrestrial creature. The pair won an Oscar for visual effects that still haunt the minds of film lovers, regardless of their interest in science fiction, as Alien remains one of the truest, darkest representations of our inner fears and collective anxieties about the future of humanity in a universe that constantly eludes our grasp and understanding.