when the villain is actually terrifying

Фильм және анимация

Lots of monster movies make the mistake of showing their deadly antagonist too much. Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) does not. Here's why.
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Alien
Aliens
Xenomorph
Facehugger
Chestburster
Predator
Monster
Godzilla
Ridley Scott
Ripley
Nostromo
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  • @SceneItReviews
    @SceneItReviews11 ай бұрын

    what's scarier?? showing the monster...or hiding the monster? (i suppose this extrapolates to horror in general too - slasher or supernatural?)

  • @thesfnb.5786

    @thesfnb.5786

    10 ай бұрын

    Both. Slasher and supernatural both to the first question too

  • @KnjazNazrath

    @KnjazNazrath

    10 ай бұрын

    Existential horror is the best. How does "Being John Malkovich" fit into your paradigm?

  • @noelv1976

    @noelv1976

    10 ай бұрын

    Monster hidden is pretty good. Midnight Mass wasn't scary scary, but not seeing the monster at rhe first few episodes was just perfect. Then they showed the monster and it was meh.

  • @philonetic321

    @philonetic321

    10 ай бұрын

    Cloverfield sucked and the monster was silly. Jason and Myers managed to pull off the same fear in anticipation while being out in the open. Both styles make you question every corner turned. ALIEN is great but Jodorowsky's DUNE had to fail, Ridley Scott was nearly fired, Ripley's character was nearly killed off, the budget was doubled and still wasn't enough. Without the ALIEN, it would've been just another forgotten monster film. The father of Biomechanics and the Necronomicon had to give us his unearthly monster and biomechanical Derelict ship.

  • @MrGriff305

    @MrGriff305

    10 ай бұрын

    Mystique is always better for a while in the beginning

  • @tuomashaapakoski5250
    @tuomashaapakoski525011 ай бұрын

    "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it." -Alfred Hitchcock

  • @SceneItReviews

    @SceneItReviews

    11 ай бұрын

    Hitchcock 🤝Suspense

  • @SuperMaster000X

    @SuperMaster000X

    9 ай бұрын

    🗿

  • @therearenoshortcuts9868

    @therearenoshortcuts9868

    9 ай бұрын

    there is no sexiness in the bang only the anticipation of xxx LOL

  • @whynottalklikeapirat

    @whynottalklikeapirat

    9 ай бұрын

    It’s kind of nonsense. Anticipation is great - it’s king - but the bang can be scary too and it’s consequences even scarier …

  • @idenpropovad1034

    @idenpropovad1034

    8 ай бұрын

    ​@whynottalklikeapirat I would think what happens after the bang is more reffered to as horror, as the first thought in aftermath of a 'terrific' event can still terrify, but more likely leaves a horrified sense before they think "what happened?"

  • @whitevii1533
    @whitevii15339 ай бұрын

    My Dad still talks about how shocking it was for Tom Skerritt's character Dallas to die. He was the only really known actor in the movie and a lot of people went because they recognized him. Nobody expected him to die and it really makes that jump scare even more effective. Nowadays killing off a main character or well-known actor isn't unheard of, but you just didn't do that back then. You're watching him in these vents and it's scary but you still feel an element of safety. "Surely they won't kill off Tom Skerritt..." It makes the jumpscare (and the rest of the film) very unpredictable.

  • @Duothimir

    @Duothimir

    9 ай бұрын

    >Tom Skerritt >Completely ignores John Hurt, the actual biggest name in that movie at the time, who was killed off first specifically because he was the biggest star they had and it would be shocking

  • @whitevii1533

    @whitevii1533

    9 ай бұрын

    No need to be a dick about it. He coulda said Hurt and I remembered the conversation wrong. Either way, both were famous and both were killed off because of that shock factor.@@Duothimir

  • @AmeliaMastervally

    @AmeliaMastervally

    9 ай бұрын

    OMG I had a similar experience with the movie Life (I recommend watching it before reading but whatever) I only recognised Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal and went "oh I guess they'll be the main characters!" nope. Those bitches were dead IMMEDIATLY

  • @Mokiefraggle

    @Mokiefraggle

    8 ай бұрын

    @@Duothimir I mean, it could also entirely depend on one's viewpoint. Skerritt is an American actor, so someone whose knowledge of film is primarily Hollywood-based rather than British films would possibly be more likely to latch onto him as "the big name actor" than Hurt. Especially since Skerritt featured in things like M*A*S*H, which would probably have been fairly well-known in general. Meanwhile the list of films prior to Alien that we see Hurt in are primarily British dramas, with only Midnight Express (and providing the voice of Aragorn in Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings animated film) standing out as something you can guarantee an American viewer would have seen.

  • @Cal6009

    @Cal6009

    3 ай бұрын

    It still works now because there's still the convention of the leading man surviving

  • @LSP2387
    @LSP23873 ай бұрын

    The cat's reaction to a person getting violently killed by a monster is far too real.

  • @RodrigoMorenoAviacion

    @RodrigoMorenoAviacion

    2 ай бұрын

    The shot of Jonesy's reaction to tge appearance of the xenomorph is my favorite in all of cinema's history.

  • @christophertadeo6120

    @christophertadeo6120

    Ай бұрын

    "What's the mater with u people.. Never seen a feline pounce on her meal before"- cats thoughts

  • @paavobergmann4920

    @paavobergmann4920

    19 күн бұрын

    @@christophertadeo6120 "Hmpf....who´s gonna open my next meal now?"

  • @MySerpentine

    @MySerpentine

    11 күн бұрын

    'Well that was slightly odd. Now what?'

  • @Tarnished-bn5gq

    @Tarnished-bn5gq

    10 күн бұрын

    “Wow, I missed the part where that’s my problem.”

  • @Pheebs77
    @Pheebs7710 ай бұрын

    The scene in the air vents is just a masterclass in suspense. The music, the lighting, the claustrophobia, that haunting beep then Lambert's screaming, I shit myself EVERY TIME.

  • @wondermo0247

    @wondermo0247

    10 ай бұрын

    maybe don't eat taco bell while watching alien? hehe

  • @itchytastyurr

    @itchytastyurr

    3 ай бұрын

    i wish the guy in the suit reached out and grabbed the camera- he just put his arms out and held it like he was asking for cuddles....

  • @tsitracommunications2884

    @tsitracommunications2884

    2 ай бұрын

    she should be whupped for her loudmouthed scream. lamberts a wuss

  • @arsstv

    @arsstv

    10 күн бұрын

    Except for the cringiest pose ever thrown by the Alien. Even 7 year old me facepalmed as hard as it gets on the sheer stupidity and destruction of suspension of disbelief.

  • @user-DrKritz115

    @user-DrKritz115

    2 күн бұрын

    @@arsstv No you didn't 😒

  • @mirdala5231
    @mirdala523110 ай бұрын

    I think you're right - Alien works so well because you DON'T see the Alien. I went to see it on the big screen for the 30th anniversary (and having seen it several times on the small screen). It's SUCH a different experience. It was perhaps the tensest I've ever been in my life. Alien is a classic and I think it stands up well, it's a story about ordinary people overtaken by extraordinary events. I think what's missing is the shout out to the man in the Alien suit who helped make the creature into something real. Still, great and thought provoking piece.

  • @criztu

    @criztu

    9 ай бұрын

    axually, the story is about an entity that dehumanizes man. 'xenomorph' means "foreign, alien form" that strange form is, in Ash's words "unclouded by consciousness, delusions of morality". in other words, dudes who rule the system wants us to live like robots, psychos, without discernment of good and evil. the same theme is explored in Blade Runner, where a dude claims he "builds replicants", but he dehumanizes humans.

  • @cattysplat

    @cattysplat

    7 ай бұрын

    It keeps the tension always high because it never gives you an out by giving it screen time. You never know where it's going to show up next, which keeps the tension high and constantly coiling.

  • @josephharrington7129

    @josephharrington7129

    2 ай бұрын

    A old friend of mine, his dad was the stunt man in that suit, and for Aliens as well (two of them did Aliens I believe). Agreed, did an amazing job.

  • @cothinker680

    @cothinker680

    Ай бұрын

    Tbh I find this movie so boring I slept

  • @deltaskelta7286

    @deltaskelta7286

    21 күн бұрын

    @@cothinker680 you're so cool and brave

  • @ariochiv
    @ariochiv9 ай бұрын

    The sound of Lambert's death may be the most horrifying use of audio I've ever heard in a movie. On repeated viewings it seems more and more artificial and unrealistic, but the first time I heard it, it was utterly terrifying.

  • @Gigan10610

    @Gigan10610

    8 күн бұрын

    Agree, that shit had me trembling for hours

  • @atothetaco
    @atothetaco10 ай бұрын

    There's a film I saw a trailer for recently called The Last Voyage of the Demeter, and the first half was amazing they built up the monster by showing what it had done and the legend behind it. Then the second half of the trailer happened, which showed off the full monster every second it could and killed almost any tension they had built

  • @noelv1976

    @noelv1976

    10 ай бұрын

    Yes!! They could have hidden the monster but nope. I don't get why these corporate entities want to show everything in a trailer.

  • @bananaempijama

    @bananaempijama

    8 ай бұрын

    That is why Alien's trailer is, for me, the perfect trailer. Shows confusion, tension, mystery. In the end you want to know wth was that and you have seen 0 from the creature itself.

  • @sunchips18

    @sunchips18

    8 ай бұрын

    What makes the Demeter segment so good in the original Dracula novel is that you never see Dracula. You only get accounts from the captain’s ship log as he watches his crew slowly go crazy as they get picked off one by one. He has no idea what’s going on. He probably doesn’t even know what a vampire is, but his crew are still dying, and the segment’s eldritch, existential dread is peak literature. In my mind, a perfect adaptation of that segment would’ve probably been a cross between Alien and The Lighthouse.

  • @leesasuki
    @leesasuki10 ай бұрын

    One of the best horror game I ever played is "Prey", it has its basic monster to be able to mimic anything nearby. This make the game super fun and scary as most of the horror are in my mind, I have no idea which object is real and which is fake, and that make the tension high and the whole game really really great

  • @-_.Melody._-

    @-_.Melody._-

    10 ай бұрын

    _NOT A MIMIC_

  • @2kanchoo

    @2kanchoo

    10 ай бұрын

    Give alien isolation a try. With headphones it damn near gives me panic attacks listening to the bugger running around in the vents etc.

  • @sugoha_2548

    @sugoha_2548

    10 ай бұрын

    Oh hell yeah, one of my top 5 favourite games ! While everyone cites mimic as being the scariest enemies, I'm personally more frightened by poltergeists

  • @leesasuki

    @leesasuki

    10 ай бұрын

    @@sugoha_2548 Yeah! That enemy sound simple on paper, but the build up and reveal of it is so cool and scary!

  • @ManlyOBeeferton

    @ManlyOBeeferton

    9 ай бұрын

    Try Alien Isolation or Resident Evil 7 in VR :D. Those have scared me significantly more than the vast majority of horror films.

  • @twisterwiper
    @twisterwiper2 ай бұрын

    Veronica Cartwright delivered an absolutely GOAT level performance in Alien. The despair, and the terror she portrayed was deeply unsettling.

  • @kyoswkyosw1216
    @kyoswkyosw12168 ай бұрын

    Tremors did the same to an extent. Every little piece we think “Ah, there’s the monster” and then, that was just a tiny part of it, so we’re left thinking “So how did THAT happen then?” And even AFTER the full reveal, the entire premise of “even if you know what it looks like, you can’t see it coming anyway” added a whole other level of scary

  • @ARuiz-eu3hk

    @ARuiz-eu3hk

    13 күн бұрын

    Hell! Fuckin love tremors. It's too damn good like alie in my opinion.

  • @nanatake2go
    @nanatake2go11 ай бұрын

    getting very strong "Every Frame A Painting" vibes over here.... you deserve a WAY bigger audience, love your video essays!

  • @SceneItReviews

    @SceneItReviews

    11 ай бұрын

    no one's ever topping Tony and Taylor, but appreciate the compliment ✌

  • @ronaldmilner8932

    @ronaldmilner8932

    10 ай бұрын

    I just joined, so it is getting bigger.

  • @phrozac
    @phrozac10 ай бұрын

    "Alien is...painfully slow by comparison...". No sir, Alien is exquisitely paced. As Ridley said, that pace is deliberate and brings the viewer into the reality he's trying to sell. I wouldn't change a second of it. If anything, the newer movies are too fast and don't allow viewers to settle in but that's another conversation, one about familiarity.

  • @losalfajoresok
    @losalfajoresok11 ай бұрын

    It's definitelly a masterpiece, all the elements of the movie are crafted with love and care

  • @JDroneX
    @JDroneX3 ай бұрын

    When he says "her death is heard, it's probably more frightening hearing it than seeing it." it immediately made me think of Lethal Company, and how even though its such a simple game one of the more terrifying aspects is when you are playing with others, and generally all of you are at first goofing off and having a good time until the monsters and accidents pick you off one by one, hearing people scream and then abruptly get silenced either in the distanced or through the walkies only adds that much more tension to an already eerie situation.

  • @oskarthenarrator
    @oskarthenarrator9 ай бұрын

    I agree that hiding the monster is always beneficial. I also think Alien works as well as it does because it is such a slow build. It takes so long for anything to happen, and that makes an audience nervous, jumping at things that don't deserve it, looking for some clue, focusing too hard, and BAM! Beautiful filmmaking

  • @Mokiefraggle

    @Mokiefraggle

    8 ай бұрын

    Also, the film starts out with such a weirdly casual air of the crew waking up and going about business as normal, that from minute one you're waiting for the other shoe to drop. That's part of what makes the scene with the chestburster so horrific when it does happen, is that things are so perfectly normal. You could almost presume that things were just fine, that everything was okay and back to normal now that the facehugger was dead, and then _THAT_ happens. There's a whole lot of by-the-numbers "we're just doing our job" feel to so much of the early part of the film, such that you know something really horrific must be waiting in the wings, but you're still not expecting that to go down right in the middle of _dinner!_

  • @paavobergmann4920

    @paavobergmann4920

    19 күн бұрын

    I felt the same about "The Thin Red Line", when there is like half an hour just catching runaways, and then an entire invasion onto an abandoned beach, and suddenly a bullet whips out from the fog, and you don´t even know where it came from, never mind spotting the shooter. That was absolutely terrifying, because you were already biting your nails after 40+ minutes of suspense

  • @vickystrudwick3939
    @vickystrudwick393911 ай бұрын

    I couldn't agree more - "hidden" is way scarier. I remember being terrified by the Amityville Horror when it was out (the late 70's, I think ) because my imagination produced far more terror than any descriptive prose or illustration. Alien is the same - the hints and glimpses let your mind run rampant and that lets us give ourselves the scare and thrill we're after.

  • @EddValdez
    @EddValdez9 ай бұрын

    I think The Descent (2005) nails hiding the monster well too. The movie was set underground so shadows and silhouettes from a distance worked well for the terror.

  • @paavobergmann4920

    @paavobergmann4920

    19 күн бұрын

    or "Event Horizon".

  • @_The_Archive_
    @_The_Archive_11 ай бұрын

    Fun Fact: At the premiere of the movie, religious zealots set fire to a model of the Xenomorph that was displayed outside, believing it to be the work of the devil.

  • @diversityhobbit

    @diversityhobbit

    11 ай бұрын

    HR Geiger was inspired by demonic imagery

  • @SceneItReviews

    @SceneItReviews

    11 ай бұрын

    did little facehugger models jump out of it? would've been 4D chess from the marketing department

  • @internisus

    @internisus

    Ай бұрын

    The prop that someone tried to burn was actually the space jockey.

  • @ito2789

    @ito2789

    Ай бұрын

    Those losers will always exist unfortunately.

  • @justinross9833
    @justinross983310 ай бұрын

    The first time I saw this movie as a kid, I definitely thought it was slow. Now, watching it with matured eyes, I have a different level of appreciation with Ridley's craftsmanship.

  • @zozako1

    @zozako1

    9 күн бұрын

    when i was a kid(i was 8 and i truly loved to watch horror movies even a Doom movie in that age, maybe i was too young for them but i still enjoyed them and never regret that i saw em) i actually watched every episode of Alien and also eventually Predators with my grandpa and i really enjoyed them, they were really fun and i truly loved the anticipation it had i didnt think of it as a slow film in my personal opinion, i truly loved every second of it it was overall so beautiful even after 10 years its still on my list of Best Movies ever seen

  • @duxpe
    @duxpe10 ай бұрын

    If i remember correctly, Terry said that even him couldn't put the finger on what made the movie so good and scary. For me Alien is a masterclass in multiple areas and it is what happens when everyone involved focus on the same objective (the horror). In a lot of other movies in the genre i get the sensation that the light is too plastic, or that the editor is in a hurry, or that the sound design is taken over by the score and etc... That goes to show that if even ONE element is not on target with the vibe that the movie needs the whole thing can fall apart. (Note: there is no right or wrong in horror, i think you can make any vibe work, but is the director and producers job to communicate that well enough so no one get it wrong and if someone gets it wrong it need to be changed, check the history behind the score made by Jerry Goldsmith and how it was used).

  • @cattysplat

    @cattysplat

    7 ай бұрын

    The environment is absolutely the star of the show in Alien. It heightens all the tension by being what is shown for the whole length of screen time, feeling very uncomfortable and alien in itself.

  • @EK-911
    @EK-91111 ай бұрын

    Definitely scarier having hidden monsters

  • @mrfrosty3
    @mrfrosty310 ай бұрын

    I first saw Alien when it was on tv in the early 80s, I remember everyone loving it, there was no talk about it being slow or boring. I think it is close to perfect.

  • @stevetheduck1425
    @stevetheduck14255 ай бұрын

    Movies that seem slow are one of two things: details matter and people who don't notice or don't understand details are watching.

  • @rome8180
    @rome81809 ай бұрын

    I see the "hiding the monster" approach to horror as having earlier roots than Jaws. If you watch Rosemary's Baby, little of the actual horror in that movie is shown onscreen. You only see Satan in quick flashes during the assault scene. And at the end, you don't see the baby. You just hear Rosemary ask "What have you done to his eyes?" Whatever we imagine is far worse than what Polanski could have shown us. There are more examples of this kind of subtlety and restraint throughout the movie.

  • @averycheesypotato
    @averycheesypotato9 ай бұрын

    Hiding the monster until the big reveal done correctly. But let’s also appreciate that they actually had a monster to reveal- the design is fantastic. A monster movie with an underwhelming reveal at the end is still disappointing

  • @SceneItReviews

    @SceneItReviews

    9 ай бұрын

    True! No point building up to something underwhelming

  • @AhHereWeGo
    @AhHereWeGo9 ай бұрын

    I watched alien when I was a kid, and it scared me so much I never wanted to see it again. When I finally did, several years later, it became my favorite horror film… and still is

  • @aberrance6706
    @aberrance670610 ай бұрын

    This channel is filling the void in my life that appeared when Every Frame a Painting stopped uploading. Please please keep going.

  • @fistfullofsalt6311
    @fistfullofsalt63112 ай бұрын

    The scariest villain in my personal opinion isn't a monster, it actually not even in a book, movie, or television series. The scariest monster in any media that I've encountered is a game called 'Darkwood', and the monster in that game isn't a "Thing" it's the Forrest itself that you are trapped in. It is trying to kill you, or at the very least stop you from progressing further into the Forrest. Every morning is a fight for survival, every night terrifying anticipation of what's in the darkness, ready to hunt you down. I've had moments where I have to put the controller down and come back to it after a few days to a week I was so shaken and scared to keep going. The Forrest in Darkwood is truly the most terrifying villain I've ever encountered, and they do such and amazing job building the anticipation and tension.

  • @nirudangaragoda5286

    @nirudangaragoda5286

    Ай бұрын

    Duuuude! Darkwood rules!!! It's such a bleak game, but it ends with a sliver of hope.

  • @TechnoGin

    @TechnoGin

    10 күн бұрын

    Yeah like the first Blaire witch movie. It was scary

  • @bingerz237
    @bingerz23711 ай бұрын

    According to Ridley Scott, the alien is not a monster. It's better than a monster.

  • @whoeverthisguyis0826
    @whoeverthisguyis08268 ай бұрын

    That one Godzilla movie that came out in 2014 used the same method as Jaws and Alien. Godzilla is shown in only 10 minutes of the film, and that might seem like a little, but it is not! Everything in that film has an amazing payoff.

  • @arsstv

    @arsstv

    10 күн бұрын

    No it wasn't.

  • @ethribin4188
    @ethribin41888 ай бұрын

    Alien is one of the few horror movies where the characters arent stereotypes. Which it is able to do due to its slow buildup.

  • @chickkeys
    @chickkeys9 ай бұрын

    I love this movie so much. I watched it after over a decade again, and was amazed how slow the plot progressed and how the scenic elements where shaped by taking the time to transfer emotions through the screen. Such a masterpiece. Will watch it again and return to your video. Thank you :)

  • @Monkey_Boy9602
    @Monkey_Boy96028 ай бұрын

    ",I read it, and I thought it was absolutely terrible." The documentaries and interviews in the "Alien Quadrillogy" DVD set were top notch! I loved that everybody was able to be honest about their feelings on the project. You could tell that these guys did not like each other and that Dan O'Bannon was still upset with the changes made to his story.

  • @spiderdude2099
    @spiderdude20999 ай бұрын

    The scene in the vents is perfect. You see it for just a second. And I think that’s just enough

  • @krakios3950
    @krakios3950Күн бұрын

    Literally forgot I was watching a youtube video until it ended, and I wasn't even watching in full screen. Top notch content.

  • @AzraelsFlame
    @AzraelsFlame11 ай бұрын

    The Boogie Man is another good example that was recently released. Since it was based off of a Steven King book, id expect nothing less than amazing horror.

  • @SceneItReviews

    @SceneItReviews

    11 ай бұрын

    I’ll give it a watch! I think Barbarian last year was pretty good example too (at least for the first hour or so…)

  • @Tarnished-bn5gq
    @Tarnished-bn5gq10 күн бұрын

    “The oldest and strongest human emotion is fear, and the oldest and strongest human fear is that of the unknown.” -H.P. Lovecraft

  • @sder
    @sder11 ай бұрын

    Every video is so interesting and engaging. Man, I love this channel.

  • @HipiO7
    @HipiO75 ай бұрын

    Alien is my all-time favorite movie. Absolutely gorgeous cinematography, sound and art design. Slow paced but huge focus on tension building rather than overdone and predictable jump scares. A simple plot with great revelations. Also some breathtaking sequences, like my favorite of Ripley running back and forth between the bridge and the shuttle with the self-destruct sequence counting down. The shot at 6:21 of Ripley's finger nails bristling in the light and then focusing on her face of abject terror coming up the ladder, knowing the Alien could be anywhere, is burned into my brain. Every time I watch it, I find more reasons to love it even more. While Aliens is fantastic and above all an incredible sequel and genre change, I still feel like Alien will always be the better of the two simply for the art and impeccable horror, in great part thanks to barely ever showing the xenomorph.

  • @Bicloptic
    @Bicloptic9 ай бұрын

    You can’t see the monster, but you can hear him. Makes it far worse.

  • @ajpip9719
    @ajpip971911 ай бұрын

    This is VERY quickly becoming my favorite channel!!!!

  • @kentower
    @kentower3 ай бұрын

    man the lighting and the composition or arrangement in this film is so flawless, it still looks amazing!

  • @stevetheduck1425
    @stevetheduck14255 ай бұрын

    Budget constraints have made movie-makers hide the monster ever since movies. Showing the monster costs more, so monsters are people, people-shaped, invisible, people with funny noses (a whole other trope), and Humans in some almost-familiar uniforms.

  • @YumYum820
    @YumYum8202 күн бұрын

    6:17 this part always stays with me because you're trying to imagine what is happening but your mind cannot comprehend the pain and fear....the hyperventilating really freaks me out

  • @SunnyJCR
    @SunnyJCR8 ай бұрын

    Alien did something simple and yet so very underutilized... It established the mundane before introducing the extraordinary. The film showed us believable, relatable humans behaving reasonably in a calm environment. That calm felt like a fragile thing that audiences expected to shatter at any moment. The divergence from normality was drip-fed, building tension until it eventually burst to the forefront. Best film in the franchise and one of the best horror films to date.

  • @bananaempijama
    @bananaempijama10 ай бұрын

    The fear of the unknown it's the ultimate fear...Alien is prodigal in that. Everything around the creature is a mystery: the origin, its purpose, intention with other creatures, way of thinking, The movie defines what horror is with all the elements combined: the creature, the setting, the atmosphere, the crew.

  • @williamaldred335
    @williamaldred33514 күн бұрын

    What also leant into the unease was the ship was designed partially with the Xenomorph in mind. With it being biomechanical in design, it could blend in with the background noise of the ship, meaning it could be anywhere. The first shot you actually see of the Xenomorph is it hangin around the chains dormant above lambert, looking like just a piece of machinery hoisted up.

  • @bentoomet8805
    @bentoomet88052 күн бұрын

    The newest Puss In Boots movie surprisingly shows this in a fantastic way. The villain is a construct of death that just lingers the whole movie, often times just giving a faint whistle in the background that makes the hair on your arms crawl. It’s a kids movie, but I love when movies like that really flesh into an aspect of movie production so intensely that anyone can appreciate it.

  • @TheOther644
    @TheOther6449 ай бұрын

    Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett Alien is a fantastic movie, and Ridley Scott did a great job directing. H. R. Giger creature design and such was awesome. James Cameron's Aliens took O'Bannon and Shusett's Alien universe to another level. Two of the best movies out of the whole franchise.

  • @MM-pl5ed
    @MM-pl5ed10 ай бұрын

    we remember feelling powerless right after the leader Dallas disappeared while watching in the cinema

  • @12thDecember
    @12thDecember3 ай бұрын

    Alien is the only horror film I've ever watched, a phenomenal masterpiece of character development and suspense. That chest-burst scene was pure genius.

  • @robbingcars9140
    @robbingcars914013 күн бұрын

    “Nothing happens for 45 minutes” “LORE HAPPENS”

  • @matthewcrome5835
    @matthewcrome5835Ай бұрын

    Great video essay! I actually just saw this in theaters for its re-release! It's also important to note that the slasher film trope in horror (of the villain killing off the group of people one by one) had literally just been introduced (Halloween came out in 1978), and Alien probably inspired a lot of later horror movies with the "final girl" trope. Also Sigourney Weaver was such an unknown actress at the time that no one expected her to be the true main character. Also, Bravo released a documentary about 20 years ago detailing what they thought were the 100 top scary moments in horror (in their opinion). #1 was the first scene from Jaws, #2 was "the scene" from Alien, and #3 was "the scene" in Misery. IMO Alien and Misery should have been #1 and #2 respectively, the Jaws scene is not very scary and the former two scenes have scarred me for life. Alien's famous scene IS definitively the scariest scene ever put to film.

  • @carpballet
    @carpballet3 ай бұрын

    I’ve always said that “Alien” was a great great movie. (Not just in the horror or sci-fi genre) The art department (sets) are absolutely brilliant.

  • @shimadabr
    @shimadabrАй бұрын

    In hindsight, this movie was a great foundation for a franchise. The audience barely knows about the monster and it barely showed on screen, the only thing they experienced was the sheer tension and horror it caused.

  • @AmonAboooat
    @AmonAboooat10 ай бұрын

    Offtopic: You're giving me/us a continuation of "Every frame a painting" and similar channels that stopped uploading long ago. I absolutely love your content and I hope you grow and dive down into more fantastic topics about cinema and film in general.

  • @justyarn9939
    @justyarn993910 ай бұрын

    This is super underrated content!

  • @BookMunee
    @BookMunee2 ай бұрын

    For me, Alien 1979 final cut will always be an amazing return to the series whenever I pick up new content on the lore. After watching Prometheus for the first time I came back to this movie with a fresh perspective and it instantly felt like a chilling callback to that classic horror/unknown feeling. To actually have some insight that suggests the already old movie was actually a baby compared to it's parents lore was insane. To get that juicy scene of the Engineer sitting behind it's unfathomable technology and having no clue just how long it was actually there for, who they were, or for why, until literally several decades after the original film released was just a perfectly engineered formula for success. Only a Ridley Scott film can pull that off for me.

  • @jellophant9716

    @jellophant9716

    2 ай бұрын

    Fans complain about Prometheus, but I loved it and it fits perfectly within the Alien films. Any complaints about it could also be applied to the first Alien movie I think.

  • @jringo45acp
    @jringo45acp3 ай бұрын

    I had no idea this was Ridley's second movie. Really his first major one. I thought he had been a seasoned director when he made this. It's a masterpiece.

  • @anhnhvn

    @anhnhvn

    Ай бұрын

    What's also amazing is that the studio didn't meddle with his vision.

  • @VeganSpaceScientist
    @VeganSpaceScientist5 күн бұрын

    I saw Alien as a child and it left me scarred for a decade. Like, 'afraid of the dark and chest pains' scarred.

  • @gritcrit4385
    @gritcrit438527 күн бұрын

    That first alien reveal of Signs (2002) was truly horrifying than any monster I had ever seen. I think it has something to do with being similar enough to us while being different enough than us.

  • @gritcrit4385

    @gritcrit4385

    16 күн бұрын

    On a second thought, it might have been scariest for me because it was believable

  • @bruhism173
    @bruhism1738 ай бұрын

    Amnesia the bunker really makes a good game of both, you can hear and sometimes see the monster I'm the tunnels it's made and if you do too much noise, it comes out of it's hole to hunt you.

  • @kietphan3727
    @kietphan372710 ай бұрын

    is it you SkillUp? glad you're also producing great film videos 😊

  • @thearcanamodernau8130
    @thearcanamodernau81304 күн бұрын

    I am massive fan of SCP horror and analog horror. Looking back I am amazed of how much those genres took from this movie

  • @muaythaifighter_05
    @muaythaifighter_0510 ай бұрын

    This video is very well-made. A Blade Runner: 2049 analysis would be awesome.

  • @Co-Jinn
    @Co-Jinn8 ай бұрын

    Studio: "Look, nothing is happening for 45 mins" ...Classic example of why the studio should have little to no creative control over a film... I mean think of the garbage heap we'd have gotten if they had full reign over it....Take the Justice Leauge as a modern example.

  • @beetroot_chutney
    @beetroot_chutney2 ай бұрын

    Shout out to the actors too. They all did a sublime job. Utterly believable and natural characters.

  • @MrGriff305
    @MrGriff30510 ай бұрын

    The benefit of a movie versus book is that people will be patient through way more establishing scenes because watching is way easier than reading

  • @Beef1188
    @Beef11882 күн бұрын

    You're not afraid of being alone in the dark, you're afraid of NOT being alone in the dark!

  • @fahimir5373
    @fahimir53732 ай бұрын

    I like alien because for a horror movie it was well organized and not everywhere, I mean it was but could map everything in your mind on what's going on and where it might be happening.

  • @xaero76
    @xaero769 ай бұрын

    My Brothers saw this in the movies when it first came out..... they slept with the lights on for quite some time after that...

  • @axepig2066
    @axepig2066Ай бұрын

    Hereditary is a perfect example of this, absolutely terrifying movie, probably one of the scariest horror movies ever, no real jumpscares, it also waits nearly 90 mins before showing the main "monster" of the movie

  • @reallyotis5798
    @reallyotis57989 ай бұрын

    I'd say it's scarier if you can't always see them... but you can hear them... or some other form of that.

  • @themakerstoolbox9688
    @themakerstoolbox96882 ай бұрын

    Its amazing that so many people thought the movie was super bloody and violent. It goes to show you how much good suspense can make the audience imagine what they are not seeing. Its really incredible what tricks you can play on the audience with good directing

  • @VergilArcanis
    @VergilArcanis8 ай бұрын

    When having a crafted story supercedes the effects

  • @LurK69
    @LurK6911 ай бұрын

    Great video mate

  • @KrytonsHead
    @KrytonsHead18 күн бұрын

    Jonsey: you're on your own, bro.

  • @stevehood4263
    @stevehood426310 ай бұрын

    Hey Jack - Mr Scene it! All your videos are good. Please do one on Sean Penn. He cries in almost every movie and I seem to be the only one who's ever noticed it

  • @SceneItReviews

    @SceneItReviews

    10 ай бұрын

    I’ll look into it 👀

  • @monacaravetta
    @monacaravetta2 ай бұрын

    ALIEN is NOT painfully slow. It is a perfectly paced masterpiece. So many that were born after this time period have no attention span.

  • @JACKBOOT12
    @JACKBOOT122 ай бұрын

    The most terrifying thing to come out of Alien is probably the video game it has the best AI I have ever seen the monster actually feels smart

  • @xXOFrannieOXx
    @xXOFrannieOXx2 ай бұрын

    To this day the beeping of the motioncensor still gets to me. It was the movie that got me hooked on horror and it wil always be my favorite.

  • @MicahTheRat10928
    @MicahTheRat10928Ай бұрын

    Its just like when was a massive spider in my room. This thing was a beast! I saw the top of it behind something on the floor, desperately hunted for it but didn't see it again until 2 days later (where I again only caught a glimpse!) Seeing parts of - or hints to - the monster occasionally rather than its full build many times throughout the film evokes fear in films as much so as with pesky spiders who think they own your house!

  • @benjaminweaver8760
    @benjaminweaver87608 ай бұрын

    One of my favourite films of all time.

  • @llxxll
    @llxxll2 ай бұрын

    I saw it as a kid and it changed my whole world...

  • @scarymonsters9130
    @scarymonsters91308 ай бұрын

    Spectacular movie with the classic premise of Chekhov's gun. This movie truly is amazing.

  • @HelloEarthling
    @HelloEarthling10 ай бұрын

    hidden monster is incredible its as close to having a "realistic" cosmic horror even though you know what it is.

  • @BonsaiBurner
    @BonsaiBurner2 күн бұрын

    The guy whose hands go into the belly jaws thing, that is by far the scariest, hands down, case closed.

  • @danielmarlowe7175
    @danielmarlowe71759 ай бұрын

    That which is unseen and unknown commands the greatest fear

  • @Cinestudi0
    @Cinestudi08 ай бұрын

    Imagine your second feature film is a masterpiece and a runner up for the greatest film ever made 🤯

  • @cpuuk
    @cpuuk2 ай бұрын

    What is scary is watching the cat (a predator), watching the alien (predator). Genius idea for that scene.

  • @Jisim33
    @Jisim332 ай бұрын

    hereditary are the same like this. Nothing happens for a good min, but scary and unhinged when you are finding out that the characters does not have a happy ending.

  • @noelv1976
    @noelv197610 ай бұрын

    I would say James Cameron followed the same narrative in Aliens. It was a slow build to introduce the creatures. And even then it wasn't bloody. We didn't get to see all those Marines get slaughtered. And it wasn't gory like the following sequels. So the first two movies are almost similar.

  • @SceneItReviews

    @SceneItReviews

    10 ай бұрын

    Agreed the start is close - POV headcams when they get killed was a great way to hide the xenomorphs/build suspense. But once Ripley drives the ATV in to save them, and the xeno sticks it’s head in the door, it’s a pretty high octane action movie. Heaps of different sets, facehuggers, the pilots get murdered, Newt gets dragged away by one, they get stuck and ambushed in the vents, then the final showdown vs the Queen. Incredibly entertaining (and I probably like Aliens better than Alien tbh), but the first movie is scarier imo. Geeez they’re both miles better than any of the sequels though.

  • @gr0ssotron146
    @gr0ssotron14610 ай бұрын

    Por isso Alien é um dos meus filmes de terror favoritos :)

  • @SkyGemini-od4sb
    @SkyGemini-od4sb2 ай бұрын

    It depends. Alien is a creeper, it doesn't need jump scares. It's also better that the alien was mostly hidden, it was way creepier. But when you have something like the Borg in Star Trek, the terror is when they're up close and personal.

  • @Yxalitis
    @Yxalitis3 ай бұрын

    The next time we see the alien after it burst out of Kane's chest is when it dropped down from the undercarriage and grabbed Brett. We have that awesome scene where Brett turns around, and looks UP at the Alien towering over him.

  • @rubenotero7100
    @rubenotero71003 ай бұрын

    I think a lot of horror movies have a hard time toeing the line between hiding the monster, and the big reveal at the end. I see it fumbled so much.

  • @katathoombz
    @katathoombz2 ай бұрын

    Wait, _Alien_ is next in line in Ridley Scott's filmography after _The Duellist_ ? That's quite a leap :0 Both are excellent. I _highly_ recommend watching _The Duellist._

  • @kmaguire7161
    @kmaguire71613 ай бұрын

    I don't really like horror movies and especially not gory slasher movies but despite not caring for horror Alien and Jaws are two of my all time favorite films. I wish Ridley Scott's overall body of work wasn't so inconsistent though.

  • @SceneItReviews

    @SceneItReviews

    3 ай бұрын

    True, but (a bit like M.Night Shayamalan) it's probably just because he makes soooo many movies. The dude makes 2-3 movies a year, while the other 'auteurs' like PTA, Tarantino, Scorsese etc take upwards of 5 years between movies. Different style and obviously those other directors very rarely miss, but I suppose he just loves making movies, so I can respect it.

  • @aaronarmit4829
    @aaronarmit48293 ай бұрын

    Great Video!

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