Alien (1979)

Theatrical release poster for Alien

Alien (1979)

Director: Ridley Scott

Plot Summary

The commercial vessel Nostromo receives a distress call from an unexplored planet. After searching for survivors, the crew heads home only to reaize that a deadly bioform has joined them.

Male Deaths:

• Ian Holm (Ash)
• John Hurt (Thomas Kane)
• Yaphet Kotto (Dennis Parker)
• Tom Skerritt (Captain Arthur Dallas)
• Harry Dean Stanton (Samuel Brett)

Female Death:

• Veronica Cartwright (Joan Lambert)

Trivia

1. Shredded condoms were used to create tendons of the beast's ferocious jaws.
2. The chestbursting scene was filmed in one take with four cameras.
3. According to Yaphet Kotto, Ridley Scott told him to annoy Sigourney Weaver off-camera, so that there would be tension between their characters. Kotto regrets this, because he really liked Weaver.
4. Ridley Scott cites three films as the shaping influences on his movie: Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) for their depiction of outer space, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) for its treatment of horror.
5. The rumor that the cast, except for Sir John Hurt, did not know what would happen during the chestburster scene is partly true. The scene was fairly clear from the script, but they did not know specifics. For instance, Veronica Cartwright did not expect to be sprayed with blood. Sigourney Weaver said that they knew that something dramatic was about to happen because when they got to the set the crew were wearing raincoats.
6. For the chestburster sequence, Sir John Hurt stuck his head, shoulders and arms through a hole in the mess table, linking up with a mechanical torso that was packed with compressed air (to create the forceful exit of the alien) and lots of animal guts. The rest of the cast were not told that real guts were being used, so as to provoke genuine reactions of shock and disgust.

Gallery

John Hurt

Ian Holm

Yaphet Kotto