Alien (1979)

Come on, say the tagline.

You know you want to.

And rightfully so, by the way. Not only is this still a masterpiece that holds up incredibly well a whopping 40 years after its inception, it keeps on being brilliant upon repeated viewings. You can't fault anything about this one. I dare you.

Naturally, nowadays we all know about the xenomorphs and they are so popular they've even become vinyl figurines for the kids. Of course, a decline in films featuring these creations has not helped all that much in keeping the fear instilled, but hey. This one is the real McCoy, the one that still scares the heebiejeebies out of hapless watchers.

A group of workers en route back to Earth are awakened to investigate a signal, one of them gets an alien on his face, he's brought back to the ship and the real horror ensues. Concerning the story, the makers knew this was fairly by the numbers. Heck, it can be considered a sort of reimagining of many a classic B-film, only done with a decent budget and a great cast and director. You see, sometimes more money can make all the difference in the world.

Except maybe when it comes to Uwe Boll. You could give that guy millions and he'd still fuck it up.

The designs are gorgeous. The spaceship is functional and believable and everything looks like it has its place. The alien designs by HR Giger are mouthwateringly astounding and for the time, they were truly unique. Let's be honest: every filmmonster since 'Alien' owes its fair share to this one. Even if it is a walking penis with legs.

A solid cast also does the right thing, and the dynamics between them are sincere and believable. And even though we all know now that Sigourney Weaver is the heroine, this does not shine through when watching the film at first. In fact, her surviving the ordeal is a great subversive move and shifted expectations to what can be done in a scary story.

The greatest thing perhaps about this one is the way it builds tension. Sure, it moves rather slowly at first, but you feel an unease that keeps on growing as the story progresses and it doesn't let go until the credits roll, also thanks to a great minimalistic score that underpins the creepy feeling that something is very, very wrong in the state of Denmark. Or on the Nostromo, in this case.

Is this quite possibly the best science fiction thriller out there?

Well... yes. The odds are in its favour.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty..."