Summary

• Alien's chestburster scene remains a disturbing horror standout, even after almost five decades.
• The simplicity of Alien's plot creates a uniquely terrifying experience without complex lore.
• The original movie's intense shock value was never outdone by its sequels, despite attempts to do so.

Even after 45 years, the Alien franchise.

Most horror movies are blunted by age, but the terrifying simplicity of Alien means that the original movie still hits hard almost five decades after its original 1979 release. Alien’s plot is disarmingly straightforward, with a group of gruff space truckers answering a distress call and unwittingly welcoming the titular extraterrestrial on board. However, there’s a reason the franchise reboot Alien: Romulus is set to revisit this simple setup. Without much in the way of complex lore or convoluted backstory, Alien functions as a well-oiled scare machine, and the terror originally began for me with the gruesome fate of John Hurt’s Kane.

Alien's Chestburster Scene Is Still One Of The Most Disturbing Horror Scenes In The Past 50 Years

The Body Horror Sequence Is Uniquely Disturbing

Every time I re-watch it, Alien’s chestburster death is nastier than I . In a movie with a runtime of two hours, it is striking to realize that Kane’s death doesn’t occur until 55 minutes have elapsed. The scene itself is also more dragged out than I always recall, and upon a re-watch, it is striking to see how long the camera lingers on the rest of the crew attempting to treat what seems at first like a fit. Alien’s horrific chestburster scene is unforgettably nasty, but what makes Kane’s death so shocking is the movie’s reserved tone until this point.

Alien presents a full hour of leisurely paced time with the crew of the Nostromo, and although Ian Holm’s Ash seems suspicious, none of the characters are outright hostile. Instead, the crew seems like everyday working stiffs, and the odds of them encountering anything interesting in the depths of space appear to be minimal. Kane’s death opens the world of Alien into a world of nightmarish horror, paying off the patient setup and quiet discomfort of the preceding scenes. I've always found it uniquely terrifying precisely because the moment invades what seems like a normal, and not particularly interesting, workplace.

How 1979's Alien Truly Set The Tone For The Sci-Fi Horror Franchise

None Of Alien’s Sequels Or Spinoffs Outdid The Original Movie

The brutal ingenuity of the Xenomorph’s first on-screen appearance was never outdone, even as later sequels relied on increasingly elaborate attempts to beat its shock value.

When I look back on the Alien franchise’s prequels and sequels, it is hard not to feel like these follow-ups missed out on the tone that the original movie set for the series. James Cameron’s Aliens offered a more action-forward spin on Alien’s story but lacked the claustrophobic horror of Ridley Scott’s original. Even David Fincher’s relentlessly bleak Alien 3 couldn’t replicate the intensity of the Nostromo’s encounter with the Xenomorph. The brutal ingenuity of the Xenomorph’s first on-screen appearance was never outdone in my eyes, even as later sequels relied on increasingly elaborate attempts to beat its shock value.

I cringed when Alien Vs Predator: Requiem opened with a father and son falling victim to facehuggers, but not for the reason the filmmakers hoped. This transparent shot at upstaging the original movie’s most chilling moment was gross without being scary, much like the movie’s equally ill-considered maternity ward sequence. Even though Scott’s own Alien prequels didn’t share this obsession with one-upping the original movie's gore, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant were guilty of trying to reinvent the wheel when it came to their villains. David’s experimental Neomorphs never recaptured the visceral horror of Kane’s parasitic Xenomorph introducing itself to the crew.

Alien's BTS Details Make The Chestburster Scene Even More Horrifying

Alien’s Chestburster Scene Was A Surprise To The Actors Too

The stars weren’t warned about how much blood would be involved in the scene, resulting in Veronica Cartwright suffering an unfortunate reaction during shooting.

According to Empire’s oral history of the scene, the cast of Alien was just as surprised by Kane’s fate as viewers were. Since Scott wanted what he called a “hardcore reaction,” the director kept details of the chestbuster scene’s setup minimal for the cast. Star Yaphet Kotto itted that the cast was all left wondering, “What the hell was going on?” when they encountered the crew wearing plastic shields while preparing to shoot Kane’s death scene. The stars weren’t warned about how much blood would be involved in the scene, resulting in Veronica Cartwright suffering an unfortunate reaction during shooting.

Producer Roland Shussett recalled that Cartwright “ed out” when, as screenwriter Dan O’Bannon put it, “this jet of blood, about three feet long, caught her.” Cartwright herself confirmed the anecdote, calling it a “a visceral thing” and confirmed that every actor’s reaction to the scene was “totally real.” Scott’s risky gambit of keeping the cast in the dark paid off perfectly in my opinion, resulting in a moment that still feels just as intense 45 years later. I it special effects have come a long way since Scott’s 1979 movie, but Alien’s chestburster scene still packs as intense a punch as ever.

Source: Empire