“Mi sono sentito a disagio riguardo a ciò”: Ridley Scott ricorda le reazioni alle prime proiezioni di Alien 44 anni dopo

Summary

• Director Ridley Scott recalls the extreme reactions to his movie Alien, feeling uneasy about viewers fainting.
• Alien remains a study in horror, with modern graphics and repetition unable to remove its genuine terror, and it is the reason behind those early reactions.
• Alien’s success can be attributed to relatable characters, realistic dialogue, and the use of tension to create fear.

Why Alien Produced Such Potent Reactions

44 years after it was first released, Alien remains a study in horror. Modern graphics and repetition of themes in other movies have done nothing to remove the genuine terror of watching an alien tear through Kane’s chest almost entirely unprompted. There’s a reason that the franchise includes so many follow-up movies, including the upcoming Alien: Romulus, and it all traces back to those early reactions.

Instead of including absurd characters bumbling their way through a night with a serial killer, Ridley Scott took another route to depict horror. He featured realistic and blue-collar characters who would regularly have conversations, tell jokes, and live day-to-day lives entirely as if the situation was normal. It made them feel like real people, which helped make them both relatable and sympathetic. That way, when the horror truly started, audiences have an opportunity to truly feel for the characters in a genuine way.

Like Jaws, the monster is also rarely actually seen, leaving a tense atmosphere with little pay-off between scenes. It makes its every appearance more terrifying, and that leaves the characters on edge as they try to uncover their horrific reality. While Ridley Scott may not have enjoyed those early reactions to his movie, Alien was tailor-made to bring abject fear to its audience.

Source: LA Times