# Do you think Alien is scary?



## Water Bob (Nov 3, 2013)

I'm watching this documentary on the making of the four Alien films, and of the first one, they keep going on and on about how it was such a scary movie.

Did you ever think it was scary?

I've always looked at like a monster film. Godzilla never scared me, and never did the Alien. One review of the film back in 1979 compared it to The Exorcist.

Now, The Exorcist is a damn scary film. It scares the heebee jeebees out of me.

But Alien?

No way. Not even a goosebump.

Am I alone?
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## jonesy (Nov 3, 2013)

I thought it was mindblowingly frightening. But I was something like five or six when I saw it. I think it might have been the first scary movie I ever saw.

That part where one of them goes into the ventilation tunnel (or whatever that was) to look for it and you see the adult alien strike is great.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 3, 2013)

_Alien_ came out in 1978- coincidentally, the same weekend as _Halloween_- and I was 11.  I didn't see it in theaters, by I saw it as soon as I could.

I *SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO* wanted the action figure.  Only $25 dollars a the PX.  Biput I kept having visions of itin my room at night, in the dark.  I couldn't tell my parents to buy it. Too scared.

There was just something about it that set it apart from other movie monstersfor me.  I think it was the realism of it compared to creatures like Godzilla, the Wolfman, and the rest.


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## Kramodlog (Nov 3, 2013)

There are moments of tension. Can't say I saw a film that was scary since I was a teen though.


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## Man in the Funny Hat (Nov 3, 2013)

At the time it was released, yeah.  It was insanely intense and terrifying.  It was not like a classic so-called "horror" film.  It got you invested in sympathetic characters and used its claustrophobic setting to maximum effect.  And it had blood and guts.  Not at all the same thing as Bela Lugosi and "I vant to dreenk your bloood!"

In the last 30+ years everything that made it so scary has be re-used and badly done and OVERdone.  You can get the blood and guts on network TV now.  Its iconic scenes are now practically comedy punchlines by comparison since even Mel Brooks spoofed it on screen.

When it first came out I went to see it with a friend who'd _already _seen it.  HE spent the movie watching through his fingers.  It was far and away more intense than anything I'd seen up to that point (next closest was probably Jaws, and no comparison) and I had to insist that he start warning me when the real scary parts were coming up.  If I went to see it now for the first time having been very well inured to all of its techniques, yeah I'd say that it had a couple good "gotcha" moments but I would have likely wanted more action.


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## Deset Gled (Nov 3, 2013)

Different types of movies scare different people.  Personally, I found almost nothing scary about the Exorcist, but I can see how it could be.  I found Aliens to be much scarier than Alien, but I also saw Aliens first.

As an avid horror and sci-fi fan, I absolutely love Alien (and Aliens and Alien Resurrection and Prometheus, and I tolerate Alien 3 and AvP).  Even thought it's been a really long time since I was truly scared by a movie, H.R. Giger's artwork in Alien still brings out an emotional reaction.  Not fear, but a weird and wonderful combination of awe, beauty, and attraction, combined with utter grotesqueness and repulsion.


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## Crothian (Nov 3, 2013)

Ya, it was scary. The horror genre of the 70's was pretty different then what we see now. It wasn't just the alien but the setting and the characters that really sold the tension. It does depend on when you see it. I would not have found it nearly as scarey watching it today after seeing many other horror movies that have copied so much from it.


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## Morrus (Nov 3, 2013)

At the time, yes.  Not now (whether it's because I've seen it so many times, because I'm older, because standards for 'scary' have changed over the years etc). I still view it as a very well made sci-fi movie.


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## Jet Shield (Nov 3, 2013)

A lot about what made the movie (at the time) scary/suspenseful has been lost through sheer exposure. These days everyone knows what the alien looks like and what it's capable of, at least more-or-less. Even people who have never seen the movies recognize the alien when they see it. When the movie released, that wasn't the case.

While filming, the alien was a guy in a rubber suit. In order to keep it from _looking_ like a guy in a rubber suit, they intentionally kept most of it in shadow. The audience had to use their own imagination to fill in most of what the creature looked like. That was a masterful technique for building the terror/suspence factor. People, when their imagination is allowed (or forced) to run wild, are very good at inventing horrifying details to frighten themselves. Just knowing what the alien looks like in advance is enough to move the movie from the "terrifying" column to the "meh" column, because your own imagination isn't in overdrive trying to fill in the blanks.


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## ShinHakkaider (Nov 3, 2013)

I was around 11 when I saw Alien in a theatrical re-release I think. 
It's all well and good to see a movie after the fact, after it's been around for years, decades even and declare that it's not this or that. 

It's another to see it at the time of release or close to the release when there were no easily accessed documentaries or the Internet. 

Im someone that really believe that movies, that film needs to be EXPERIENCED. Not through proxy but you should go in as cold as possible. No hype, no spoilers. 

When I saw Alien in grade school I only had a few friends and their parents tell me how terrifiying it was and that made me want to see it. When I saw it, well I can tell you that to this day one of the only movie monsters that scares the dogsh*t out of me is the original Xenomorph from ALIEN. 

Alot of it is the way the Scott builds from a place of normalcy and routine with these working class stiffs to dread to outright horror. For me the true mark of a horror film is the point where the audience realizes that the protagonists are well and truly screwed before the protagonists do. For me that point is after the sequence with Dallas and the vents. That coupled with's Ash's revelation and his final words to the others always haunts me no matter how many times that I've seen this movie. and I've seen it PLENTY. 

ALIEN is still effing terrifying to me because it's a solid movie with a great cast with characters who are put in a truly horrible situation with no real way out. They are dealing with something that is beyond them in every possible way. 

I'll also point out that the Xenomorph is a miracle of modern monster design. It's alternate bipedal / Quardraped form is alternatively familiar yet not. The pure invasiveness of it's form ( the prehensile tail, the second inner mouth, the idea that the facehugger basically mouth rapes you) and the fact that it's first victim is male and is effectively face raped and impregnated doesn't help. Yeah this movie hits you in all the right bad touch places if you think about it for more than half a minute.


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## Janx (Nov 3, 2013)

yup. Alien was a well executed scary sci-fi movie.  Especially for its time.


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## SkidAce (Nov 3, 2013)

Man in the Funny Hat said:


> At the time it was released, yeah.  It was insanely intense and terrifying.  It was not like a classic so-called "horror" film.  It got you invested in sympathetic characters and used its claustrophobic setting to maximum effect.  And it had blood and guts.  Not at all the same thing as Bela Lugosi and "I vant to dreenk your bloood!"
> 
> In the last 30+ years everything that made it so scary has be re-used and badly done and OVERdone.  You can get the blood and guts on network TV now.  Its iconic scenes are now practically comedy punchlines by comparison since even Mel Brooks spoofed it on screen.
> 
> When it first came out I went to see it with a friend who'd _already _seen it.  HE spent the movie watching through his fingers.  It was far and away more intense than anything I'd seen up to that point (next closest was probably Jaws, and no comparison) and I had to insist that he start warning me when the real scary parts were coming up.  If I went to see it now for the first time having been very well inured to all of its techniques, yeah I'd say that it had a couple good "gotcha" moments but I would have likely wanted more action.




This sums it up perfectly.  Thanks for saving me the typing.


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## sabrinathecat (Nov 3, 2013)

The first time I watched it, no, but I was distracted.
Sat down and watched it properly, and let myself get into it, and yes, it was a nice, tension rush.

Exorcist? Pfffft. Don't know what people were going on about there. But maybe if that topic is something you believe in... (That's as much as I'm going to say for fear of the wrath of Mods)


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## Homicidal_Squirrel (Nov 3, 2013)

The first one of the movies in the series that I saw was Aliens. I was seven when I saw it, and there were parts that were pretty intense, but not really scary. By the time I found out there was a part one, I was in my teens. I saw it, and it was a very cool movie, but not scary. Then I saw the rest of the Aliens movies and I was frightened by how anyone could have green lit that terrible garbage.


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## MarkB (Nov 4, 2013)

Yeah, when I first saw the movie in my early teens it was definitely scary. I recall having a recurring dream for a couple of weeks afterwards where I imagined waking up in bed and just seeing the creature's clawed fingers wrapping over the top of the open door at the foot of my bed. Less is more even in nightmares, I guess.


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## delericho (Nov 4, 2013)

Yeah, "Alien" is a fine horror movie, both in true 'horror' terms, and also in terms of 'fear' - notably that scene in the ventilation system.

"The Exorcism", by contrast, never raised more than a 'meh' from me. Probably because I was just too old and too jaded when I first saw it.


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## Jhaelen (Nov 4, 2013)

Deset Gled said:


> I found Aliens to be much scarier than Alien, but I also saw Aliens first.



I still think Alien is a scary movie. I particularly love the last scene in the escape pod. Aliens, though, I didn't find scary at all. It's just an action flick with hordes of beasties fighting a bunch of space marines. It's still well-executed and definitely one of the better action movies, but scary it is not.


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## Hand of Evil (Nov 4, 2013)

It freaked me out, it was the atmosphere and the tension.  The monster kept changing and that built suspense.


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## Mallus (Nov 4, 2013)

Yes.

I first saw it on HBO when I was around 11 or 12. It qualified as terrifying. One of the best, if not the best, SF horror films ever made.

_Aliens_ is interesting -- it's not the same genre as its predecessor. It's really a Vietnam/war movie about a squad with a green CO and a tough, seasoned sergeant fighting a guerrilla enemy. It's a great, tense, action movie, but it changes the underlying metaphor.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 4, 2013)

I think Jhalen's observation is spot on: the first sequel, while enjoyable, is not truly a horror flick.   Rather, it's an action film that happens to be set in the same universe as _Alien_.


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## Bedrockgames (Nov 4, 2013)

Personally i found Alien and Aliens both scary in their own way. The original was more of a classic horror kind of fear. But both really creeped me out. If you didn't find the original scary, then you didn't find it scary. But the general feeling i get is people thought it was a frightening film.


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## Bedrockgames (Nov 4, 2013)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> I think Jhalen's observation is spot on: the first sequel, while enjoyable, is not truly a horror flick.   Rather, it's an action film that happens to be set in the same universe as _Alien_.




I think aliens was more survival horror, which if i am being honest, i found more scary than the first (though i think the first was a better horror movie if that makes sense).


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## Jester David (Nov 4, 2013)

The first _Alien _is incredibly scary. Especially if you walk into it blind. 

They spent the first quarter of the movie just establishing the characters. Unless you know Ripley lives it's really a situation where anyone could live or die. There's a lot of creepiness and isolation. Something bad happens to one of the characters then everything's okay. But then, twist, it's really not. They have no weapons, there's nowhere to escape to, and no help is coming. Oh, and the xenomorph is not the only problem. 

One of the best things about having children is being able to introduce them to cinema like this. _Alien _is one of those movies I'm excited to watch with my son in like eight or nine years when it won't traumatize him for life.


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## billd91 (Nov 4, 2013)

Jester Canuck said:


> One of the best things about having children is being able to introduce them to cinema like this. _Alien _is one of those movies I'm excited to watch with my son in like eight or nine years when it won't traumatize him for life.




My son is 9 but I'm going to wait a little bit longer before I introduce *Alien* or *Aliens* to him.


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## Jester David (Nov 4, 2013)

billd91 said:


> My son is 9 but I'm going to wait a little bit longer before I introduce *Alien* or *Aliens* to him.



Depends on the child. I'm thinking 12 would be fine as a mean age. But some might be able to handle it at 10 and others might need to be 14. (My own son is 3.)

The bigger question is when to introduce them to Star Wars. Heck, you could have an entire thread about what age to introduce geekspawn to classic movies (and the order), and when to make the transition from cartoons to live action.


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## Jet Shield (Nov 4, 2013)

My youngest girl first watched Alien and Aliens with me at age 6. Of course, she was also the only girl-child at the time that I knew of who thought zombies were cooler than... well... just about anything.



I have strange children. I wonder what that says about me.


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## jonesy (Nov 4, 2013)

What scares someone is so based on personality and/or personal experience that any age guidelines end up being rough sketches.

The scariest thing for me in movies was Vigo the painting from Ghostbusters 2. Not the guy when he came out of it, but when he was in it.

The scariest thing I have ever seen on screen was Bob in Twin Peaks.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 4, 2013)

The kid-eating tree in _Poltergeist_- for my money, one of the scariest PG movies ever.


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