The first few minutes of Ridley Scott’s Alien set the tone for the rest of the film seamlessly. Ominous music echoes in the background, the title appears line by line as they connect to make the letters, and the scene pans slowly through space. There’s no doubt in my mind that Scott’s intentional leisured pace for much of the film was set in place in order to make the audience feel anything but. By the end of the film, both critics and viewers are eager to dissect the brilliance behind the classic 1989 science-fiction thriller.

One critic to bring up the heart-stopping effect of suspense is Roger Ebert, citing the comparison between modern horror films and Alien. Ebert writes, “Today’s slasher movies, in the sci-fi genre and elsewhere, are all pay-off and no buildup…It isn’t the slashing that we enjoy. It’s the waiting for the slashing,” which is nothing short of true for this film in particular. The creature does a horrifyingly good job at sneaking around the ship throughout the entire film, luring the viewers to pull closer to the screen every time each crew member seeks solution and unfortunately meets their fate.

Although much of the horror behind the film can be attributed to the director’s wise use of time, Scott also pays respect to the alien itself and the effect it leaves on first-time viewers. In an interview with Elizabeth Weitzman of Interview Magazine, director Ridley Scott is cited saying “The key to the first one was that the beast was so unique, it was heart-stopping.” Another factor behind the infamous extra-terrestrial is its mysterious nature altogether, Ebert once again writing “Alien” uses a tricky device to keep the alien fresh throughout the movie: It evolves the nature and appearance of the creature, so we never know quite what it looks like or what it can do.” The element of the unknown is just a minor detail that gives the movie an incredible strike.

Since Scott used much of his efforts to slow down the film in order to build suspense, the role of the protagonist is not yet made clear until it nearly comes to a close. Unsurprisingly, it’s Sigourney Weaver’s character Ripley who happens to luckily survive the attack of the beast. Due to her heroic character and other female aspects of the film, critics were quick to jump on the topic of feminism, especially in a time when it had been slowly emerging and growing since the seventies. For starters, the hub of the entire ship is labelled “Mother.” Many speculate the reasons behind Scott’s choice for this, although I, however, like to think of it as a depiction of power and control women have over both grave and common-day situations. One theme brought up is Mother’s representation of both life and death. Since much of the deaths take place in the ship itself, author Barbara Creed writes “Mother is an omnipresent archaic force linked to death…” however, taking into consideration that the ship is also where the alien was born she brings it back by not only writing about Mother’s hauntingly mysterious nature, but her giving and absorption of life altogether.

“It is the notion of the fecund mother-as-abyss that is central to Alien; it is the abyss, the cannibalizing black hole from which all life comes and to which all life returns that is represented in the the film as a source of deepest terror.”

Rogert Ebert Brings it back to Weaver “whose career would be linked for years to this strange creature, is of course the only survivor of this original crew, except for the … cat. The producers must have hoped for a sequel, and by killing everyone except a woman, they cast their lot with a female lead for their series.” For this reason, I find Ridley Scott to be particularly respectful and badass for paying such homage to Mothers everywhere.

“Certainly the character of Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, would have appealed to readers in the Golden Age of Science Fiction. She has little interest in the romance of finding the alien”