A film analysis of the 1979 gothic horror film Alien.

1. Film Analysis
By Selina Argyrou

2. 'Alien' was released in 1979 and directed by Ridley Scott. The film
explores the deep fears and desires that are usually repressed in
the subconscious. In the late 1970s and 80s there was a group of
films known as ‘body horror.’ This is because they focused on
anxieties surrounding the human body. The body itself became the
site of horror as its physical form was altered by disease, invasion or
mutilation. Decay, mutation and transformation were seen as horrific
processes. 'Alien' is an early example of this trend. It goes deep into
the human psyche and explores fears about the human body, birth
and sexuality.

3. 'Alien' was made as a gothic horror film set in space and the
design evokes a gothic atmosphere. The film is set aboard
the Nostromo, a spaceship, which is the perfect location for
a horror film because it is a place of absolute isolation – no
one can help you and there is no escape. Also, it forms a
pressurised environment, which creates an intense feeling
of claustrophobia. The tagline for the film was ‘In space, no-
one can hear you scream.’ This line also indicates that the
film is a fusion of the science fiction and horror genres.
'Alien' explores fears associated with birth and sexuality.
Barbara Creed wrote an important essay on the film called
‘Alien and the Monstrous-Feminine.’ The monstrous-
feminine is a psychological idea generated by male
anxieties about the female body and sexuality. Creed
argues that Alien shows the maternal body as horrifying and
monstrous. In particular, she says that the film repeatedly
shows the scene of birth or origin.

4. There are three representations of birth in the film. The first is the scene is at the
beginning of the film, when the crew are being awakened from hyper-sleep by the
ships onboard computer called "Mother." The hyper-sleep vault is a womb-like
space but it is thoroughly clean and sanitised. This suggests the idea of future
births being managed by technology. It is controlled, clean and painless. They are
told by Mother that the reason they were awakened was to investigate a distress
beacon of unknown origin on a nearby planetoid. This however, is not entirely
true. Mother and Ash, the two non-human members of the crew were given
special instructions by the company that owns the Nostromoto obtain a specimen
of the alien. All other objectives are secondary, which means that the crews life
are of no consequence and most of them in fact, will die.

5. The second birth scene is when the crew
discover the alien. The crew find the derelict
craft that was sending out a distress beacon.
The crew enter through vaginal
portals, implying that they are inside the
womb. The interior is a huge, empty space
and it is dark, dank and humid. Like a
womb, it supports the creation of life
because it’s full of alien eggs. Kane’s
investigation of one of the eggs causes one
of them to hatch, and a creature to jump out
and latch onto his face. The alien looks like
an insect, but it also has skeletal human
hands. Some critics have argued that the
alien looks like a placenta with an umbilical
cord. Kane is brought back aboard the
ship, and examined. The crew determines
he is still alive, and is being fed oxygen from
the creature. A short time later, the creatures
detaches itself from Kane and dies.

6. Kane’s death scene is the third representation of birth. The alien erupts
out of his chest resembling a horrific birth. Kane has been forcibly
impregnated by the alien which eventually rips itself from the male
'womb' in a horrific scene of blood and gore. The fluids, the way the alien
emerges, and Kane’s reactions all are similar to what happens during
birth. The alien even cries out, the way a newborn does to take its first
breath of air. There is also another cycle of birth and death. Kane is kept
alive completely by another organism (like a child in the womb), until the
creature feeding him oxygen dies. Kane is then reborn, only to die a short
time later when he gives birth. The scene is a grotesque contrast to the
clean birth of the opening sequence. It is violent, scary and disgustingly
organic.

7. Later on in the movie, Ripley plans to
destroy the Nostromo in order to kill the
alien. She will escape on a shuttle that
launches from the Nostromo. The shuttle
launch is another kind of birth, and is
followed by the destruction of the
Nostromo. Ripley is the only 'mother' to
survive. She does not have children, but
she has a cat named Jones who was born
when Ripley opened the box and the cat
jumped out, similar to how the alien ran
away after it is born. This could explain
why Ripley goes back for the cat even
though she has so little time.

8. In the final scene, the metaphor of birth is shown again with this time the
child dying instead of the mother. The alien is revealed to be hiding on
the shuttle as Ripley escapes. When Ripley sees the alien is on the
ship, she runs into a storage locker containing a space suit. She puts it
on, then moves back into the control room and opens the hatch of the
shuttle, letting all of the air out. The alien is thrown towards the
hatch, but grabs onto the walls. Ripley shoots the alien with a harpoon
and blasts him out into space. The hatch closes, and the alien is left
floating in space, still attached to the ship by the harpoon’s cord.
Finally, the cord is broken, and the alien floats away.
This shows Ripley (or the ship) giving birth to the alien in order to kill it.
This is the only time in the film we see the metaphorical child dying after
birth. The harpoon cord resembles the umbilical cord which keeps the
alien attached to the ship after its born but is then cut later.

9. Overall, every mother in
this film including the
ship, Kane or alien dies
shortly after giving birth.
The only mother who
gives birth and survives
is the only
women, someone who
can be a true mother.
This movie shows how
women can be strong
action heroes that can
measure up to their male
counterparts but can
also still have the
nurturing qualities of a
mother. This was a
powerful message to
send, especially in 1979.By Selina Argyrou