Alien

Ridley Scott turns a B-movie script, with an admittedly impressive gimmick of alien gestation within a human host, into an absolutely terrifying and visually stunning film. Also great alien design by H.R. Giger.

The tone of this film is immaculate. It is dirty, grimy, industrial-looking, but, most importantly, it is lonely. The alien is terrifying enough, but Scott, oh so subtly, gives the notion that these people are completely alone and nowhere near any help. The echos and shadows make the ship like nothing I have seen before in film. A true leader in the genre.

Horror at it's finest. If I could forget any movie and see it on the big screen with a fresh mind, this would be it. Genius.

I've seen this 5 or 6 times (or more) and it's still tense enough to get me biting my nails. I love the atmosphere created by the Giger designs and the dark, dripping, techno-industrial sets. I think it's a wonderfully constructed plot with perfect casting. First rate sci-fi/horror.

A Lovecraftian nightmare in space, Alien is the ultimate monster movie, H.R. Giger's design aesthetic lending itself well to the sublimation of psychosexual horror wrapped up tidily in a slasher film with dystopian post-Star Wars sci-fi trappings. Everything about it is iconic.