Few films have this much attention to detail in regard to the Set Design. Everything looks functional, intricate, a bit worn. It’s a set that holds up to the scrutiny of long, lingering close-ups. Stylish in the best possible way. It’s not an insult to say the story is a typical B-movie haunted house, but the craft is so above and beyond most films that it enthralls in the way today’s films are too anxious to attempt. The skeleton creature from the foreign ship is one of the most tantalizing images in cinema, and the scene where they track the acid as it eats through the ship carries a Spielbergian joy of wonderment, only with a frightening undertone.
Because the ship and the planet are just damn gorgeous from every angle, the shots can hold while you take in their beauty. Now that you’re no longer tense, the jolts have a much greater impact. One of the great, lasting qualities of Alien is just because you know what’s coming, it doesn’t make the film any less suspenseful. Every appearance by the Alien is absolutely frightening, and it’s entrance remains one of the all time great moments.
This is an easy choice for the day I would want to be on Set. Like the shower in Psycho, the chest-burst has built up its own legend around how Scott filmed it and how little the actors were prepared for the practical effects and blood splatter.
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