History NightmareFuel / Alien

** Fun Fact: Some insects kill their prey in a similar manner.

* The eeriely calm crashed ship of ''Alien'' was always creepy. Watching it again, knowing all the disturbing things that went on there in ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'' (or at least in a ship like it) lends the scene a whole new layer of creepiness.

** Then there's the sequel, which is just after the Marines flip out at the chestburster. We see shots of the walls, with the alien goop material all over the place. Not too scary right? That's until entire sections of the wall start ''moving'' revealing dozens of fully grown Xenomorphs ''everywhere''! It then brings up the question as to whether the Aliens were sleeping after bringing all the humans here...or were ''waiting'' for the Marines.
* Just Bolaji Badejo moves around in the unedited test footage is very creepy. For that, we give him credit.
* ''Film/{{Alien}}'' features the famous John Hurt chestburster sequence, which (when shooting was taking place) wasn't told to most of the cast before the scene was shot (the look of horror on Veronica Cartwright's face as she's sprayed by a jet of blood is genuine). The final fate of [[spoiler:Dallas and Brett]] (in the Director's Cut) is just as frightening. ''You can also see the human skull that the alien's head is based around''. What's even creepier is that it's reproduced in the xenomorph's appearance at the Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
*** The absolute ''worst'' part, which is a lot more obvious in the extended cut, is that Kain doesn't immediately die once the Chestburster emerges. He's still moving and twitching even after its run off.
** It's not even fake blood in the chestburter scene, it was sheep's blood. In fact, lots of the creature effects -- the eggs, for example -- in this film used animal organs for added realism.
** Technically, the cast was made aware of the alien finally being shown to them in that scene, but nobody aside from Hurt was told ''how''. Apparently, Cartwright passed out during the scene after getting the blood in her face, and Yaphet Kotto (who played Parker) ran to his room afterward and refused to talk to anybody. It's made worse when you consider the cast didn't get ''too'' suspicious before filming the scene- after noticing ''everyone else on the set was wearing a raincoat''.

** For extra fun, go watch ''Alien'' ''while pregnant''.

*** Second, the aforementioned scene of Brett searching for Jonesy and unknowingly being stalked from the ceiling by the alien the entire time. The tension reaches insane levels by the end.
*** Third, Dallas in the air vents, featuring one of the biggest JumpScare moments in film history. Dallas appears to have climbed down a ladder to safety from the approaching alien, only to turn around and find the alien ''right in front of him'', screeching and reaching out for him.

* For some reason the Aliens never managed to stick with a specific sound effect for their squeals and screeches throughout the movies, but the voice they were given in the second movie was the scariest. There's one scene once the Xenomorphs attack the Colonial Marines for the first time, there's a shot where we see Hicks shooting his shotgun at something offscreen, and one of the most recognizable bits of the Xenomorphs vocal arsenal screeches out for the first time... And apparently it was so scary it was reused in the various Aliens Vs Predator games and was remastered for the second AVP movie.

* Ellen Ripley herself......Before and After she was cloned. Feared by both Aliens and some humans.

* In ''Aliens vs. Predator'', there's a scene with two men trapped by the Predators. One is freaking out, until the other asks him if he has any kids. He replies that he has a son, and his companion says something along the lines of "We'll survive, keep thinking of your boy!" Thirty seconds later... [[spoiler:"AUUUUGHH!" '''*CHOMP*''']]
* What if [[http://news.yahoo.com/zombie-fly-parasite-killing-honeybees-230200867.html there was a real-life organism that mimics the Alien reproduction process?]]

** That it's clear that this entire process has been played out on other planets before and will continue to play out until every Alien is dead... which is going to be very hard considering that Franchise/{{Predator}}s have spread them throughout the galaxy, if not the universe, as yet another prey species of theirs.

* ''{{Alien}}'' features the famous John Hurt chestburster sequence, which (when shooting was taking place) wasn't told to most of the cast before the scene was shot (the look of horror on Veronica Cartwright's face as she's sprayed by a jet of blood is genuine). The final fate of [[spoiler:Dallas and Brett]] (in the Director's Cut) is just as frightening. ''You can also see the human skull that the alien's head is based around''. What's even creepier is that it's reproduced in the xenomorph's appearance at the Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

** The first and probably the best example of this is in the first one, where Ripley has just left the ''Nostromo'' and the Xeno to fry in the ship's explosion. So she relaxes and takes a load off, undressing, making sure the ship's working until...

** The sight of the poor, innocent Alien/Xenomorph being jettisoned into the black, lonely void of deep space certainly unnerved this troper.

** The sight of the poor, innocent Alien/Xenomorph being jettisoned into the black, lonely void of deep space certainly unnerved this troper! Fortunatly now it's just a [[TearJerker]].

** The sight of the poor, innocent Alien/Xenomorph being jettisoned into the black, lonely void of deep space certainly unnerved this troper!

* The thought of extraterrestrial beings that invade your body, through another being that technically ''rapes'' you, then burst out of your stomach when you least expect it.

* Knowing full well that amping up the body horror is the only way to create enough of a thrill to get people back in the theatres for the series, the ''Alien Versus Predator'' sequel ''Requiem'' goes to perhaps the greatest lengths of all the movies to create a terrible mixture of horror, and Squick. A notable choice on part of the director was to set and show [[spoiler:a father and his son out on a casual hunting trip as the first victims]], and while the [[spoiler:birthing scene with the pregnant woman's belly crawling with aliens is bound to inspire some very horrible FridgeLogic]] the true moment of climactic horror is [[spoiler:when the Predalien breaks into the maternity ward, seeks out the pregnant women and [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong forces a proboscis down one's throat, pumping her full of eggs]], the bulges of them traveling down her very much visible to the viewer, while a woman in the bed next to her screams in terror]].

** That the psychic signal is spread by a madman who sees the Aliens as gods
** That this is all simply part of the Aliens' life cycle and has no malice at the core

* The eeriely calm crashed ship of ''Alien'' was always creepy. Watching it again, knowing all the disturbing things that went on there in ''Film/Prometheus'' (or at least in a ship like it) lends the scene a whole new layer of creepiness.

* The eeriely calm crashed ship of Alien was always creepy. Rewatching it again, knowing all the disturbing things that went on there in Prometheus (or at least in a ship like it) lends the scene a whole new layer of creepiness.

** The first and probably the best example of this is in the first one, where Ripley has just left the Nostromo and the Xeno to fry in the ship's explosion. So she relaxes and takes a load off, undressing, making sure the ship's working until...

** [[BlatantLies For extra fun]], be like my mother and go watch Alien ''while pregnant''.
** While the chestburster scene is the most famous, four other scenes are just as, if not more frightening than it:

** Forget that. The scariest moment for me was when the Marines are in the hive and first encounter the aliens. The motion trackers are going crazy, but we can't see anything, Gorman's freaking out, then an alien comes ''out of the goddamn wall'' and grabs Dietrich. *shivers*
*** There's something more subtle about that scene that makes it horrific, too. The entire first hour or so of the movie is spent building up the Colonial Marine Corps as being, as Hudson so eloquently describes it, "the ultimate badasses." They do such a good job that you really start to believe it too, and the fake scares when they first begin investigating the Hadley's Hope colony on LV-426 do a lot to reinforce the subconscious idea that these guys are going to fare a hell of a lot better than the Nostromo's crew did. Then they actually encounter the Xenomorphs and [[CurbStompBattle lose nearly 3/4 of their entire squad in 5 minutes flat.]] The utter effortlessness with which the creatures dispatch what are understood to be humanity's finest warriors serves to strongly underscore just how deadly the titular aliens really are. The CMC were lethal by way of extensive training; the Xenomorphs were lethal by their very nature. And nature won out in a big, bad way. The rest of the HONF comes from the idea that there's a traumatized civilian, an even more traumatized child, a pacifist android, a shell-shocked and unstable soldier, and a naive commander who spends the better part of the film unconscious all being held together by two marines, one of whom is jumpy and short-tempered and the other having no illusions about just how far out of their league they really are. And they're up against potentially THOUSANDS of the creatures that completely gutted their ranks with no rescue in sight. The CorruptCorporateExecutive and the fact that they have about 4 hours before [[EarthShatteringKaboom the entire colony goes up in smoke]] don't exactly help matters, but for every challenge they face, there's the constant reminder of the Xenomorph threat and the memory of their team of ultimate badasses being ultimately torn to shreds [[FateWorseThanDeath or worse]] while they were powerless to stop any of it happening. It's a very cool injection of psychological horror into what appears, on the surface, to be a creature feature. Not just "these things can kill you," but "these things can, will, and HAVE killed people about 100x tougher than you. You. Are. FUCKED."
**** It doesn't help that they were setup to fail from the get go, being given a rookie officer and being a mostly company affair. Gorman was chosen BECAUSE of his incompetence and inexperience, besides that and the fact the greater portion of the marines are misfits they are still trained bad asses. If they had a half-way competent commander then they may have fared better or greater still, told them to pull out upon finding the ass load of already dead colonists.
* ''Alien 3'': Newt's death pose in the EEV (in the Assembly Cut).
** ... Made worse by the fact she is shown with no photo and labeled as an Unknown Survivor in the data info of the four survivors from ''Aliens''.

*** The entire mood and setting for the film is rather disconcerting, if not downright depressing considering Ripley is alone once again, having suffered a tremendous loss. This time, however, having descended to an even more hostile environment with dangerous convicts with gruesome histories. The Xenomorph, this time bursting from an animal, is cunning and much more bestial, all the meanwhile resembling a demon in comparison the previous aliens in the series. Defenseless and scared, the prisoners slowly lose faith in their precious religious beliefs in a situation that makes no sense to any individual. Add into it the mournful soundtrack, and you finally get to understand the gravity of the drama and aesthetic of Fiorina 161: It's HELL. The Gehenna of space in which there is nowhere to escape to, dying surely in complete despair.

** Your Mileage WILL vary on that. A number of viewers just found the audacity tasteless and {{Narm}}y.

* There's an abandoned script of Alien3 where Ripley finds a bunch of prisoners in cocoons... in the process of ''[[BodyHorror being violently transformed into Aliens.]]''

** Oh yes, we know the one. It can become a MostWonderfulSound in the games, since it's most often heard when an Alien [[KillItWithFire burns to death]].

* ''{{Alien}}'' features the famous John Hurt chestburster sequence, which (when shooting was taking place) wasn't told to most of the cast before the scene was shot (the look of horror on Veronica Cartwright's face as she's sprayed by a jet of fake blood is genuine). The final fate of [[spoiler:Dallas and Brett]] (in the Director's Cut) is just as frightening. ''You can also see the human skull that the alien's head is based around''. What's even creepier is that it's reproduced in the xenomorph's appearance at the Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

** It's not fake blood in the chestburter scene, it was sheep's blood. In fact, lots of the creature effects -- the eggs, for example -- in this film used animal organs for added realism.

* The original alien concept was the subject of repeated nightmares for the artist, H. R. Giger. He was just sharing it with the rest of us.

*** The entire mood and setting for the film is rather disconcerting, if not downright depressing considering Ripley is alone once again, having suffered a tremendous loss. This time, however, having descended to an even more hostile environment with dangerous convicts with gruesome histories. The Xenomorph, this time bursting from an animal, is cunning and much more bestial, all the meanwhile resembling a demon in comparison the previous aliens in the series. Defenseless and scared, the prisoners slowly lose faith in their precious religious beliefs in a situation that makes no sense to any individual. Add into it the mournful soundtrack, and you finally get to understand the gravity of the drama and aesthetic of Fiorina 161: It's HELL. The Gehenna of space in which there is nowhere to escape to, dying surely in complete despair. [[spoiler:Then Ripley gets some [[ChestBurster tragic news...]]]]

*** The entire mood and setting for the film is rather disconcerting, if not saddening considering Ripley is alone once again, having suffered a tremendous loss, only this time in an even more hostile environment with dangerous convicts and a Xenomorph that not only is cunning and much more bestial, but resembling a demon in comparison to the hellish setting, being a lead-works facility and all. Not only does the fact that the prison population are weaponless, but also shaken so much that their religious beliefs are put into question. Add in the mournful soundtrack, and you finally understand the gravity of the situation on Fiorina 161: They are in HELL, the Gehenna of space in which they are left to die for their sins for all eternity. [[spoiler:Then Ripley gets some [[ChestBurster tragic news...]]

** The scream during that scene was chilling. The vaguely human facial features didn't help.
*** Oh, [[spoiler: the Newborn. It mauls the Alien Queen and dies in one of the most FamilyUnfriendlyDeath EVER! Also who else was scared of the unshown result of a Predator being impregnated by an Alien?]]
*** That scene was gratuitous HollywoodScience, but the CGI made it work.
* Knowing full well that amping up the body horror is the only way to create enough of a thrill to get people back in the theatres for the series, the ''Alien Versus Predator'' sequel ''Requiem'' goes to perhaps the greatest lengths of all the movies to create a terrible mixture of horror, Squick, and tragically enough also FetishFuel for the most depraved moviegoers. A notable choice on part of the director was to set and show [[spoiler:a father and his son out on a casual hunting trip as the first victims]], and while the [[spoiler:birthing scene with the pregnant woman's belly crawling with aliens is bound to inspire some very horrible FridgeLogic]] the true moment of climactic horror is [[spoiler:when the Predalien breaks into the maternity ward, seeks out the pregnant women and [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong forces a proboscis down one's throat, pumping her full of eggs]], the bulges of them traveling down her very much visible to the viewer, while a woman in the bed next to her screams in terror]].

** That the Queen Mother becomes the subject of their own maternal feelings, to the point of ''begging for a Facehugger"

** That it's clear that this entire process has been played out on other planets before and will continue to play out until every Alien is dead... which is going to be very hard considering that Franchise/{{Predator}}s have spread them throughout the galaxy, if not the universe

** That it's clear that this entire process has been played out on other planets before and will continue to play out until every Alien is dead... which is going to be very hard considering that {{Predator}}s have spread them throughout the galaxy, if not the universe

* Knowing full well that amping up the body horror is the only way to create enough of a thrill to get people back in the theatres for the series, the ''Alien Versus Predator'' sequel ''Requiem'' goes to perhaps the greatest lengths of all the movies to create a terrible mixture of horror, Squick, and tragically enough also FetishFuel for the most depraved moviegoers. A notable choice on part of the director was to set and show [[spoiler:a father and his son out on a casual hunting trip as the first victims]], and while the [[spoiler:birthing scene with the pregnant woman's belly crawling with aliens is bound to inspire some very horrible FridgeLogic]] the true moment of climactic horror is [[spoiler:when the Predalien breaks into the maternity ward, seeks out the pregnant women and [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong forces a proboscis down one's throat, pumping her full of eggs]], [[FetishFuel the bulges of them traveling down her very much visible to the viewer, while a woman in the bed next to her screams in terror]]]].

** That it's clear that this entire process has been played out on other planets before and will continue to play out until every Alien is dead... which is going to be very hard considering that {{Predators}} have spread them throughout the galaxy, if not the universe

* There's an abandoned script of Alien3 where Ripley finds a bunch of prisoners in cocoons... in the process of ''[[BodyHorror being violently transformed into Aliens.]]'' YourMileageMayVary as to whether or not it was a good thing they didn't add that in the final cut, but, just... damn.

* The thought of extraterrestrial beings that invade your body, through another being that technically ''rapes'' you, then burst out of your stomach when you least expect it, is patented NightmareFuel at its finest.

* Knowing full well that amping up the body horror is the only way to create enough of a thrill to get people back in the theatres for the series, the ''Alien Versus Predator'' sequel ''Requiem'' goes to perhaps the greatest lengths of all the movies to create a terrible mixture of Squick, NightmareFuel, and tragically enough also FetishFuel for the most depraved moviegoers. A notable choice on part of the director was to set and show [[spoiler:a father and his son out on a casual hunting trip as the first victims]], and while the [[spoiler:birthing scene with the pregnant woman's belly crawling with aliens is bound to inspire some very horrible FridgeLogic]] the true moment of climactic horror is [[spoiler:when the Predalien breaks into the maternity ward, seeks out the pregnant women and [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong forces a proboscis down one's throat, pumping her full of eggs]], [[FetishFuel the bulges of them traveling down her very much visible to the viewer, while a woman in the bed next to her screams in terror]]]].