7Alien (1979)
Ridley Scott’s seminal science-fiction horror film is a classic for a reason, with deep themes and incredible cinematography. But mostly, it’s also completely terrifying. The slow build-up to the initial egg attack, the infamous chestburster scene… all incredibly scary. But it’s when the Alien grows up into its adult Queen form that the movie really becomes horrific.
The Alien (also called a Xenomorph) is as purely, viscerally unsettling as possible. Segmented and gaunt like a skeleton crystallized in obsidian, the Alien is a perfect representation of a dozen different universal fears: fear of insects, fear of predators, fear of sexual violence and disease, fear of acid (well, maybe they’re not all universal)… it all comes together in Giger’s absolutely horrifying design. Still, while Giger might have been a phenomenal concept designer, lots of credit is also due actor Bolaji Bodeji, the massively tall Nigerian man whose long, loping gait and Mantis-like posture added an insectoid aspect to an already terrifying look. The Alien movies have continued for decades now, but nothing beats the disturbing original.
