Ridley Scott’s Alien is an absolute triumph of cinema in both the horror and science fiction genres, but Alien makes such an impact because of the strong message that has been incorporated into its disturbing imagery.
Alien made a strong impression during its release in 1979, but also established a long-lasting legacy. Not only has Alien gone on to create numerous sequels, but it has seen a wealth of extended universe material in the forms of comics, novels, video games, and also crossed over with the Predator franchise. In modern years, Ridley Scott has returned to Alien’s universe for his prequel franchise, Prometheus.
Alien is undeniably a scary film, but the best horror movies go beyond their surface level and tap into much deeper themes to fuel their fear. One of the most significant influences on Alien’s visual aesthetic, both in terms of the environments and the creatures, falls back on H.R. Giger’s book, Necronomicon. Giger was obsessed with crafting disturbing, surreal sexual imagery which seemed like a perfect fit for the film. These visuals and Giger’s influence explicitly fed into the heavy sexual allegory that consumes Ridley Scott’s Alien.
Alien’s Violent Sexual Imagery & Alien Design Was Intentional
The way in which Alien’s facehugger eviscerates its prey is rather complicated, but its nature is no coincidence. The creature operates by bursting from an egg and attaching itself to its prey’s face, during which it lays eggs down its victim’s throat. After a brief gestation period, the eggs hatch from the user’s chest, bursting out in an aggressive, deadly birth. Dan O’Bannon specifically wrote this scene with the male’s fear of penetration in mind and wanted the scene to operate as a payback of sorts for all of the times horror films have subjected weak women to male predatory monsters. His goal was to reverse the stigma associated with the sexualized violence against women in horror and turn the idea back on itself. It’s no coincidence that the chestburster’s birth involves a forceful invasion of male bodied victims and concludes with a phallic entity being born out of a male’s chest.
The graphic sexual imagery mimics that of sexual assault. These images are present during the chestburster scene, as well as with the Xenomorph’s phallic head and imaginative second mouth. However, even minor details like the doorways on the Nostromo further this sexual imageries as they resemble genitals that are being penetrated.
This isn’t just present in a subtle sense with the alien design, but O’Bannon goes so far as to consider Alien a “rape movie” on the same level as Deliverance or Straw Dogs, just as much as it is a sci-fi film or a creature feature. This metaphor and commentary on sexual assault isn’t just a byproduct of the subject matter, but it’s baked into the film and is supposed to be present on the audience’s mind. O’Bannon claimed that sex is something that makes many people uncomfortable, so he wanted to capitalize on that anxiety through the creatures in Alien.
More: Alien: The Differences Between Theatrical & Director’s Cut
