When Alien was released in German cinemas 45 years ago this week on 25 October 1979, the film set new standards in many respects. With Sigourney Weaver as ‘action protagonist’ Ellen Ripley, female protagonists became acceptable in the science fiction horror genre for the first time. The set design and the unusual look of the first xenomorph were also groundbreaking for the time.
However, the fact that Alien ultimately took on its now iconic form can only be attributed to many detours and coincidences. Originally, ‘Star Beast’ was intended more as a replacement for a failed desert planet film adaptation of Dune, which also attracted the Swiss Hans Rudolf ‘H. R.’ Giger into the film business and who was now without any further projects in Hollywood. Together with screenwriter O'Bannon, who had also previously worked on Dune, he was able to perfect his grotesque mixture of organic forms with mechanical elements for Alien.
The German premiere of Alien was 45 years ago!
This was followed by changing producers who never really saw anything more than a B-movie in various script variations. And if Star Wars hadn't been such a resounding success shortly before, Alien most probably wouldn't have been given the chance to be produced at a high price.
As has often been the case recently, Oliver Nickel at Golem has taken the trouble to collect the numerous stories behind Alien and summarise them in his own article for the weekend, which is particularly worth reading. Anyone who was or still is an Alien fan will probably have heard much of this before. Current ‘newcomers’ will certainly find the many anecdotes appealing and explain a little why Alien still works today after 45 years. And perhaps also make you think about why the first Alien film has aged so amazingly well. You can only really see the film's 45 years in a few places.
Key scenes such as the chestburster or the facehugger are likely to have left their mark on the minds of several generations. And even today - thanks to careful ingredients - they can still provide convincing horror, while many other horror films from this period often seem rather ridiculous when viewed with today's eyes.
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