Alien

"Is it just like, a free-for-all in space???!"

This is what Maddie exclaimed about 30 minutes into Alien. Maybe it's because we weren't paying very good attention for the first chunk of the movie, or maybe it's because the sound quality of the dvd made the actors sound like the adults from Charlie Brown, but it just seemed like the crew had no rhyme or reason to their endeavors. "Oh, let's just go down into this deep, dark pit on a mysterious planet and start poking one of these creepy-looking egg thingies! It's not like it'll leap onto my face and somehow shove it's baby down my throat!" As I said, we may have missed a few crucial details as to why all this took place in the first place.

Anyway, carrying on, the movie then continues to document the perilous next few days of the crew of the ship Nostromo, as they bring the alien (which has now attached itself to the unfortunate crew member's face, as well as impregnated him) onboard. The alien bursts from the guy's chest and then begins to terrorize the crew as it rapidly grows larger, picking off the members one by one until only one is left to destroy the now fully-grown and terrifying monster.

"Wait, wait, WAIT!" Maddie chimes in. "It's not that simple! First, I had no clue why they were in space to begin with (even though I was paying attention, or at least, was really trying!!!). It was hard to hear. Secondly, don't they have to like, talk to NASA before they land on an unknown planet? Thirdly, well, it was really gross that the alien just CAME OUT of the guy's chest during dinner! I mean, it's dinner! After that, the rest of the movie was just filled with suspense of when the alien would attack! Like the scene where the guy was trying to find that cat (that caused so much trouble) and the scene went on for so long, and you thought the alien was gonna jump out at any moment. I was just waiting on the edge of my seat, my blood was pumping, and I screamed like I never have done in a movie before."

I can't deny that the suspense was intense in some parts (not gonna lie, I screamed too and I would consider myself a bit tougher than Maddie when it comes to jump-out scenes). This was definitely not a bad thing for me though! I already enjoy suspenseful movies to begin with, but watching them with Maddie makes it 100x more enjoyable. Her scream... enough said.

"I don't know how you convinced me to watch that movie." Maddie continues. "You know I hate scary movies. Scary, intense, jump-out, bloody movies!"

Obviously Maddie was not a fan. I, however, enjoyed it and would certainly watch it again. One thing that Maddie and I did agree on was that the graphics (for the late '70's) were impressive. There are a couple of moments that, in this day and age, are somewhat laughable, but for the most part we were both pleasantly surprised.

Final conclusion: I thought it was an excellent horror/suspense film. And Maddie? "I respect it for what it  is, even though it is not my cup of tea."