#and your lack of fear when faced with a creature that looks like a facehugger

[flufflecat]

this is the most beautiful creature on earth and I will kill someone if it asks me to

[loucassavvidesalevelmedia]

Research-Textual Analysis-Alien (1979)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wsmc0n8JcY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdBu6VAESeI (backup link)

The film ‘Alien’ has championed the horror genre ever since its creation. The Xenomorph creature itself has become a pop culture icon, and the film promptly gained sequels, spinoffs and all sorts of other media-with the most recent film in the franchise being ‘Alien: Covenant’. The film’s tag line of ‘In space, Nobody Can Hear Your Scream’ is perhaps one of the most well-known tag lines on the globe.

The most infamous of all the scenes in the film is the ‘Chestburster scene’ where the baby Xenomorph ‘hatches’ from the chest of the character Kane (portrayed by the late John Hurt).  The scene isn’t popular for no good reason; on a technical level it is fantastic-blending suspense with great acting on behalf of John Hurt and the entire cast; in addition the special effects were brilliant for their time, and the mise en scene is set up in a very detailed and deliberate way to amplify the horror of the scene. In this textual analysis, I will deconstruct the scene and explain why exactly it’s so good.

Overview of the scene: The very first shot is a long shot, showing all the members of the crew sitting around a table aboard the Nostromo (the spaceship that the film takes place on), with the diegetic sounds of the crew talking and cutlery being moved about as they eat. The scene then cuts to Kane and Parker (played by Yaphet Kotto) and then cuts again to Ash (Ian Holm) who makes a remark about the food. The scene lingers on Ash’s face for a split second longer than it needs to, showing his expression change-he becomes much more serious and glares at Kane-the camera cuts back to Kane eating, and pans and zooms onto Kane, talking about ‘getting some decent food’ when he gets home. This camera encodes the scene with tension; the audience will be able to put two and two together and understand that something bad is about to happen-especially considering Kane’s encounter with the Facehugger creature earlier in the film.

 The camera cuts between Parker and Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) as they talk; there is some dramatic irony in this scene as they talk about ‘knowing that the food’s made of’, the dialogue is ironic since, unbeknown to them, Kane is currently serving as ‘food’ for the baby Xenomorph. As some of the crew laughs about the statement, Kane begins to choke. At first, he seems to be just choking, with Parker asking him what the matter is-the camera then cuts to Ash’s face, once again serious, which is another signifier that something bad is going to happen to Kane. The camera cuts to show Kane from behind, and Parker’s expression is a lot more serious-a sharp contrast to how he was just seconds ago. Other crew members being trying to help Kane-except for Ash, who sits and waits-the camera cuts to show Ash still sitting and eating normally, unlike all the other crew members; he is the last to get up and try to help.

Kane’s choking and cries of pain become louder and harsher, and he is placed on the table on his back by the crew members. The shot changes to a mid shot of several crew members attempting to assist Kane before he chokes to death, and continues to alternate quickly between Kane writhing on the table and the crew members trying to save him. The diegetic sound of Kane’s screams and the crew yelling instructions at each other creates a sense of panic and confusion-the shaky camera shots and strange angles add to this, creating a disorientating atmosphere for the audience. This is a massive contrast to how the scene starts, where everything is organised and quiet, showing how quickly the chaos has escalated. This continues until blood sprays out of Kane’s chest, causing the scene to go entirely silent (except for Kane’s gurgles and Ripley’s scream) for a split second before Kane starts writing again. The looks of horror on Dallas (Tom Skerritt) and Parker’s faces probably reflect that of the audience, and are clear signifiers that this is foreign territory for them-beyond a crew member choking, they no longer have a protocol to follow, so blood spurting out of a crew member’s chest is certainly going to terrify them.

The scene cuts quickly between crew members to show their faces and reactions to Kane’s seizures (with his cries of pain being the only diegetic sound), until the baby Xenomorph bursts out of Kane’s chest. The only diegetic sounds then are the two screams-the Xenomorph and Ripley’s-and the entire crew steps away in horror (followed by quick jump cuts of them getting sprayed with blood). The scene the cuts to a close up shot of the Xenomorph rising out of Kane’s chest-the mise en scene of this strange alien creature covered in blood, looking around as it climbs out of a still-twitching Kane’s chest is a horrifying scene to audiences, especially since the only alien before that had a been an odd spider-like creature (the Facehugger) that simply attached itself to Kane’s face-the audience would be aware that Kane was going to die, but not like this. Parker goes to attack the creature with a knife, representing him as one of the most proactive crew members as he is ready to take action (which may also represent him as headstrong), but Ash orders him not to attack with the diegetic line “Don’t touch it!” 

(Spoiler alert!) This dialogue is foreshadowing; this may seem to be him simply looking out for the crew members, but later in the film he is revealed to be an android tasked with bringing back the Xenomorph alive by the company the Nostromo and its crew belong to and work for. This creates a subtle feeling of mistrust between the characters, as they have no idea if anyone else could have an alien inside them (although none of the others have been attacked by a Facehugger), and can longer fully trust each other. The camera cuts between Parker and Ash, showing their different reactions to the creature, with Parker keeping his knife raised and his eyes on the creature, and Ash slowly starts making his way towards it. The Xenomorph lets out a high-pitched squeal and dashes away across the table. There is a reaction shot of Ash’s face as the Xenomorph runs away from him. The scene ends here.

How is this scene made effective? The scene is effective due to its creation-and subsequent handling-of fear and panic throughout. The sudden escalation of events in the scene (food to alien menace) sends the message that ‘nobody is safe’ to the audience, and now that the alien is loose aboard the ship ‘nowhere is safe’, either. This instills feelings of dread in the audience, as the alien could be anywhere aboard the ship, so with every scene change comes the potential for a character to get killed. The scene also shows how binary opposites are invoked with Parker and Ash, due to their different reactions to the Xenomorph’s emergence; Parker acts much more brash and ready to attack, whereas Ash is more cautious and wants to observe the creature before taking further action. This contrast between the two characters remains throughout the remainder of the film.

The lack of non-diegetic music adds to the eerie ‘realism’ of the film; as there is no music in the background the reactions and diegetic dialogue of the characters are key to the atmosphere, which is pulled off spectacularly-each cry of pain from Kane and murmur or yell from a crew member to do this or that puts the audience in the shoes of the crew and allows them to sympathise with them; on the first viewing of the film from the audience they will be just as clueless as the crew as to what is going on, causing reactions of scared confusion-mirroring the character’s reactions in the film-as the scene unfolds. The release of tension as the Xenomorph appears replaces that confusion with sheer terror.

The scene is also effective as part of the narrative-the audience may be under the impression that the Facehugger from earlier was the alien, and thus may be a bit disappointed-it is only small and latches onto people’s faces and that’s it. The first time they watch (without prior knowledge that modern audiences have), this new alien appearing would be a complete surprise, and is basically explaining to the audience ‘THIS is the alien that the film was named after’. This amplifies the horror of the scene, because the crew had managed to study the Facehugger and understand it on a basic level-this new alien runs off before they can catch it, so they have no idea what it can and can’t do-leaving all of the crew hopeless and stranded within the walls of their own spaceship. 

This makes the once warm and safe environment of the ship much more menacing and unwelcoming; as the film progresses more of the ship is shown to the audience and it is much more ‘cold’ and barren than what is shown within the first few scenes. This represents how xenophobic the ship has become to the crew, as they are potentially unsafe in any room that they go to-a point that is illustrated multiple times throughout the film as the crew is killed off one by one.