Everyone’s horror journal is personal. We all first see films at different times, and these days it seems that there is no limit to the number of ways you can watch them. Yet many would say that there is no substitute for the big screen. Last month at FrightFest we got to experience seeing the true classic that is Ridley Scott’s 1979 masterpiece Alien in the cinema, and it may well have been the best way I have ever seen the film.
The first time I ever saw Alien was in my last year of university. I was in the library in one of those little viewing booths where you could watch DVDs. Large parts of what made the movie shocking and notable at its initial release were already known to me from cultural osmosis, such as the chestburster scene, Ash being a robot, Ripley being the last person standing, etc. But some elements could only be absorbed firsthand: the voyeuristic camera stalking through the corridors of the Nostromo, the horrific elegance of H. R. Giger’s alien design, the characters’ dynamics and how they were just people on the job trying to make a living, and the horror of making the best decisions you can but still being doomed.
Then we got to the air duct scene. Everything is initially calm, still, and methodical, before gradually becoming frantic as the tracker indicates that the alien is getting closer and closer. It builds to a crescendo before hitting you with a jump scare as the alien is right next to Tom Skerritt’s Dallas. Now, remember, I’m watching this in a narrow booth that was already feeling a little too close for comfort. I jerked back, startled, but firmly attached to the screen via the headphones lead. I slipped out of my chair and ended up on the library floor. I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and settled back in after rewinding to see what I missed.
And I’ve loved Alien ever since. I devoured the sequels – both good and bad – and would revisit the series’ debut many times over the years, mostly via the DVD boxset I acquired as soon as possible. I even got to see the movie on the big screen as part of a private screening party. All great in their own way, as how can you have a bad experience with a movie this great? That said, I cannot argue against the communal atmosphere that comes with watching it in a cinema.
This year at FrightFest, Alien played on Sunday as part of the promotion for the upcoming release of Alien Isolation 2. Festival attendees could also book a demo session to play the first 30 minutes of the game. One of the best things about a venue such as the Odeon in Leicester Square is the technical benefit. Before the screening, festival organiser Ian Ratray came out to introduce the film and said that whilst it wasn’t a new cut or restoration, it had been tweaked to make the most of the Odeon’s Dolby projection. It really did, with the colours and – in particular – the darkness feeling so much more tangible. The shots of the Nostromo in the vastness of space felt so much bigger and emptier, emphasising the isolation and vulnerability of the main characters. My old friend, the air duct scene, also greatly benefited from this, narrowing the view and making it even more claustrophobic. One fellow moviegoer afterwards commented how it looked as if they had reduced the size of the screen; the darkness was just that pronounced.
There is also something to be said for getting to watch a film in the same room that it had its official London premiere in on September 6, 1979 (the first UK screening was five days earlier at the Edinburgh International Film Festival). Whilst all the technology may have been updated, the essence of the film remains the same. Call me weird, but it’s a little bit magical being linked to a previous audience like that by the same film in the same place, separated by 47 years.
Whether in a library or in Leicester Square, or anywhere really, any viewing of Alien is a good experience, but getting to watch it at FrightFest this year was nothing short of a treat. Few films have been able to capture the kind of raw terror it depicts, and that’s something that will always draw audiences back to it. It may be that in space no one can hear you scream, but they certainly can in the cinema.
