During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.
An empty-headed horror movie with nothing to recommend it beyond the disco-inspired art direction and some handsome, if gimmicky, cinematography.
– Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader,
4 Jun 2007
fresh:
An old-fashioned scary movie set in a highly realistic sci-fi future, made all the more believable by expert technical craftmanship.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
4 Jun 2007
fresh:
The limited strengths of its staple sci-fi horrors always derived from either the offhand organic/ Freudian resonances of its design or the purely (brilliantly) manipulative editing and pacing of its above-average shock quota.
– Paul Taylor,
Time Out,
16 Aug 2007
rotten:
It is depressing to watch an expensive, crafty movie that never soars beyond its cold desire to score the big bucks.
– Frank Rich,
TIME Magazine,
22 Oct 2010
fresh:
The most startling thing watching Alien again is its pacing. For the first 45 minutes, little happens. It's all slow, exquisite build-up, which makes the second half seem all the more horrific.