Cinema listings with film information and movie reviews
Alien
The old dark house scenario gets blasted into deep space with a 40th anniversary re-release of the horror classic in which the crew of an industrial vessel faces an ever-growing alien terror, brought onto the ship attached to a doomed John Hurt. Director Ridley Scott's stylish, much-imitated assault on the nerves is brilliantly sustained and truly terrifying, while Sigourney Weaver is perfect as one of sci-fi's most fearless heroines. The special effects are a tour-de-force of gore and HR Giger's jaw-dropping designs, including the infamous dinner table scene in which a foetal beast bursts from John Hurt's chest, sending a million tubs of popcorn flying towards the cinema floor. James Cameron, almost unthinkably, delivered a superior sequel, Aliens, but the third and fourth instalments in the franchise - Alien3 and Alien: Resurrection - were poor imitations.
