Every now and then, I'll be writing a feature centred around a movie that I watched the previous night, and I'll try and get some kind of discussion out of it. Kicking things off is a movie I taped a long time ago, and only just got around to watching; James Cameron's The Abyss.
So if you haven't seen The Abyss, it's a pretty good movie for what it is; a group of oil workers and marines dive deep into the sea to rescue a nuclear submarine, and discover something...else. It's tense, claustrophobic - all of the things which a good underwater movie should be. And, if like me, you have a morbid fear of deep, dark water, then this will certainly provide to be, at best, uncomfortable viewing and, at worst, viewing which makes you curl up into a ball and sob like a little girl (I don't wish to give away spoilers, but there's an agonizing segment dealing with the effects of pressure when descending into the depths of the titular trench).
But there's little point in reviewing a 22-year-old movie. If you've heard if it, then you've probably seen it and read various other reviews, and if you haven't heard of it, then, well, you probably don't care. But I'd like to take this opportunity to take a look at a particular aspect of The Abyss, which was pretty integral to its plot. I am talking, of course about the presence of aliens.
Now, aliens have been a part of the industry for a very long time now - dating back to 1902 - but it seems that the quality of these creatures can vary from the brilliant to the flat-out awful, even in today's world of high tech CGI. In this case, James Cameron can do aliens very well (see Avatar), as he makes these kindly extra-terrestrials seem both stunning and haunting, due to the clever use of purple light. Yet in the hands of a lesser director, the movie could have turned out to be far worse. This is why I present my list of the best and worst aliens present in movies.
THE GOOD: Alien (1979)
Might as well start off with one of the all-time classic monsters of 20th Century horror cinema. Created by the very, very strange H. R.Giger, it was the star of the movie Alien, directed by Ridley Scott. The success of the alien, or "xenomorph", wasn't simply due to the design of the monster itself (despite it being magnificent), but due to the expert handling of it by one of the world's greatest directors. Only ever glimpsed throughout most of the movie, Scott managed to create tension by alternating fake scares (a cat jumping out of a locker) with genuine ones (the creature slowly appearing, out of focus), and made one of the scariest and most iconic haunted-house style movies of all time.
THE BAD: Dreamcatcher (2003)
On the other end of the spectrum come the phenomenally awful "shit-weasels" from Dreamcatcher. A horrible concept to being with (you get infected by aliens, this thing grows in your stomach then exits out of your rear end, killing you in the process), this was made worse by surprisingly awful special effects. Not Stephen King's finest moment, and certainly not sci-fi cinema's finest moment. Moving on...
THE GOOD: District 9 (2009)
It's no secret that I love this movie. First-time director Neil Blomkamp used a documentary style when creating this alien-invasion flick, and it works brilliantly. The aliens, already established in South Africa when the movie begins, are rejected by humanity, and confined to a slum known as District 9. These "prawns" (as they have been nicknamed) feel both alien and human at the same time, clearly a different species but one which shares many of the emotions we do. The undercurrent of segregation adds another layer of depth to an already great movie.
THE BAD: Signs (2002)
Now, don't get me wrong, I liked Signs. I thought it was an interesting, tense alien invasion movie, with decent performances from Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix. But, unfortunately, the ending let itself down. It was inevitable that the monster would have to be revealed, due to the building tension throughout the movie, and the idea behind it was solid. Yet the special effects were a genuine let down here, portraying it as awkward, cheesy and, simply put, rubbish. What a shame.
THE GOOD: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
How could I not include E.T.? The original (in my opinion) alien was the star of one of the best family movies ever made in the history of motion pictures. This cute little guy bewitched the heart of millions of children (mine included) and adults alike, and still gives me nostalgia when I watch it to this day. In fact, I'm not ashamed to say that this has made me cry on several occasions, both past and present. Don't judge me.
THE BAD: Mac & Me (1988)
And at the other end of the spectrum is this embarrassment. A blatant rip-off of E.T. with absolutely none of the charm, depth, or anything that made it a masterpiece, this is a hollow cash-grab of a movie, with an awful-looking alien. This doesn't even deserve talking about; it represents the worst of cinematic culture and has zero artistic merit. This is making me feel sick just thinking about it. Blargh.
