“That film was absolutely, utterly relentless”: The horror movie that terrified Ridley Scott
Subtlety is king when it comes to horror, according to director Ridley Scott. This was his philosophy when making Alien, and he learned from the best. But, not everyone can say the same.
After watching Star Wars, Scott was convinced that the appeal of effects-heavy films was growing, and he decided to take on the horror/sci-fi project that would become his crowning glory on the international film scene. After filming, however, Scott realized that there might actually be a risk of overwhelming the audience in his tale of a spaceship crew being hunted by a dangerous, otherworldly creature.
“With horror films, I’ve always believed less is more,” Scott told Scraps from the Loft in 2018. “Our rough cut was just too intense.” The original release of Alien looked very different from its original form, with 11 minutes of violence and gore cut before the theatrical release. This includes a disturbing scene showing a still-alive Dallas begging Ridley to kill him inside the creature’s cocoon. Scott worried that making the film too acutely distressing would alienate audiences and actually undermine its reception.
“Originally, there was a stronger degree of terror. Just subtle things, half-seen, half-heard things earlier in the picture,” Scott said. “Consequently, you have the audience holding on from the beginning. That’s no good.” However, in 2003, a controversial ‘Director’s Cut’ was released with the Alien Quadrilogy DVD box set, including four and half minutes of previously-removed footage. This release was ultimately a disappointment, and Scott maintained that the 1979 version was best.
Pacing was paramount, something that Scott learned while editing the original cut. “If it ran as we shot it, it would have created an almost nauseous feeling in the viewer. So we backed off,” Scott said. “There’s no break in the tension, as Hitchcock provides in Psycho.” It turns out that to make a great horror film, you might need that relief, Scott learned.
One horror film that doesn’t manage to do that, according to Scott, still manages to be great. “I happen to be a great admirer of Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. That film was absolutely, utterly relentless—a real heart-stopper,” Scott said. The 1974 independent horror film follows a group of friends on a road trip who fall into the path of a family of cannibals and are hunted, gruesomely tortured and killed one by one. This cult classic sparked a franchise that spans decades, nine films, a novel, comic books and two video games. However, Scott thinks the original could have done better if Hooper had toned down the constant stress put on the audience.
“If he had just eased back a bit, if he had let you off the hook a couple of times, he could have captured a much broader audience,” Scott said. Taking this lesson to heart, Scott made sure audiences could catch their breath during the suspense and action of Alien. He claims the ‘chest-birth’ as the most gruesome part of the whole film, and allowed most of the fight scenes to take on more formal, duel-like statures. By pacing the film to allow for a build up of suspense and anxiety, rather than constant stress, Scott felt he could attract a wider range of viewers.
This seems to have worked out for the best, as Alien is now widely considered one of the best sci-fi projects in film history.
