In “Alien: Romulus” teenagers compete against crazy aliens
In “Alien: Romulus,” Cailee Spaeny and Isabela Merced play young researchers who investigate an abandoned space station and come across sheer horror.
“In space, no one can hear you scream” was the tagline of the 1979 film Alien. But over the course of 45 years, audiences have experienced plenty of sounds, including bloodcurdling screams, tearful crying, and the gross-out sounds of creatures hugging faces and bursting out of human chests.
The sci-fi horror franchise has given us a great action heroine in Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley, who fought monsters in four films but hasn’t appeared in an Alien project since the 1990s. There have also been a number of androids, from Michael Fassbender in Prometheus to David Jonsson in the new Alien: Romulus, as well as the pesky Weyland-Yutani Corporation, which seems to care more about cosmic beasts than its employees. And of course, the impressively fanged Xenomorph, which has become the iconic villain of the film series.
That slavering, snarling alien is unleashed once again in “Romulus” (in theaters Friday), which recalls director Ridley Scott’s original film — and, like other previous installments, is streaming on Hulu. But how does the latest film stack up against old-school horror movies from decades past? Here’s the definitive ranking of all the “Alien” movies to date. (We’re not including the “Alien vs. Predator” movies, since they’re a franchise of their own and, frankly, are pretty terrible.)
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7. “Alien: Resurrection” (1997)
The fourth installment revolves around scientific experiments gone out of control and the military’s decision to clone Ripley 200 years after her self-sacrifice (see “Alien 3”) as a hybrid who “gives birth” to a new alien queen. Although the actual plot isn’t that big, “Resurrection” features a bevy of creatures that a mercenary crew (including Ron Perlman and Winona Ryder) must face, as well as a truly strange humanoid monstrosity that offers a surprisingly touching moment before it’s sucked out of a spaceship.
6. “Alien 3” (1992)
Ripley is stranded on a planet with an all-male colony and not much else. Unfortunately for everyone, an alien has stowed away on her spaceship. Director David Fincher tackles gender issues and creates some really interesting visual effects. Additionally, Ripley shaves her head to blend in with the crowd of men. As for the aliens’ antics, it’s a little disappointing: there aren’t many Xenomorphs and the CGI techniques are definitely lacking.
5. “Alien: Covenant” (2017)
This installment combines the exhilaration of Prometheus with the chaotic terror of the earlier films. A ship carrying the future of humanity makes an unfortunate stopover on a paradise planet, and all hell breaks loose when a couple of guys become infected with the alien parasite. The creatures are cool, but Michael Fassbender is a real stunner in the dual role of android David and new model Walter.
4. “Prometheus” (2012)
The prequel that is most controversial among fans was a sort of “Alien” surprise movie that gradually revealed its connection to the franchise while telling a story about human archaeologists trying to figure out the connection between humanity and an ancient race of engineers. “Prometheus” is more thought-provoking than action — although there is plenty of horror, including Noomi Rapace undergoing the worst C-section ever.
3. “Alien: Romulus” (2024)
Director Fede Alvarez (“Don’t Breathe”) puts the focus on the human characters before putting them in the worst possible scenario. Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny) and her friends just want a better life when they stumble upon a derelict space station that quickly turns into a house of horrors. “Romulus” mixes what worked in the first two films in the series – action and isolation – and adds an intriguing new element to the mythos.
2. “Aliens” (1986)
Full of action-movie machismo, James Cameron’s sequel awakens Ripley after 50 years of hypersleep and brings her back to LV-426, the world where her crew first encountered alien life. Now a terraforming colony, it finds Ripley teaming up with Space Marines – including an unforgettable Bill Paxton – to battle alien antagonists. It’s worth it, if only because Ripley becomes a feminist folk hero and surrogate mother, and because she takes on the alien queen to win all the galactic marbles.
1. “Aliens” (1979)
Director Ridley Scott’s original is not only the best “Alien,” but also one of the best science fiction films of all time, as it creates an atmosphere of nonstop dread. A team of space truckers trying to bring minerals to Earth answer a distress call and must fight for their lives as a xenomorph hunts them down one by one. Even after decades of visual effects spectacles, the sight of the alien bursting out of John Hurt’s chest is still completely terrifying, completely embarrassing, and completely awesome.
