Chiasmus cult cinema trailers - "Alien" (1979). *These will be ongoing posts, courtesy of the A.Glass DVD collection. As I offer via Chiasmus Cult trailers, my summarized overviews*

Ridley Scott's 2nd film, written by the 1970s and 1980s creative heavyweight, the late Dan O'bannon, who lived and devised the heyday of adult based science fiction and fantasy drama, from comic books through to a large selection of movies well into the 1990s.  Who was fortunate enough to be at there at the right time and right place, when the risque of movie making of the 70s and 80s was at its peak, which in turn  assisted, by its series of consequences, leading to the production of "Alien" as the pinnacle of 'Space Horror'.

The backstory of how "Alien" became the stalwart of science fiction adult drama, which is unrivaled to this day, is a lesson in luck and timing (and maybe even some plagiarism).  As the Chilean experimental director, and genius of Alejandro Jodorowsky tried to, in 1975, redefine "DUNE", by the late Frank Herbert's sci-fi book masterpiece, to the big screen.  Going as far a hiring a full creative team, which included Dan O'bannon as the screenwriter, and the surreal artist, the late H.R. Giger.  Jodorowsky's version of DUNE in it pre-production stages collapsed into a heap, nearly breaking Jodorowsky in the process, and sending an unemployed and homeless O'bannon to a psychiatric hospital, or so the story goes.  Where he went onto writing the the first drafts of the Alien screenplay.

Eventually pitched to 20th Century Fox, through an affiliate  called Bradywire, which tried to rewrite O'bannon's screenplay and make a claim that it was their creation.  O'bannon and his then co-screenwriter, the late Ronald Shusett, held their ground and eventually 20th Century Fox hired newcomer English director Ridley Scott to direct, and with O'bannon utilising the remnants of Jodorowsky's failed "DUNE" production team, more so the artist and alien designs by H.R. Giger the project was greenlit in 1978, "Alien" began its pre-production.

There is no doubt Scott, via O'bannon's script, was able to define the idea of a biomechanical Alien stalking and killing the crew of a spaceship, which is 'born' through being forcible implanted into the chest, through the mouth and throat of a human being, from its first stage parasitical origin (apprenty the Canadian director David Cronenberg, claims O'Bannon stole the ingested parasite idea from his movie Shivers [1975] ) .  Evolving into what we now know, through Giger's pychosexual, surreal horror imagery, Scott had very much empasised the pychosexual within O'Brannon's science fiction horror.  Truly giving "Alien" it's horrific imagery, particularly the 'chestburster' sequence and the ensuing rampage within the starkness of a massive cargo spaceship, revealing the incredible detailed Giger Alien in actual lifelike form, as the thing of nightmares.

"Alien", is and was a movie of its era, now 46 years old, which was able to combine adult themes of sexual horror, into a masterpiece story.  Reflecting all our inherent fears of an unknown parasitic Alien, using us as biological hosts.   

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(A.Glass 2025)

All CHIAMUS Cult Cinema trailers/commentary to date: chiasmusmagazine.blogspot.com/search/label/Chiasmus%20cult%20cinema