I was only 10 when Alien was released in 1979, so I wasn't allowed to see it, but I still remember staring, fascinated, at the ads and commercials.
Even the newspaper ads were scary.
"In space," said the famous tagline, "no one can hear you scream."
The movie's success led to a host of imitations, most of which took every opportunity to be gory, sleazy, or both. I like to think of these downbeat Alien imitators as a counterweight to all the upbeat Star Wars imitators that were still flooding into the theaters in the early and mid 1980s.
To be a hardcore Alien imitator, you need to feature a small crew of regular folks (rather than heroes) in an isolated location (a compound or vessel) stalked by an otherworldly creature who mutates as the movie progresses. Gore is also a necessity. A serious theme - something about the misuse of corporate or political power - is a bonus but not a necessity.
I therefore count nine films as hardcore Alien imitators. Here they are chronologically. I comment further on most of these in my Claws & Saucers guidebook, but I hope you'll enjoy the remarks and links below. At the end, I'll mention a few related films that almost made the list. Note: several links are NSFW!
Read more »
