Attack of the Alien!

Analysis of Authors

"There stands first the alien's motive for inflicting violence upon the human beings who encounter it. For it harbours no general or specific malice against the human race such as, or against the crew of the Nostromo" (Mulhall 4). This is what Mulhall talks about in his article and it is something that I thought about while watching the movie. I did not really understand why the alien was just murdering the crew. It never talks about or shows the alien eating them or using them for any food source or resource. It just shows the alien massacring the crew one at a time. "In such narratives, a group of character is introduced, usually in a limited locale, and then killed, one by one or in small groups, by a hostile force" (Thompson 1). This is Thompson talking about the shooting-gallery plot. I definitely thought that Alien was a shooting-gallery plot, the crew was introduced with almost no character development and before you know it there are getting killed by the alien. "The casting is quite ingenious, in that it avoids using stars who would be obviously expected to survive to the end" (Thompson 2). I also thought this while watching the movie, at first you think that the main character is Captain Dallas, but then he gets killed. You also think that it is either between Ash or Parker because they play such big roles in the film too, but Parker gets killed close to the end and Ash is more of a villain and he is also killed in a way since he is a robot. I knew that Ripley was going to be one of the main characters but was not sure that she would be the main and only surviving crew member. I knew that she would be one of the main members, because she was the most hardcore, outspoken member. She was also a good leader but an antagonist at the same time. Her leadership abilities and ability to act well in stressful, hostile situations help to keep her survive and kill the alien.

















Ripley leading the charge against the alien.

Movie Breakdown

The only real criticism I have about the movie is that there are too many times of complete silence and nothing going on at all. There should have been a better editing job in the movie. Though there were times that the silence made the movie good. Though sometimes the silence help to make the movie more creep and suspenseful, the score of the film when used I thought was used very well. It helped to make the movie scarier and darker, and you knew when something bad was going to happen like someone getting killed by the alien. The lighting of the film was also very effective in that it set the mood for a darker, scarier, and outer space horror film. In the film the cinematography was done very well. Every shot of the long dark hallways on the ship also made the movie such a good movie. It created suspense in that you felt like you might see the alien or that if they walk down the hallway then they could be killed by the alien or anything could be down there. The long hallway scenes made the movie mysterious in a way too in that you had no idea what could happen down that hallway if you dare to go down it. Overall the film was put together very well especially for the technology they had at the time the film was released. I give the movie two thumbs up!











Long dark hallway on the Nostromo.

Mulhall, Stephen. “Kane's Son, Cain's Daughter.” On Film. London:

Routledge, 2002. 12-32. Print.

Scott, Ridley, dir. Alien. 1979. Twentieth Century Fox, 2009.

Thompson, Kristin. "Alien." Storytelling in the New Hollywood.

Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1999. 283-306. Print.

Pans Labyrinth

The movie Pans Labyrinth is a very well made movie. The setting of the movie is great; I noticed how it is always raining in the movie when something is going wrong. For example, when Ofelia gets the really nice dress from her mom and she leaves to go to perform the first task of putting the magic stones in the fogs mouth. It rains and storms and her really nice dress blows away and gets completely muddy. Also, all of the costumes and character were great. I thought the faun and the other bad guy that put his eyeballs in his hands were great costumes.

The set design throughout the entire movie was amazing. The way that the Labyrinth looked and the way that the mill was set up was very captivating and made the movie great. The set design helped to show the mood of the movie and show how artistic the movie really is. I also thought that the sound of the movie was great. The set score went along with the movie very well and when something bad was about to occur for example the torture of the man who stuttered the music played a very appropriate tune. The editing and cutting of the film was also very good. I did not think that the movie was too short or too long, nor did I think that there was anything missing or anything that needed to be cut from the film. The cinematography in the movie was also done very well. When Ofelia and her mom first arrive at the mill, the low angle that the camera makes and how it rises up to meet the Captain just starts you out thinking that the Captain is very important. It shows that everyone is below him and that he is in charge and that whatever he says will go. I usually do not like movies that are very dark all of the time, but I thought that Pans was very good about the lighting. Even though it was very dark, it was never too dark and the fact that it was dark really went along with the movie. Some movies make it way to dark, but Pans I think did it right for a darker lighted movie. When Edwards says, “Ofelia's magic quest object becomes her final test when she rejects the knife, and the pain and self-interest it represents, thus proving her purity of soul and allowing her to transcend death and return home.” (Edwards) I also found this part of the movie very amazing. As much as Ofelia wanted to obey the faun and become a queen she become very selfless and wanted to save her brother, because I feel that it was the only family that she had left. So not letting the faun have her little brother really made Ofelia’s character even better than it was throughout the movie. It showed how much she cared about family and how selfless she was. When Smith says, “The intricate parallel plotting, by del Toro himself of course, heightens or tightens this tense and intense connection. Ofelia must retrieve a key from a viscous ball vomited by the toad, just as Mercedes must guard, in real life, a secret key to the storeroom.” (Smith) He is also talking about in the article about the parallel between characters and the different story lines going on in the movie. I guess I really did not think of that while watching the movie. Then after reading the articles I now see all of the imagery and symbolism in the movie and I think that it just makes the movie more amazing. The movie has so much depth to it, and it would take someone a couple times of watching and studying the movie to really capture everything that del Toro is trying to convey in the movie.