Facehugging foes. All-time-great action heroes. A sense of sheer unknowable terror. Over four decades since the Alien saga first hatched from a mysterious pulsing egg – and burst out of John Hurt’s chest – the sci-fi horror franchise remains one of the all-time greats. Spanning an incredible 45 years and nine instalments (counting the Alien Vs Predator crossovers), the franchise continues to reinvent itself with each entry – from haunted house movie, to war actioner, to prison drama, to existential sci-fi exploration.
With director Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus in cinemas – and Noah Hawley’s upcoming TV series Alien: Earth soon to scare us on the small screen – Empire hopped on a ship to LV-426 to argue the toss over which Alien movie is the best. Read the official ranking below.
9) Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem
The Brothers Strause’s disastrous 2007 sequel AVP: Requiem continued the multi-franchise crossover between the cinema’s two most beloved extraterrestrial horror creatures. The events of the schlocky B-movie pick up directly after AVP, with the newly born Predator/Xenomorph hybrid – known as, you guessed it, a Predalien – running rampant in smalltown America. Cue an experienced alien hunter being dispatched to quickly neutralise the hybrid spawn, getting by with a little help from his friends. Despite a standout sequence with Predators hunting Xenomorphs in the sewers, there’s little to no redeeming qualities here – with incredibly annoying, unlikable humans, and cheap, nasty thrills. It’s also astonishingly difficult to make out what the hell is going on – the lighting is so dark and murky it’ll genuinely leave you squinting. Game Of Thrones’ ‘The Long Night’, eat your heart out!
8) Alien Vs Predator
As Ian Malcolm so eloquently put it: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should”. The same could be said of Paul W.S. Anderson’s 2004 non-canonical franchise mashup, pitting the calculated Predators against the animalistic Aliens in a gonzo, testosterone-fuelled smackdown. Following the discovery of an ancient pyramid buried deep beneath the ice in Antarctica, the Weyland Corporation finances an archeological expedition to investigate, uncovering a deadly battle between the two warring races. Despite some entertaining action sequences and a fun concept, the whole thing is rushed – and unlike the Alien franchise, there’s no real human characters likeable enough to root for. Perhaps it was best left to the pages of Dark Horse’s comic book series…
7) Alien: Resurrection
Bienvenue to Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s outing – the fourth in the franchise, and among the most controversial. What sounds like a potentially intriguing premise – set 200 years after the end of Alien 3, and placing a powerful human-alien hybrid clone of Ripley front and centre – quickly descends into an incoherent mess and tonal mismatch, thanks in part to Joss Whedon’s clunky script. Jeunet’s trademark talent for the grotesque is certainly put to good use, especially in a sequence featuring seven previous Ripley clones, but there are few redeeming qualities to save Resurrection – and its ragtag crew of space pirates – from a grisly fate. Despite Weaver’s impressive transformation and Brad Dourif’s dedication to creepiness (“You are a beautiful, beautiful, butterfly”), the climactic reveal of the xenomorph/human hybrid really was the nail in the space-coffin for the original ‘quadrilogy’.
6) Prometheus
Currently undergoing something of a cultural reappraisal, Ridley Scott’s prequel – aka the tale of the black goo – is undoubtedly an ambitious, Blade Runner-esque philosophical swing for the fences, the original Alien director delving into the mysticism of humanity’s makers: the fabled ‘Engineers’. It largely baffled on arrival; now, it remains a mixed bag with major highs and lows. Boasting an absolutely stacked cast (including Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba and Guy Pearce), the Prometheus’ doomed crew – with a frustrating propensity for removing their helmets and, erm, taunting alien snakes – follow a fabled starchart to LV-223, in the hopes of discovering… well, god. Visually it’s a feast, with hauntingly epic landscapes, and there are decent thrills too (namely Shaw’s ridiculously squirmy birthing scene). But with grand mythical ideas and somewhat pretentious themes, Prometheus disappointingly deviates from the beloved monster movie template. Its attempt to lift the lid on one of the franchises’ biggest mysteries is admirable – but just like the black gloop, sometimes it’s best to leave certain things un-poked.
5) Alien: Covenant
The second of Ridley Scott’s ambitious prequels further delves into the Alien’s mysterious origin, while once again exploring themes of creation and immortality. Set in 2104, the crew of the Covenant – a colony ship transporting thousands of human embryos and colonists on the way to planet Origae-6 – investigates a mysterious message from a nearby planet, discovering Michael Fassbender’s synthetic David, the sole-survivor of the Prometheus mission (justice for Shaw!) Scott goes seriously gnarly here – the twisted horror of the ‘neomorph’ sequence (also known as a Bloodburster, emerging not from the chest but from the back) is a return to form, and the overall outlook is brutally nihilistic. Fassbender is also outstanding as both David and identical android Walter, with the former amusingly teaching the latter to play the flute and, weirdly, kiss. Covenant is deeply unusual, and a better Prometheus sequel than an Alien movie. Frustratingly, its wrenching final twist promised a dark-as-hell David threequel that will likely never materialise.
4) Alien 3
One of the most divisive entries in the franchise, David Fincher’s 1992 instalment sees the escape pod containing Ellen Ripley, Newt, Hicks and synthetic Bishop crash land on Fiorina "Fury" 161, an all-male prison colony. But they’re not the only inhabitants aboard the spacecraft – a brand new strain of Xenomorph has escaped in the facility. Despite a couple of early niggles (justice for Newt!) Alien 3 shapes up as a bleak, bold instalment – particularly in its Assembly Cut form – which almost perfectly rounds off Ellen Ripley’s legendary arc in a powerful Terminator 2-esque act of self sacrifice. Along with an unexpectedly brutal medical bay sequence (complete with an excellent Charles Dance speech), Fincher directs one of the most iconic and tense sequences from the franchise: a snarling, drooling alien sniffing a shaven headed Ripley. (And to think the Xeno-dog was nearly a cute whippet in a latex suit! Release that cut next, please.)
3) Alien: Romulus
Don’t Breathe director Fede Alvarez’s ‘interquel’ cleverly splices together the best elements from Alien and Aliens, whilst sprinkling a drop of Prometheus goo for good measure. Set decades after Ripley survived the Nostromo, a group of twentysomethings go in search of cryopods on a seemingly derelict ship, looking for their ticket out of Weyland-Yutani’s oppressive mining colony. Cue deadly space shenanigans – including one of the most creative action sequences utilising zero gravity and acid – as they encounter a shit-ton of facehuggers and a brutal horde of Xenomorphs along the way. Cailee Spaeny shines as the resourceful Rain, but it’s Rye Lane’s David Jonsson who steals the show with his impressively controlled take on synthetic Andy, effortlessly switching between personas. Plus, Alvarez manages to draw a connecting line between Resurrection and Prometheus in a wild and horrific third act.
2) Alien
In 1979, Ridley Scott’s ‘haunted house in space' movie masterpiece burst – literally and physically – on to the scene, changing sci-fi horror forever. Despite an initially mixed reception, the hugely iconic flick, which follows the doomed crew of the commercial spaceship Nostromo as they investigate a distress signal on nearby moon LV-426, is now regarded as one of the greatest and most influential sci-fi horrors of all time. Audiences never forgot the shock of witnessing the terrifying "chestburster" scene for the first time (along with certain actors for that matter; legend has it they weren’t informed of how exactly the scene would unfold), while the slow-burn build up to revealing the adult Xenomorph in the engine room is a masterclass in suspense. With a perfect combination of otherworldly practical effects, iconic H.R Giger creature designs, and authentic performances – particularly Ian Holm’s Ash and Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley – a brand new franchise was born.
1) Aliens
Just like Terminator 2, The Empire Strikes Back, The Dark Knight and Paddington 2, Aliens is a rare sequel which surpasses the iconic original, albeit by a hair's breadth – and is therefore the franchise’s perfect organism. James Cameron’s beloved 1986 sci-fi action film perfectly expands upon the world, themes and horror of Ridley Scott’s goopy baby, injecting tense action, immersive storytelling, and a whole host of fan favourite characters into the mix. Set 57 years after Alien, Weyland-Yutani sends Nostromo sole survivor Ripley and a team of gung ho marines to investigate LV-426 following a communications breakdown with the human colonists. Weaver’s Oscar-nominated performance as the trailblazing action hero is undoubtedly her best, particularly her emotional dynamic with Carrie Henn’s Newt, while Jenette Goldstein’s incredibly badass Private Vasquez and Bill Paxton’s Private ‘Hudson’ (“Game over, man! Game over!”) prove excellent new additions. The climactic showdown with Ripley and the Queen (and her horde of deadly offspring) culminates in arguably the best moment from the franchise – “Get away from her, you bitch!” – delivering a mech-suit vs monster showdown for the ages. Pure ‘80s movie magic.