What three horror films did Ridley Scott praise when making Alien?

Ridley Scott Foreigner became one of the most acclaimed and influential horror films ever made, but Scott was influenced by even older masterpieces of horror cinema. Scott is a master of genre cinema: he has brought the tropes of film noir to the distant future in Blade runnerhe revitalized the epic of swords and sandals with Gladiatorand he combined the spectacle of science fiction with the terror of a haunted house in his bloody space horror Foreigner. But even a pioneer like Scott had to find inspiration somewhere.

Foreigner It was one of the first films to legitimize the horror genre. Before Scott came along and delivered his groundbreaking masterpiece, horror films were considered clunky B-movies with very little artistic merit, usually produced by people like Roger Corman. With the infinitely rewatchable Foreigner, Scott took a B-movie premise and turned it into an A-movie with atmospheric production, high-caliber acting, and a chilling sense of dread.. As far as Scott is concerned, there were only three great horror films before Foreigner.

What Ridley Scott considered the best horror films before Alien was released in 1979

Scott Praised The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Omen, and The Exorcist

In bonus features for Alien: Romulusthere’s a featurette called “Alien: A Conversation” in which director Fede Álvarez talks to Scott about what it was like before release Foreigner in 1979. In this featurette, Scott mentions that, in his opinion, there was only “three really good horror movies” before driving Foreigner: Tobe Hooper The Texas Chainsaw MassacreRichard Donner The omenand William Friedkin The Exorcist. Scott describes these films as “perfect engines of fear and terror” that delivered things audiences had never seen before.

These are three genuine horror masterpieces. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre It doesn’t have an ounce of fat in its running time, slowly building up the dread in the first three quarters and then offsetting it with unrelenting terror in the climactic dinner scene. The omen takes the sweet, harmless experience of raising a child and puts a scary spin on it, as the child turns out to be the Antichrist. The Exorcist It portrayed the Devil in a more realistic light than audiences had ever seen before and created a cultural phenomenon.

How Ridley Scott fought to make Alien a true “horror film”

Studio executives thought the film was “too violent”

Scott also reveals in the featurette that he had to fight for Foreigner be as scary as it is. Studio executives didn’t like the xenomorph’s designbut Scott fought to keep it. They also found the film very violent, to which Scott hilariously countered: “It can’t be too violent – ​​we’re making a horror film.” Many of the elements that Scott fought for increased the public’s curiosity to continue returning to the theater, which led to Foreigner a success. If the executives had gotten their way, Foreigner It wouldn’t have been as impactful.

Source: Alien: a conversation