Every 1979 foreign death, ranked by goreiness

From Dallas getting mauled to Parker getting impaled, the character deaths in Ridley Scott’s original 1979 Alien Movies – especially the ones in the hands of the pesky xenomorph – are horribly gory. In the years since, the Alien Franchise has explored everything in the genre space from high-octane action thriller to philosophical sci-fi epic. But Scott’s original film is a mix of haunted house movie and slasher movie. It’s an Agatha Christie crossed with a monster movie. And as such, it is constructed as a series of gruesome deaths as the crew of the Nostromo is brutally picked off.

Alien is responsible for some of the goriest deaths in the history of the horror genre. The infamous Chestburster is one of the bloodiest (and most unforgettable) sequences ever put on film. But in some cases, Scott leaves it completely off-screen, because leaving it to the imagination of the audience is often more horrifying than something that could be created with special effects. There are some shockingly gory deaths in it AlienAs Parker is torn to shreds and Brett with his head covered in, but others are not so bad, like Dallas’ on-camera death.

7

Xenomorph

Even rocket thrusters can’t break Xenomorph’s skin

Alien: Romulus It was recently revealed that Ripley didn’t actually kill the Xenomorph when she jettisoned it into space. It wrapped itself in a cocoon to protect it from the harsh environment of space, but it didn’t actually die. Years later, it was later recovered by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, who brought it onto the Renaissance station and nicknamed it “Big Chap.” There it wreaked havoc, created a nest, and wiped out the entire crew. But when the first Alien Movie was released, as far as anyone knew, Ripley killed the Xenomorph when she shot it in space.

While it’s certainly a triumphant moment to see Ripley eject the Xenomorph into space after all the death and destruction it’s caused, it’s not a particularly gory death. Once it’s out of the ship, it still clings to the outside, so Ripley must turn on the Truskers to get rid of it once and for all—and even the rocket thrusters aren’t strong enough to break the perfect organism’s black, rubbery shell. . Skin. Not a single drop of acid blood is shed as the Xenomorph is blasted into the vacuum of space.

6

Lambert

Lambert is impaled on the Xenomorph tail off-screen

Lambert’s death is implied to be truly horrific, but thankfully, the most horrific part happens off-screen. Scott builds the tension masterfully as he cross-cuts between the xenomorph ominously approaching a terrified Lambert and an armed Ripley desperately trying to get there in time to save her. As Ripley gets closer and closer to the room where the xenomorph has cornered Lambert, the xenomorph gets closer and closer to Lambert, who is frozen in fear. When the xenomorph finally reaches Lambert, its pointed tail slowly sneaks up behind her to impale her.

Mercifully, Scott cuts away before the xenomorph uses its tail to actually pierce Lambert’s skin and tear through her. The shot of the tail crawling up behind Lambert does more than enough to create a terrifying image in the audience’s head, but Scott doesn’t really put that image on the screen. Lambert’s corpse is seen hanging and dribbling blood when Ripley finally enters the room, a few seconds too late to save her from the xenomorph’s wrath, but the mangled carcass is out of focus in the foreground, so it’s not particularly gory.

5

Ash

Ash’s death is terrible – but fortunately, he does not have human blood

Ash is first introduced as a regular member of the crew, but later he is an android with the company’s interests at heart. Wiland-Yutani told Ash to bring the xenomorph back to Earth to study, and that the lives of his crew were wasted. When he was found, the crew were not too happy. Ripley confronts Ash about his plans, and when he tries to kill her, Ripley and her crew fight him. Ripley smacks Ash and Parker comes in and burns him with a flamethrower.

By the time the crew was done with him, Ash was decapitated and ripped, with his artificial organ stretched across the table. It would really be great if he had the red human blood that makes people squeal. But the Androids in the Alien Universes have milky-white artificial blood coursing through their artificial veins. This makes Ash’s death a little less horrible, because it doesn’t provoke the gut response that red blood does. When Ash dies, he just looks like spilled milk, which isn’t particularly disgusting.

4

Dallas

Most of Dallas’ death happens mercifully off-screen

Dallas’ death is one of the most shocking jump scares in AlienBut it’s not particularly gory. Scott builds the tension masterfully as Dallas walks into the dark, narrow tunnels to look for the xenomorph, with only the flame at the end of his flamethrower to light the way. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew watches Dallas on a screen. Both Dallas and the Xenomorph are represented by blips on the screen, with the blip of the Xenomorph rapidly approaching Dallas, which is a really simple but effective way to build tension and dread.

But when the xenomorph finally catches up to Dallas, most of his death takes place mercifully off-screen. Dallas turns just in time to see the xenomorph lunging out at him, but then the movie cuts to the screen being scrambled and the crew reacting to his death with horror. This is a classic case where it’s even scary if the film doesn’t show it. Like most of the shark attacks in JawsDallas’ big death is much worse in the audience’s head than anything Scott could show on screen.

3

Board

Bret gets his head covered in before he’s pulled off the screen

After the xenomorph is born and escapes onto the ship, Brett is the first to be picked off by it. While Brett and his crew are searching for the Xenomorph, Brett sees Jones the cat cowering in a corner. He follows the cat into the corner, where he is horrified to find that, in a matter of hours, the little baby that burst out of Kane’s chest has grown into a full-sized adult. It towers overboard at two meters high. Bret barely had time to look up and comprehend the bloodthirsty monster in front of him before he was killed.

In a flurry of quick cuts, the xenomorph caves in Brett’s head, knocks him to the ground, and then picks him up and pulls him off the screen. The really gruesome part of Brett’s death happens off-screen when the xenomorph carries him up to his cave. But it’s already pretty scary when Brett looks up and sees the alien peeling back his various mouths before the inner jaw shoots out in his skull. Unlike some of the Alien‘s gorier deaths, this shot is mercifully short, but a lot of blood spurts out of Brett’s head before he is yanked away.

2

Parker

Poor Parker is ripped to shreds

As the xenomorph is approaching a petrified Lambert, Parker gallantly jumps in to save her. But as soon as he gets close to the alien, it casually bats off its tail. If Parker had just stayed down and let the xenomorph kill Lambert, he would have been able to avoid its wrath. But Parker cares too much about his crew to do that. When Ripley was attacked by Ash, Parker stepped in with a flamethrower to save her. And when Lambert was attacked by the xenomorph, Parker didn’t stop trying to fight it off until it killed him.

When it becomes clear that Parker will not leave it alone to kill Lambert in peace, the Xenomorph briefly turns his attention to Parker to kill him first. Much like when the Xenomorph killed Brett, it shoots its inner jaw into Parker’s skull in an unnerving extreme close-up, killing him instantly. There is a terrible burst of crimson blood as Parker’s head is smashed. Parker’s death is even worse than Brett’s, because after caving into his skull, the xenomorph doesn’t drag him off screen to finish the job; It rips him off the screen.

1

No

Kane’s Chestburster Death is one of the most iconic horror movie moments of all time

The first on-screen kill in Alien is also, by far, the worst. When some of the crew members go down to the alien world to check a mysterious signal, they find a downed cargo ship full of slime eggs. One of the eggs opens up and spits out a face at Kane. They get him back aboard the ship and get him on a table in the medical bay, where they attempt to remove the facehugger. Once they get it off him and he seems to be fine, they all have a party to celebrate.

There is a bit of morbid irony in this party scene, because it turns out that no one is good and there is no reason to celebrate. Halfway through his celebratory dinner, Kane starts convulsing and collapses on the table, where a baby alien bursts out of his chest. The Chestburster has become one of the most iconic moments in horror movies; This is one of the most disturbing sequences ever put on film. There is more blood in this scene than any Aliens other death scenes combined – it spurts out in every direction like a cruel spring.