Memory: The Origins of Alien, the new film from Director Alexandre O. Philippe takes a whole new tack in investigating the creation of Ridley Scott’s Alien; he sets his eerie eyeballs mostly on the period of time before the film began shooting, rather than showing us yet another “making-of” piece… and that is refreshing as all fuck boils n’ ghouls!
To that end, much heed is paid to what may have influenced Writer Dan O’Bannon (Return of the Living Dead) to create this story in the first place with the much mentioned It: The Terror From Beyond Space and Mario Bava’s Planet of the Vampires, to lesser known (but obvious) inspiration culled from the writings of H.P. Lovecraft and E.C. Comics, while creating his own unforgettable mythology and world building.
Time is also spent examining cool-as-all-fuck late artist H.R. Giger’s undeniable influence on all things xenomorph, as well as what Scott brought to the table (though as the only surviving member of this power trio, it’s balls he doesn’t appear in the new interview segments… what could he possibly have going on… making a movie? Making bullshit is more like it. JK; love ya R.S., call me, babe!).
Other influences from the Furies of legend to the world’s most famous ghost ship the Mary Celeste to Stanley Kubrick are brought up, and damn it if I can’t see exactly how each and every of these disparate elements were utilized and simmered in a preternatural pot to create one of the most unforgettable journeys into our beloved horror biz ever put to sinful celluloid!
Bottom line; these dudes created a cinematic universe so fully realized that it becomes as unto modern myth while keeping it’s roots in ancient ideas of pyramids, fantastic beasts, and the cosmos… and what dwells there. This is a deep dive here cats n’ creeps, but holy hell is it ever engaging and fascinating!
