The most famous film about a chest-ripping monster is also one of the most beautiful science fiction movies ever made. While some might argue Ridley Scott perfected his cocktail of equal parts depressing and lovely in 1982’s Blade Runner, his first true masterpiece, 1979’s Alien, begins as a sublime, quiet portrait of people getting a bad deal. Today, 45 years after its release, Alien remains a study of artistic precision in both sci-fi and horror, in large part because the movie hides its eventual premise so well.
