The questions of whether we are alone in the universe is one at the heart of sci-fi. The question of who we are if we are not solely God’s creatures... does that mean there’s no God? Only lonely beings adrift in the universe battling to survive, the victors destined to simply be the ones with the longest teeth. Space films are secular angst played out by dudes in monster costumes.
The original Alien film, one of the greatest films of all time, confronted such questions from a realist point of view. An even chillier view of the cosmos than Kubrick’s in 2001 (which after all, featured benevolent aliens willing us to evolve), it was all hostility: the vicious environment of the planet LV-426, parasitic ‘face-hugger’ bugs, bursting chests and a killer Xenomorph that was all function, teeth, nails, armour, acid for blood. The universe clearly didn’t want us out in space, except for use as improvised wombs.
