10 Behind-The-Scenes Screw-Ups That Created Iconic Movie Moments
7. Alien The Unpredictable Plot And Ripleys Survival Were A Result Of Budget Constraints
Back in the 1970s life was a simpler time filled with Peruvian marching powder, big hair and pantsuits. Everything was in glorious Technicolor at least, thats what the films tell me and a young director called Ridley Scott was about to foist a little-known flick called Alien on the general public.
Needless to say, it was all sorts of popular at the box office. Propelled by its premise of a haunted house movie in space and given an x-factor from its penis-headed monsters, it helped spring Scott onto bigger and better things. Yet there was something else that gave Alien a unique flavour the fact anyone could die.
Please dont misunderstand there had been horror films before, and these horror films did feature people dying in all sorts of grisly ways. However Psycho aside you could usually tell who would survive because of the star names. Yet this was different Alien suffered from a lack of budget, so had to get by on the strength of its premise, not marquee names.
This financial situation actually proved to be the films biggest boon the Alien was the star, and while the cast featured capable actors, no-one belonged in the fame bracket that would guarantee their safety. This meant everyone was up for the scrapheap, investing the whole thing with a tension it wouldve lacked with a marquee name. In fact, the person they chose to save was possibly the least famous actress in the cast, a situation which immediately changed in this film's aftermath.