10 Great Performances In Otherwise TERRIBLE Horror Movies

3. Michael Fassbender - Alien: Covenant

William H Macy Psycho
Fox

Ridley Scott's decision to revisit the world he'd created with Alien was initially met with some skepticism from fans who feared that the original film's sense of mystery would be severely tarnished. Imagine their horror when in typical Hollywood fashion, we got not one, but two prequel films from Mr. Scott and the results were mixed, to say the least.

Whilst Prometheus is enjoyable if you switch your brain off and simply bask in its big-budget, B-Movie charms, the same can't be said for its follow-up Alien: Covenant. An utterly joyless and perfunctory effort that completely mislead audiences by promising them balls-to-the-wall Xenomorph action and instead gave them two hours of meandering, faux-philosophical nonsense.

Neither film fared particularly well with fans or critics but Michael Fassbender's portrayal of the android David in both films garnered high praise.

He truly imbues David with the perfect balance of human-like warmth and cold, clinical menace. Every aspect of his performance is tuned to perfection, from his soft-spoken delivery to highly calculated movements, he really sells the idea of David being a sentient machine with thoughts and curiosities well outside of his boundaries. Covenant itself may be criminally dull but Fassbender remains positively hypnotic throughout.

Contributor
Contributor

UK based screenwriter, actor and one-half of the always-irreverent Kino Inferno podcast. Purveyor of cult cinema, survival horror games and low-rent slasher films.