10 Horror Movies That Originally Had A Much Darker Ending
3. Alien
Alien is unquestionably one of the greatest horror movies ever made, but it's unlikely that it - and the franchise as a whole - would be as highly regarded today had Ridley Scott gone with his original script.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly (via Looper), Scott revealed that Alien had a much bleaker ending in its first draft, with sole survivor Ripley's iconic harpoon trap failing to pay off. This results in the eponymous xenomorph swiftly dispatching the franchise's biggest star, before imitating Dallas' voice (yes, really) and sending off a distress call to lure in more victims.
As well as pre-empting the Predator's iconic imitation tricks by a whole eight years, this ending would have been disastrous for the Alien franchise. Much of the series' popularity comes from the 1986 sequel, and without Sigourney Weaver's bravura performance as a battle-hardened Ellen Ripley, there's no way Aliens would have become the pop culture milestone it is today.
The Alien franchise may have more bad movies than good, but a world without Aliens would be a poorer one indeed. So let's be thankful Ridley Scott saw sense and finished his movie with a triumphant blast out of an airlock, rather than a distressing decapitation in a spaceship.