10 Movies That Tricked You By Killing Main Characters Early

Without Alien, several aspects now common in horror couldn't exist. You certainly couldn't have a female protagonist go up against the big monster. It was unthought of. That's why it seemed like Tom Skerritt's Dallas, the captain of the ship, would end up going against the xenomorph in the climax.

Firstly, he was the captain, a role that automatically assumed authority. Secondly, he was a known actor, headlining Oscar winners like MASH and even showing up in Harold and Maude. Third, his name is Dallas, which is an action hero name.

But Ridley Scott wanted to shift paradigms - fitting for a movie essentially about mouth-rape. When he sent Dallas into the airshaft with a flamethrower to torch the monster, things started to feel off-kilter. He tracks it successfully, only to discover it's behind him, arms outstretched. His death is even more agonizing in the director's cut, where survivor girl Ripley (Sigorney Weaver) finds him still alive, incubating more offspring

The original script didn't even let Ripley off easy, calling for the alien to bite her head off, then mimic her voice to report it was ready to return home.