This week kicks off our coverage of the Alien franchise. We’re joined by Daily Dead’s Lindsay Traves (@smashtraves) to dissect perhaps the greatest science fiction and horror hybrid of all time, Ridley Scott’s Alien. From the iconic image of the chestburster, the immense and terrifying scope of HR Geiger’s surrealist vision to the machine-like Xenomorph itself, Alien proved that while in space no one can hear you scream, audiences can be heard loud and clear shrieking in terror even forty-plus years later.

As always, there are spoiler galore as we dig deep into the history of Alien and what went into making the teaming of writer Dan O'Bannon, director Ridley Scott and visual artist HR Geiger such a groundbreaking team. We examine the way the film views class structure, feminism and imperialism, all while delivering one hell of a proto-slasher film. The legacy of Alien looms large over almost every science-fiction horror movie today and we tackle the myriad of films that have it in their DNA. 

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