'Alien' is my favorite horror movie of all time — and it's perfect for Halloween

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The first 'Alien' movie is genuinely terrifying

Sigourney Weaver in "Alien" (1979).
(Image credit: Alamy)

"Alien" is an incredible horror movie.

Now you may read that and be thinking to yourself "'Alien'? Really? The sci-fi movie?"

Trick or Stream

Welcome! This article is part of Trick or Stream, a seasonal series in which members of the Tom's Guide staff share what they're planning to watch for Halloween 2024 and their takes on the horror genre, with the goal of helping you find great movies that you might want to stream during spooky season.

Now if we were talking about "Aliens," the 1986 James Cameron sequel, that would be a different story. While that is also a great movie, it's much more of an action movie than a horror movie, while still keeping the science fiction elements essential to the franchise.

But "Alien" isn't high-octane. It's dark and eerie. It's got jumpscares. It's essentially a movie where everyone is trapped and being hunted by a monster while unseen forces are pulling the strings in the background. It's littered with horror elements, right down to the titular xenomorph alien itself designed by H.R. Giger.

What is 'Alien" about?

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"Alien" opens with Captain Dallas (Tom Skerrit), Executive Officer Kane (John Hurt), Warrant Officer Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), Navigator Lambert (Veronica Cartwright), Science Officer Ash(Ian Holm), and engineers Parker (Yaphet Kotto) and Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) — the seven-member crew of space ship Nostromo — in stasis headed home to Earth.

However, they're suddenly brought out of stasis after the ship's computer, Mother, detects a transmission from a nearby planet the Nostromo is passing by. Per company policy, they're required to investigate ... and that's when things start to go wrong.

'Alien' is tense and terrifying

From the moment the facehugger attacks Kane, you know this movie isn't going to go well. Scratch that. When you see the alien with a hole in its chest before Kane is attacked, you know that things aren't going to go well for the crew of the Nostromo.

And surprise — things go terribly. And if you start watching this movie on Hulu you'll see just exactly how bad things get.

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You'll also probably be wondering why Ash would override Ripley and allow the away team to come back onto the ship after Kane had been attacked by an unknown alien species. Spoiler alert: You will know the answer to that question by the time the movie is over.

So from jump scares, like the iconic scene of an alien bursting through one of the crew, to blood, scary monstrous creatures and instilling a tense ominous vibe in the viewer as they watch the movie, "Alien" has all these horror movie tropes and more.

It's not the scariest horror movie ever made — not even close. But it is one of my favorites, and also one of the best. Watch it now to get yourself scared for Halloween.

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Malcolm McMillan
Malcolm McMillan
Streaming Editor

Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He's not one to shy away from a hot take, including that "John Wick" is one of the four greatest films ever made.