John Hurt

Number 6 of My Top 31 Horror Movies : The crew of the spacecraft, Nostromo, intercepts a distress signal from a planet and set’s out to investigate : although Ridley Scott’s ALIEN is not the best film in the franchise (that in my opinion goes to it’s sequel Aliens) it’s certainly the scariest : filmed on a budget of approximately $12 million and released in 1979 the film was a big hit at the box office, launching Sigourney Weaver’s career whilst setting up a successful franchise : in crafting one of the scariest sci-fi horror movies of all time Ridley Scott turned to Swiss Artist H.R. Giger to assist with the film’s creature design, the Swiss ultimately helped create the face-hugger, chestburster, space jockey & more and was part of the special effects team that won the Oscar for visual design : Alien is full of atmosphere and the jumps come thick & fast, take the chestburster scene (one of the most iconic talked about scenes in movie history), WOW that scene, my god, I nearly jumped through the roof…. and those scenes with Dallas tracking down the Alien inside the belly of the ship, crawling through a labyrinth of air ducts armed with only with a flamethrower, you feel claustrophobic & you find yourself biting your nails as Dallas the hunter becomes the hunted (talk about tension)….. and how about when science officer Ash decides to go batshit crazy and attempts to suffocate one of the crew with a newspaper….. let’s be honest I could fill a telephone directory with so many memorable moments throughout the film that will not only scare you half to death with Scott’s injection of suspense & sheer cruelty but will also make your jaw drop in amazement with how visually beautiful the film looks, those magnificent sets in Alien are something to behold : and let’s not forget Jerry Goldsmith’s sensational score, it’s both creepy yet beautiful & Dan O’Bannon’s imaginative story without which we’d have no movie, his concept is sublime : overall Alien is an astonishing 2hrs of scifi horror that will make you want to scream….. but remember, In space no can hear you scream ★★★★★

Snowpiercer (2014) – Movie Review ★★★★½

Director: Joon-ho Bong – Cast: Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, John Hurt, Ed Harris, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, Ah-sung Ko, Kang-ho Song & Alison Pill – Synopsis: This is the first English-language film from the exciting South Korean director Joon-ho Bong (Mother & The Host) – Based on a French graphic novel and set in the future where the only survivors of a failed global-warming experiment try to exist on-board a speeding train known as the Snowpiercer – Verdict: If your one of these people (and there are many) that watch a movie and shout disbelief at the screen till the end credits then don’t watch Snowpiercer, the movie is based on a graphic novel and like all comic book adaptions there are many moments during this film that scream WTF at you – leave your negativity at the door, relax and enjoy the smart creative vision that this film has in abundance and then praise the undoubted genius that is filmmaker Joon-ho Bong on a picture that from start to finish is a visual feast of apocalyptic delight with enough colorful characters and dark content that could have filled a trilogy of movies let alone this one – the exciting, stylish design of the train caught my eye, from it’s dark, gloomy carriages at the back of the train where the lowest on the social ladder would reside to the school, night club and brilliance of the fish tank aquariums that one would find in carriages further up the train – Joon-ho Bong also filled the picture with superb character actors from Jamie Bell’s rebellious second in command, John Hurt’s old, wise mentor, Chris Evans rugged & somewhat reluctant leader and Tilda Swinton’s hilarious turn as one of the movies villains, the whole cast are tremendous in bringing a somewhat realism to the story – overall just like the Snowpiercer this movie runs at 200mph, it’s visually out of this world, action packed with some incredible fight scenes and a scifi flick that will stand the test of time – for me the films only negative is that it had to end….