Horror Icon #4

The Alien.
Born: ????, first appearance in 1979.
Where: ????







Horror Movies:
Alien (1979)
Aliens (1986)
Alien 3 (1992)
Alien: Resurrection (1997)
Alien vs. Predator (2004)
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)

The "Alien" is one of my favorite movie monsters of all time. The Alien is a pure killing machine. To quote the words from the Terminator movies..."It can't be reasoned. It can't be bought. It's a killing machine."

The movie "Alien" first appeared in 1979, and was considered "the most influential of modern action pictures". Many films have ripped off of Alien in many ways. It was both considered a Science Fiction film and a Horror movie at the same time. The sequel, "Aliens", is one of my favorite movies of all time. It plots futuristic marines with bad ass guns against hundreds of the alien monsters. I was disappointed...along with others...with the third installment of the Alien franchise. The third movie takes place on a deserted planet in which a prison colony has been nearly vacant for years. The remaining criminals, a small staff and Sigourney Weaver's character fight off the Alien (with no weapons) as they await rescue. The Alien uses a dog as it's host and then displays characteristics similar.

It starts off as an alien egg. Inside the egg lives a spider-like monster called the "facehugger" (pictured left) that attaches itself to the mouth of it's victim. While attached, it plants an embryo down into the throat of the host. After a while, a miniature alien bursts out of the host's chest. The Alien continues to grow and sheds skin (like a snake) until it's full blown.

Characteristics of the Alien:
- Born from an egg (Queen Alien lays)
- Facehugger plants an embryo into a host's throat
- The adult alien appears predominantly black in color, similar in cast to heavily tarnished silver
- It has an elongated shiny head with no eyes
- The jaw holds the razor-sharp metal teeth
- The mouth houses a tongue-like body part with a second mouth on the end
- The alien has an anthropomorphic form, with two legs and two arms, its hands each armed with six long, black, razor-sharp claws
- Acid for blood
- Takes shape/characteristic of the host it's born out of
- Saliva is some type of sticky goo slime
- They use the goo to immobilize their victims while other eggs are made so that facehuggers can plant more embryos
- And they can swim!