"In space, no one can hear you scream." An epic tagline for an equally epic movie. Ridley Scott's 1979 masterpiece "Alien" is exciting, tense, and well made. This movie uses silence and claustrophobia to create such tense scenes that the viewer is incapable of looking away from the screen. This movie launched Sigourney Weaver into stardom, which is no surprise as her performance shows her range and her ability to carry a small cast film. The other cast members all play fleshed out characters very well. This movie only slows down when it does slow pans around rooms and down hallways, but even these shots are no time to relax because they show how truly alone and isolated the Nostromo crew is in space. The titular alien has a strong presence in this movie, but much like the shark in "Jaws" the alien is only on screen for a few minutes in the whole movie's runtime. This movie is very well written and shot. The effects are good, even though some are dated. The alien's design is the thing of nightmares and still looks great today. This movie works well as both a horror film and a sci-fi film. It's success and popularity has spawned a franchise with some good-great films, and some not-so-good films. This movie does not let the viewer get comfortable, and that is one of the reasons this is one of the greatest movies ever made. Overall, I give this movie a 10/10.