The most memorable single moment from Ridley Scott’s
sci-fi/horror masterpiece Alien is the
infamous chestburster scene, and justifiably so. It’s one of the most shocking gross-out
moments in film history. So effective
was the xenomorph’s onscreen birth that it actually overshadowed an equally
shocking scene that occurred much later in the film. I’m referring, of course, to the reveal of
Ash as an android. As an adult, I find
that moment, as well as the ones that directly precede and follow it, to be
most unsettling. Dare I say I find it
scarier than the chestburster, due to its underlying themes and the way those
themes are handled.
