ENG 281 Week #12: Aliens Classic Films

MB: As we have been thinking about these movies throughout the semester it has been discussed that "monsters" serve as a metaphor for what a society fears or feels threatened by. This is very clear from the different options here, from the straight-out horror of the first three, to the more satirical last two. Besides the easy enjoyment of these as horror films, whether they scare you or not, we should pay close attention to these representations, as for the uncritical consumer they can interpellate us into a certain set of assumptions and condition us to blindly accept social/political realities (They Live examines this). Furthermore, the labeling of people/cultures as monsters, no matter the reasons, is a process of dehumanization that allows/encourages systemic oppression, mass slaughter, and cultural genocide (satirically explored in Starship Troopers).  The Thing is one of the most terrifying films I have seen in a theater and a masterpiece of existential horror. Alien created an iconic monster that was spun off into many sequels of varying success and gave us one of the major female action characters in Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a classic of 70s paranoid thriller-horror films and left me frantic/chilled all the way up to the end.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (USA: Philip Kaufman, 1978)
Film description: "The first remake of the paranoid infiltration classic moves the setting for the invasion, from a small town to the city of San Francisco and starts as Matthew Bennell notices that several of his friends are complaining that their close relatives are in some way different. When questioned later they themselves seem changed, as they deny everything or make lame excuses. As the invaders increase in number they become more open and Bennell, who has by now witnessed an attempted “replacement”, realizes that he and his friends must escape or suffer the same fate. But who can he trust to help him and who has already been snatched?"
Resources for after you watch the film:

Jenkins, Jamie, Mark Mcgee and Mike White. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." The Projection Booth #130 (September 3, 2013) ["From the deep reaches of space the pods arrive, ready to take over the human race, erasing our humanity and turning us into walking vegetables. We're looking at the four versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (and a few other films)."]

Koski, Genevieve, et al. "Double Troubles, Pt. 1 - Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)." The Next Picture Show #170 (April 2, 2019) ["Jordan Peele’s new US extends a long history of horror stories that use doppelgängers to explore identity, one that includes as a cornerstone Philip Kaufman’s 1978 adaptation of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. This episode we delve into the film’s eerie version of San Francisco to talk about how its atmosphere of dread and late-‘70s malaise distinguishes it from other versions of this story, and amplifies the human drama within this classic alien-invasion narrative."]

---. "Double Troubles, Pt. 2 - Us." The Next Picture Show #171 (April 9, 2019) ["Our pairing of devious doppelgängers arrives at Jordan Peele’s new US, which brings into 2019 some of the same themes of paranoia and dread seen in one of its many predecessors, Philip Kaufman’s INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. After comparing our reactions to US’s “messy by design” narrative and the conversations that have sprung up around it, we bring these two films together to compare how they reflect their respective eras, how each works as horror, and the weird character relationships that underscore the human drama behind the allegory."]

Alien (UK/USA: Ridley Scott, 1979)
"The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating an unknown transmission."
Resource archive for after you watch the film

The Thing (USA: John Carpenter, 1982)
"A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims."
Resource archive for after you watch the film

They Live (USA: John Carpenter, 1988)

Resource for after you watch the film:

Bromley, Patrick, et al. "Special Report: They Live (1988)." The Projection Booth (April 11, 2017)

Jones, Eileen. "They Live Is a Timeless Anti-Capitalist Horror Classic." Jacobin (October 29, 2022) 

Starship Troopers (USA: Paul Verhoeven, 1997)
"Set in the future, the story follows a young soldier named Johnny Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry. Rico’s military career progresses from recruit to non-commissioned officer and finally to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an arachnoid species known as 'the Bugs'."

Resources for after you watch the film:

Neumeier, Ed and Paul M. Sammon. "Starship Troopers." The Projection Booth #99 (January 29, 2013)

Scott, Suzanne. "Starship Troopers: The Massacre Is the Message." Reverse Shot (June 22, 2003)