Summary
Alien: Romulusdirector Fede Álvarez explains duringSan Diego Comic-Conwhy he made the new franchise movie a practical, suspense-based horror outing. Having had success reviving theEvil Deadfranchise with his well-received 2013 horror reboot, Álvarez next sets his sights on breathing new life into the flaggingAlienfranchise, which last graced movie screens with 2017’sAlien: Covenant, a box office disappointment with just $240 million grossed worldwide.
Speaking exclusively toScreen Rantat SDCC, Álvarez offered fascinating insights about his approach to the latestAlienfranchise movie, explaining how his experience on prior filmsEvil DeadandDon’t Breatheinformed his way of attacking the material, and outlining why he thinks suspense is key to making a good horror movie. Check out his remarks below:
Well every movie is a film school in some way, you learn so much. I’m sure these guys learn too. Every experience and every movie you make you come out the other end learning a lot of things. Sometimes good lessons, and sometimes bad lessons, I think. I think with Evil Dead, it was the whole idea that the practical was scarier. That’s for sure it was a time when a lot of people were doing CG blood and CG gags of limb flying, it was always like that. We kind of reset the clocks back to start doing things practical at that time and it really translated in the movie. I think people that love that kind of movie really responded to it and it felt so scary, really. And then Don’t Breathe, it was mostly about that suspense is the most powerful tool for horror, right? You don’t have anything on that movie. We have a hallway, a couple kids, there was nothing and it was all about really what was not happening in-camera, what we were expecting to see next, that really held it together. There’s a lot of that in this movie as well that really relies a lot on the suspense.
Will A Return To Suspense-Based Horror Save The Alien Franchise
TheAlienfranchisehas been taken in a lot of different directions over the course of its history. James Cameron made a flat-out action film with his 1986 classicAliens, while Jean-Pierre Jeunet turned 1997’sAlien Resurrectioninto a strange combination of body horror, Joss Whedon-penned horror-comedy and outlandish sci-fi. When Ridley Scott returned withPrometheus, he expanded the lore into more philosophical areas, dispensing with xenomorphs almost entirely.
These differentAlienapproaches met with varying degrees of success, turning the franchise into a somewhat disjointed string of movies. Now with the latestAliensequel,Álvarez is trying what seems to be a back-to-basics approach, one that returns the franchise to its roots. The original 1979Alienwas indeed, above all else, a suspense-based horror movie, essentially a haunted house film in space, with a murderous alien creature instead of a ghost or demon.
Alien: Romulusstars Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced and Spike Fearn
Álvarez proved himself able to revive a franchise with a practical effects approach onEvil Dead, and showed suspense movie talents onDon’t Breathe. The horror tricks he learned on those movies should serve him well as hisAlien: Romulustakes the franchise back to where it began. It’s yet to be seen whether audiences are ready to take the journey with him, as he takesAlienback to outer space for another round of humans vs. xenomorphs.
Alien: Romulus
Cast
Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The movie is directed by Fede Álvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.
