From Dallas getting mauled to Parker getting impaled, the character deaths in Ridley Scott’s original 1979 the crew of the Nostromo gets brutally picked off.
Alien is responsible for some of the goriest deaths in the history of the horror genre. The infamous chestburster is one of the bloodiest (and most unforgettable) sequences ever put on film. But in some cases, Scott leaves the gore off-screen, because leaving it to the audience’s imagination is often more horrifying than anything that could be created with special effects. There are some shockingly gory deaths in Alien, like Parker getting torn to shreds and Brett having his head caved in, but others aren’t so bad, like Dallas’ off-camera demise.
7 Xenomorph
Not Even Rocket Thrusters Can Break The Xenomorph's Skin
Alien: Romulus recently revealed that Ripley didn’t actually kill the xenomorph when she jettisoned it out into space. It wrapped itself in a cocoon to protect it from the harsh environment of outer space, but it didn’t actually die. Years later, it was later recovered by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, who brought it on board the Renaissance station and nicknamed it “Big Chap.” There, it wreaked havoc, creating a nest and wiping out the entire crew. But when the first Alien movie was released, as far as anyone knew, Ripley killed the xenomorph when she shot it into space.
While it’s certainly a triumphant moment to see Ripley eject the xenomorph into space after all the death and destruction it’s caused, it’s not a particularly gory death. Once it’s out of the ship, it still clings onto the outside, so Ripley has to turn on the thrusters to get rid of it once and for all — and even the rocket thrusters aren’t powerful enough to break this perfect organism’s black, rubbery skin. There isn’t a single drop of acid blood shed as the xenomorph is blasted into the vacuum of space.
6 Lambert
Lambert Gets Impaled On The Xenomorph's Tail Off-Screen
Lambert’s death is implied to be really horrific, but thankfully, the most horrific part happens off-screen. Scott builds the tension masterfully as he cross-cuts between the xenomorph ominously approaching a terrified Lambert and an armed Ripley desperately trying to get there in time to save her. As Ripley gets closer and closer to the room where the xenomorph has Lambert cornered, the xenomorph gets closer and closer to Lambert, who’s frozen with fear. When the xenomorph finally reaches Lambert, its pointed tail slowly sneaks up behind her to impale her.
Mercifully, Scott cuts away before the xenomorph uses its tail to actually pierce Lambert’s skin and tear through her. The shot of the tail creeping up behind Lambert does more than enough to create a terrifying image in the audience’s head, but Scott doesn’t actually put that image on the screen. Lambert’s corpse is seen hanging and dribbling blood when Ripley finally makes it into the room, a few seconds too late to save her from the xenomorph’s wrath, but the mangled carcass is out of focus in the foreground, so it’s not especially gory.
5 Ash
Ash's Death Is Horrific — But Thankfully, He Doesn't Have Human Blood
Ash is initially introduced as a regular member of the crew, but he later turns out to be an android with the company’s interests at heart. Weyland-Yutani has told Ash to bring the xenomorph back to Earth to be studied, and that the lives of his crewmates are expendable. When he’s found out, those crewmates aren’t too pleased. Ripley confronts Ash about his plans, and when he tries to kill her, Ripley and her crewmates fight him. Ripley unplugs Ash and Parker comes in and incinerates him with a flamethrower.
By the time the crew is done with him, Ash has been decapitated and ripped open, with his artificial organs strewn all over the table. This would be really gruesome if he had the red human blood that inherently makes people squeamish. But the androids in the Alien universe have milky-white artificial blood coursing through their artificial veins. This makes Ash’s death a bit less horrifying, because it doesn’t provoke the gut response that red blood does. When Ash dies, he just looks like spilled milk, which isn’t particularly disgusting.
4 Dallas
Most Of Dallas' Demise Happens Mercifully Off-Screen
Dallas’ death is one of the most shocking jump scares in Alien, but it’s not particularly gory. Scott builds the suspense masterfully as Dallas goes into the dark, narrow tunnels to look for the xenomorph, with only the flame at the end of his flamethrower to light the way. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew watches Dallas on a screen. Both Dallas and the xenomorph are represented by blips on the screen, with the xenomorph’s blip rapidly approaching Dallas’, which is a really simple but effective way to build tension and dread.
But when the xenomorph finally catches up to Dallas, most of his death takes place mercifully off-screen. Dallas turns just in time to see the xenomorph lunging out at him, but then the movie cuts away to the screen getting scrambled and the crew reacting to his demise with horror. This is a classic case where it’s even scarier if the film doesn’t show it. Like most of the shark attacks in Jaws, Dallas’ grisly death is much worse in the audience’s head than anything Scott could show on-screen.
3 Brett
Brett Gets His Head Caved In Before Being Pulled Off-Screen
After the xenomorph is born and escapes onto the ship, Brett is the first one to get picked off by it. While Brett and his crewmates are searching for the xenomorph, Brett sees Jones the cat cowering in a corner. He follows the cat into the corner, where he’s horrified to find that, in a matter of hours, the little baby that burst out of Kane’s chest has grown into a full-size adult. It towers over Brett at two meters tall. Brett barely has time to look up and comprehend the bloodthirsty monster in front of him before he’s killed.
In a flurry of quick cuts, the xenomorph caves in Brett’s head, knocks him to the ground, and then picks him up and pulls him off-screen. The really gruesome part of Brett’s death happens off-screen when the xenomorph carries him up to its den. But it’s already pretty horrifying when Brett looks up and sees the alien peel back its various mouths before the inner jaw shoots out into his skull. Unlike some of Alien’s gorier deaths, this shot is mercifully brief, but a lot of blood spurts out of Brett’s head before he’s yanked away.
2 Parker
Poor Parker Gets Ripped To Shreds
As the xenomorph is approaching a petrified Lambert, Parker gallantly jumps in to save her. But as soon as he comes close to the alien, it casually bats him away with its tail. If Parker had just stayed down and let the xenomorph kill Lambert, he might’ve been able to avoid its wrath. But Parker cares too much about his crewmates to do that. When Ripley was attacked by Ash, Parker stepped in with a flamethrower to save her. And when Lambert was attacked by the xenomorph, Parker didn’t stop trying to fight it off until it killed him.
When it becomes clear that Parker won’t leave it alone to kill Lambert in peace, the xenomorph briefly turns its attention to Parker to kill him first. Much like when the xenomorph killed Brett, it shoots its inner jaw into Parker’s skull in an unnerving extreme closeup shot, killing him in an instant. There’s a horrifying burst of crimson blood as Parker’s head gets smashed open. Parker’s death is even gorier than Brett’s, because after caving in his skull, the xenomorph doesn’t drag him off-screen to finish the job; it tears him to shreds on-screen.
1 Kane
Kane's Chestburster Death Is One Of The Most Iconic Horror Movie Moments Of All Time
The first on-screen kill in Alien is also, by far, the goriest. When some of the crew go down onto the alien world to check out a mysterious signal, they find a downed cargo ship full of slimy eggs. One of those eggs opens up and spits out a facehugger onto Kane. They get him back aboard the ship and get him on a table in the medical bay, where they attempt to remove the facehugger. Once they get it off him and he seems to be fine, they all have a party to celebrate.
There’s a bit of morbid irony in this party scene, because it turns out Kane isn’t fine and there’s no reason to celebrate. Halfway through his celebratory dinner, Kane starts convulsing and collapses on the table, where a baby alien bursts out of his chest. The chestburster has become one of the most iconic moments in horror cinema; it’s one of the most disturbing sequences ever put on film. There’s more blood in this scene than all of Alien’s other death scenes combined — it spurts out in every direction like a gruesome fountain.
Alien
- Release Date
- June 22, 1979
- Runtime
- 117 Minutes
- Director
- Ridley Scott
Cast
Ripley
Dallas
WHERE TO WATCH
Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, is a science fiction horror film that follows the crew of the commercial spacecraft Nostromo. Upon investigating a distress signal on a distant moon, they discover a deadly extraterrestrial lifeform. The film stars Sigourney Weaver as Ripley and became a seminal work in both the sci-fi and horror genres, known for its atmospheric tension and groundbreaking visual effects.
- Writers
- Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett
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