Horror+Struck's Tastes of Terror

Horror+Struck's Tastes of Terror

Alien: Romulus (2024) - 

The Alien franchise has long been an absolute favorite of mine for as long as I can remember. Growing up, these sci fi classics were shown every year as a marathon with the guys of the family. There's something so unique about each entry, ranging from straight horror slasher to straight machismo action. The characters are individuals in their own right and our heroine is a constant badass. But what happens when you lose that star power and the franchise is disappears for 20 years?

I won't say I don't like the prequel films. I absolutely love Prometheus, Ridley Scott's comeback to the franchise. I think it's unique in its own right, allowing new ideas to breath some life into our acid spitting Xenos. But it suffered from some plot holes and maybe a tiny bit of unnecessary background. Covenant, the second Ridley Scott prequel, suffered from an atrociously boring concept despite it having some redeeming qualities such as some amazing gore, that rivals our next film, and gorgeous cinematography. It was hard to place where the franchise would go from there, after the ending clearly leads us into the first film or possibly the upcoming TV series for FX.

Romulus is our answer. A sequel AND a prequel, as its timeline sites between Alien and James Cameron's Aliens, tells the story of a crew of young adults looking to leave their shitty planet to move on to a new world. But the caveat is they need some cryo pods in order to make the flight. So what else do they do? Scavenge for them on a Weyland Yutani space station sitting right about their heads. And if we know anything about Wetland Yutani is they looove to mishandle some facehuggers.

That brings us to where I stand on the film as a whole. As all my reviews, I don't want to get into spoiler territory. 

This isn't a stand alone film. Let's start there. If you haven't seen the movies (yes the prequels too) you're gonna be lost. There is so much fan service and call backs to the originals, that you don't want to be that person whispering to your neighbor, asking them who that is. 

It also suffers a lot from pulling ideas from all the franchise's films and I'm not just talking because it's an Alien movie. It takes so much from previous films that you want to roll your eyes at lines or scenes that feel to familiar or scenes you've even seen before, besides the obvious, chest bursters and face huggers. 

The film also doesn't fully utilize Fede Alvarez's talent of making some real gross out scenes, which is unfortunate because his remake/boot of the Evil Dead franchise is some of the best horror out there.

That's all to say I that I did have fun. I jumped and yelled out in my seat while watching the IMAX showing. I squirmed and squinted. 

While it's not the goriest in the franchise. It has some wincing moments. 

It also is absolutely beautiful to look at. There is so much care put into the film to give it that nostalgic flair and the design lends itself to 1979. There's so much detail in the sets that you'd think they were filmed back to back with the originals. This film doesn't necessarily retcon technological advances of the original films and that's a nice touch.

I do recommend this movie for Alien fans but if you're new to the franchise, I don't particularly find it useful to watch. You'll be asking more questions than receiving answers and if you're not willing to sit down and bust out a marathon, this movie might lose you, if not at least provide a few scares that may be enjoyable.

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