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This year marks the 38th anniversary of the release for Ridley Scott’s 1979 movie sci-fi horror film Alien, to commemorate this, we’ll be down at The Merchant as we screen this hit movie on the big screen, as usual there’ll be drinks and brilliant Nightcrawler Pizza promos.
Ahead of the screening, here are 10 cool facts about the Academy Award winning movie Alien.
1) Sigourney Weaver was all but unknown as a film actress when she auditioned. She was the last of the seven principal stars to be cast.
2) The blue light effects in the egg chamber came from lasers belonging to The Who. The filmmakers borrowed them from the rock icons, who were in a soundstage next door testing out lighting gear for an upcoming tour.
3) The actors didn’t know in advance how the scene of the alien’s emergence from John Hurt’s abdomen would play; Scott deliberately kept it a secret so that their horrified reactions would be spontaneous and real.
4) The slime dripping from the alien’s jaws was made of K-Y jelly.
5) “Alien” won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects and was nominated for another, for Best Art Direction.
6) In 2003, a longer version dubbed “Alien: The Director’s Cut” was released, but Scott dismissed the title as a mere marketing tool, said the additional scenes were superfluous, and claimed the original version of the film was “pretty flawless.”
7) Ash, which proved a breakthrough role for Ian Holm after 20 previous films, was not initially supposed to be an android. The idea of making him a robot came from producers Walter Hill and David Giler.
8) Veronica Cartwright had read for the part of Ripley but didn’t realize she was to play Lambert instead until she arrived in London for costume fittings.
9) As a child, Cartwright had co-starred in another classic creature feature, Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.” One of her co-stars in that movie was comic actor Doodles Weaver, uncle of Cartwright’s future “Alien” co-star, Sigourney Weaver.
10) Giger made a point of designing the creature without eyes, so that it would look even more chilling and soulless.
So now you know 10 interesting facts that you may have not known before, pop down to The Merchant this weekend to catch Alien on the big screen and enjoy some drinks, pizza and a boss time!
Event details can be found at the link – https://www.facebook.com/events/1947091922172997/
See you there!