The crew of a commercial spaceship are picked off one by one by a merciless extraterrestrial.

One of the most influential films of all-time, Alien is iconic not only for its atmospheric score, outstanding visual effects or dynamic performances from Sigourney Weaver, Harry Dean Stanton and John Hurt. Perhaps the film’s greatest success is the lived-in environments it builds. The Nostromo feels alive; its digestive system of leaky pipes and uncooperative computers becomes the perfect environment for ever-building terror once the malevolent Xenomorph comes aboard. Similarly, the alien environments and Xenomorph itself were designed by H.R. Giger, whose biomechanical style grants layers of meaning to a film already rich with subtext. A disposable crew at the behest of a multinational corporation seeking to develop biological superweapons with the help of dispassionate supercomputers? Sounds familiar!

If you’ve not yet seen it on the big screen, this is not one to miss.