'Alien Romulus' brings fresh ideas in part VII of cult sci-fi series

With "Alien," a sci-fi shocker thick with atmosphere, Ridley Scott set a new benchmark for the genre - in 1979.

Then came a spectacular sequel thanks to action expert James Cameron, who gave us "Aliens" in 1986. Four more "Alien" films followed, though none ever rivalled the first two.

Now cinemas are set to show the seventh film, "Alien: Romulus," with the action taking place between those first two cult films.

Ridley Scott as producer

After veteran director Ridley Scott directed "Prometheus" (2012) and "Alien: Covenant" (2017) - both of which tell the prequel story - he limited himself to producing the film, leaving Uruguayan Fede Alvarez to direct.

Alvarez was a year old when "Alien" hit film screens, establishing Sigourney Weaver as action heroine Ripley.

We do not see Ripley in "Alien: Romulus," whose story revolves around a group of disillusioned young people seeking to escape their bleak lives as miners in a colony.

On an abandoned space station, the group led by Tyler (Archie Renaux) hopes to find a few hypersleep capsules to make the long journey to a distant planet and start a new life there.

Memories of spaceship Nostromo

For their illegal trip to Romulus Station, Tyler recruits orphan Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her "brother" Andy (David Jonsson).

Andy is an android programmed by Rain's father to protect her. Tyler hopes that the friendly Andy can open a few security doors on the station, though as it turns out, some rooms would have been better left locked.

Once they get upstairs, the burglars realise that scientists were breeding something on the Romulus station. Soon, Tyler and the gang realise why there are no human survivors.

Soon, the terrible events on the Nostromo, the spaceship in the first film, which can also be seen briefly here, are repeated.

Proven concept plus new ideas

Filmmaker Alvarez won his horror experience as the author and director of "Evil Dead" and "Don't Breathe" and shot the lesser known Stieg Larsson film "The Girl in the Spider's Web" in 2018.

This time, with "Alien: Romulus," he relies on the first film's tried and true concept while adding to it original new ideas. One unforgettable highlight is a scene in which Rain navigates through a weightless room full of alien acid.

Another fascinating aspect is that "Alien: Romulus" has a sort of retro-futuristic look that picks up where the 1979 look left off, even though that is no longer entirely modern from today's perspective, without appearing antiquated. Even the 80s trainers work well. The sets and aliens are still based on the designs of HR Giger, who died in 2014 and won an Oscar for "Alien."

Composer Benjamin Wallfisch skilfully incorporated elements of earlier soundtracks by his legendary predecessors Jerry Goldsmith ("Alien") and James Horner ("Aliens") plus Harry Gregson-Williams ("Prometheus") into an atmospheric film score. You will also appreciate the sound effects - and on occasion, absolute silence.

Fans of the series, which also inspired two crossover films with "Predator," will enjoy a whole slew of Easter eggs. Take the moment when the group comes across an android called Rook, the same model as Ash (Ian Holm) on the Nostromo. Holm, who died in 2020, was digitally recreated for the character with the consent of his descendants.

Unlike many horror thrillers today, Alvarez's film is neither extremely gory nor does he overdo it by graphically depicting violence and injuries. He manages to do without cheap shock effects and skilfully gives us plot-related tension instead. And if you are a particularly fearful viewer, no worries. "Alien: Romulus" is not a nail-biter and has a moderate level of tension.

Successful thriller, small flaw

The seventh "Alien" film is still an entertaining science fiction thriller and a worthwhile addition to the series - despite the fact something annoying happens in the last third of the film - and it was already annoying in a similar way in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Alien Resurrection" in 1997. Fans may wind up having some debates about this and are likely to agree that the first two films remain unrivalled.

But more is to come. "Alien: Earth," the first TV series about the creature from an alien world, is set to start in the first half of next year.