Review of Ali G Indahouse (2002) by Kai82 — 07 Nov 2020

A cult classic that started a franchise, a legacy and is for many the quintessential science fiction / horror movie. In addition it made Sigourney Weaver, Ridley Scott and H. R: Giger world famous. It is the story of the crew of the commercial spaceship Nostromo.

The crew is awakened from stasis by the ships computer as an emergency signal was received from a nearby moon. After the rocky landing they discover that it is not a ship of human origin and it holds a frightening secret.

Here I stop my introduction because of spoilers. The great strength of the movie is the cast including the director and the atmosphere they created. The atmosphere is intense and as the movie progresses it gets better and better as the whole cast is in a grim situation that they want to solve while it might be fully out of their control.

I must praise first the director Ridley Scott. He delivered a masterpiece and had a clear vision. There is even a scene were he did not told the actors about a surprise to get a more realistic and shocked performance (Everyone who saw the movie will immediately know the scene I described here spoiler free).

Even if this was made up later it is believable as he clearly knows what he wanted and what worked in this movie. Then there are the actors. Let start with Sigourney Weaver whose career jump-started with this movie.

She is the star of the movie and delivers a flawless performance. Tom Skerrit as captain Dallas is also good and only in this movie because of Ridley Scott (and a higher budget). The rest of the cast is also great and I think Veronica Cartwright, John Hurt, Harry Dean Stanton, Yaphet Kotto and especially Ian Holm should be mentioned here and praised for their performance.

All in all they create an atmosphere that is so immersive that you forget that it is a movie. Then I must also talk about H. R. Giger and his effects. He became a legend and he deserved respect. In short he made a career and a lot of money out of nightmares and his imagination.

His special effects were stellar and did not fail to deliver. I almost forgot the sets. Again they create a realistic and believable atmosphere. Just mundane space travel as it would look if it became common business and alien looking structures that are equally believable.

Then there is the score that enhance the atmosphere. It is so good that you will not notice its effects that you will experience (This is not a critique and meant positive). I have nothing negative to say here and might only warn you about 1 scene that is maybe to shocking for some even if its widely know by now.

When the crew takes a meal after a crewman recovered be prepared for the worst. Overall this is a masterpiece and cult classic. Got a rightful place in movie history and is still as good now as back then.