Alien Vs Predator is often called the worst installment of both the Alien and Predator franchises, but beneath its PG-13 exterior is an atmospheric and underrated sci-fi horror masterpiece that's the best Predator sequel yet. Released in 2004, the franchise face-off Alien Vs Predator promised to be an iconic match-up, a sci-fi horror extravaganza that would leave the likes of Freddy Vs Jason in its dust. Coming from Event Horizon director Paul W.S Anderson, the movie was set to be a gory and scary return to form for both franchises at the same time. Some fans may insist that Predators is the only worthy Predator successor, but this misses out on Alien Vs Predator's many secret successes.
The film was maligned upon its release for its convoluted story, slow pacing, and lack of gore. The last issue was due to the neutered PG-13 rating Anderson's film received from the MPAA. Understandably, Anderson didn't want to go overboard on the film's gruesome scenes, as he had already butted heads with studio executives when filming Event Horizon, his earlier sci-fi horror movie. But this supposed flaw is actually one of Alien Vs Predator's strengths.
It's precisely the sparse gore, methodical pace, and complex plotting that make Alien Vs Predator worth revisiting. To be fair to the studio, they were probably justified in giving Anderson's work a PG-13 rating, since the ultra-violent Event Horizon's original "Blood Orgy" was unwatchable. So despite critics' claims, it's the lack of gore and subsequent atmosphere which proves Alien Vs Predator is not only a worthy addition to both franchises, but also a triumphant Predator installment.
The plot of this much-anticipated movie follows the formula established by the Alien franchise. A group of archaeologists, linguists, and assorted other laypeople unable to handle an extra-terrestrial threat are sent to investigate a mysterious Antarctic heat bloom at the behest of a rich investor. Just like that, Alien Vs Predator sets up a scarier premise than any of its predecessors. It accomplished this by being the only film in the Predator franchise that pits ordinary people against the titular human hunter. Predator has a rescue team helping each other out, Predator 2 has armed cops working with special agents, The Predator has a squad of former soldiers reunited to give the eponymous human hunters a hard time.
Some unsparing rankings of the Alien franchise refuse to even include this cross-over effort in the franchise canon, but the ingenious decision to leave relatable civilians stranded with the titular threats makes Alien Vs Predator more akin to an Alien movie than a Predator installment. The setting of Alien Vs Predator alone elevates the film into full-blown horror, a genre that the Predator hasn't dabbled in before. There are horrific moments in the Predator movies, but the franchise takes place in LA's concrete jungle, the first film's literal jungle, a jungle planet, and the suburbs, for some reason. They're action-adventure movies set in populated areas. Compare that to Alien Vs Predator's locked room set-up, where the room is an ancient abandoned pyramid in the frozen, unsparing Antarctic waste, whose only inhabitants are two warring monstrous species.
Without explaining the history of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, it's fair to guess that a company trying to engineer bio-weapons isn't going to lose much sleep if their entire research team disappears without a trace. Therefore, these characters are defenseless every-men, trapped at the end of the world.
This solid set-up would mean nothing without an intense atmosphere, something Alien Vs Predator has in spades. It's down to the lack of gore that the film succeeds, as viewers are forced to get invested in these doomed characters rather than simply awaiting their demises. The refusal to focus on gore elevates the film, and the ambitious lore it provides leaves room for more backstory. It's a good thing, since there are plenty of potentially incredible Alien movies which never made it to cinema screens.
For example, Neuromancer author William Gibson's script for Alien 3 would have been a better movie than the grim and brutal David Fincher film viewers got, which proves that gore and a dark tone are no match for lore and an inventive backstory. For further evidence that gore doesn't make for an effective Alien or Predator installment, look no further than Alien Vs Predator's laughably bad sequel, 2008's Requiem. Alien Vs Predator: Requiem is further evidence that gore can't carry a sci-fi horror the way a solid story and clever mythos can.
Explaining the similarities between Event Horizon and Alien illustrates how influential the 1979 "haunted house in space" sci-fi horror was for Anderson. Alien Vs Predator marked the culmination of this influence, as he got to expand the franchise's mythology. Without a steady stream of gory deaths to distract audiences, massive missing chunks of Predator and Alien lore are filled in by Alien Vs Predator's slow, patient set-up.
Viewers learn Predators have been hunting Xenomorphs for sport as long as they've hunted humans, and that the film's heat bloom was designed to ensnare victims for alien incubation. It's a twisted, terrifying set up that transforms the Predators into sadistic thrill-killers, rendering them more threatening and less aloof simultaneously. It's also this contrast which makes their departing gesture, honoring the sole surviving human for her hunting prowess, more affecting and surprising than earlier humanizing moments for the Predators on-screen.
Plenty have argued that the Alien prequels are better than The Predator and for good reason, as the ambition displayed in their backstory elevates them above The Predator's more-of-the-same approach. It's this ambitious world-building, along with a more tense, less gory tone, and an ingenious horror setting that makes Alien Vs Predator an underrated sci-fi horror masterpiece.
