Alien: Covenant is now in theaters, and it helps steer the franchise right back into the space-horror territory that captivated audiences when the first Alien film hit back in 1979. While 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars showed filmgoers that science fiction could go beyond cheap B-movies, Ridley Scott’s film was a separate revelation, proof that screen science fiction could also produce quality horror-dramas. His creepy, Freudian Alien captivated audiences, and became an instant horror classic.
But Alien didn’t come out of nowhere. Its filmmaking team was inspired by a whole range of works, both intentionally and otherwise, in constructing its fantastic world and horrifying creatures. Alien also broadly inspired a number of other...
