Dan O'Bannon (1946 - 2009)

Dan O'Bannon died yesterday at the age of 63. He was the cousin of my college friend Brian, and one of the screenwriters (along with Ronald Shusett) of Ridley's Scott's 1979 masterpiece of space horror, Alien. He directed 1985's zombie comedy Return of the Living Dead and worked on the screenplays for Lifeforce and Total Recall, among other films.

But the movie for which I will most remember him is his and Shusett's follow-up to Alien, 1981's Dead & Buried. Starring James Farentino; Melody Anderson (Flash Gordon); Jack Alberston and Robert (Freddy Kreuger) Englund, Dead & Buried is set in the small Rhode Island town of Potter's Bluff. When a series of strange murders starts to take place, the local sheriff (Farentino) starts to become suspicious of the kindly undertaker/coroner (Albertson). As directed by Gary Sherman, D & B is shot through a dream-like foggy filter, making its strange events seem even more surreal.

I saw Dead and Buried with my sister (who will always be my favorite movie companion, even if it's been years since we actually went to the movies together) at a long-gone movie theater in the Quakerbridge Mall and we were both freaked-out by it's slowly building, quiet sense of doom (not to mention the freaky murders).

Thanks for the movie memories, Dan. I hope the projects you had in development come to fruition.

More on Dan O'Bannon's career on tomorrow's Zombie Zone post.

More, anon.
Prospero

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"Alien:" Sci-Fi or Horror?

This is an occasional discussion I've had with one friend (you know who you are) about whether or not the Ridley Scott classic Alien is a Science Fiction Film or a Horror movie. Tonight I am going to argue for both sides and then draw my own conclusion, as I hope you do, as well.

But before I start, I have a very funny story about seeing Alien in the movies. It was 1979 and I was about to graduate high school. I went with my then best friend, Todd and his brother, Dwight (again at an Eric Theater) to a matinee. I bought my ticket and then Todd stepped up to teh box office and said (I swear on my life): "Can my brother get in free? He's blind."

I look over, and there's Dwight (who could see perfectly well), rolling his eyes up into his head and swaying. I almost choked, but held on for dear life as the girl said "Why would you bring a blind kid to a movie?" and without batting eye, Todd said "There's nothing on TV."

Dwight did not get in for free, as I remember. But he screamed like a little girl during the movie, so he got some karmic payback.

So, he screamed like a little girl, eh? Sounds like a horror movie to me. But - not so fast. Let's break it down, shall we? Here's a little checklist:*

Set in the future? Sci-Fi: Sometimes Horror:Sometimes
Set in space? Sci-Fi: Often Horror:Sometimes
Is there a monster? Sci-Fi:Often Horror:Often
Is there a demon? Sci-Fi:Sometmes Horror:Often
Are there robots/machines? Sci-Fi:Often Horror:Sometimes
Are there lasers? Sci-Fi:Often Horror:Rarely
Are there boobs? Sci-Fi:Sometimes Horror:Often
Is it camp? Sci-Fi:Sometimes Horror:Sometimes
Are there vampires? Sci-Fi:Sometmes Horror:Often
Are there dark corridors/tunnels? Sci-Fi:Often Horror:Often
Are people killed in horrible ways? SciFi:Often Horror:Often
Does it star Lance Hendrickson?Sci-Fi: Often Horror: Often

I'm going to call this a tie here, folks. Two very different genres with so many crossover elements as to make them not only a kin to one another stylistically, but often in spirit. Therefore it is my fervid belief that Alien (whose plot is lifted directly from a 1950's stinkeroo space monster movie - right down to the alien traveling through the ventilation system and killing it by opening the air hatch) is a Sci-Fi Horror movie. n the hands of screenwriters Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusset and director Ridley Scott, a silly space opera with a ridiculous monster become a spook house nightmare with an almost too-horrible-to-imagine monster.

Watching Alien for the first time is a terrifying experience. From the WTF? scene with the giant alien pilot to the horrible Face-Hugger implanting its egg, to the infamous chest-bursting and the rest of the xenomorph's transformation into a dual jawed, acid-blooded, slimy, insectoid killing machine. If that's not a monster from your worst nightmares, I don't know what is. Scott infuses his hardware steel and fiberglass set with a damp chill and loads upon loads of atmosphere - an exceptionally important element in any genre film. The performances from a cast at the height of their powers are all the better when you realize they really weren't sure what was going to happen at the dinner table, and their reactions of surprise and disgust are quite real.

So, for these and many other reasons, and not just that amazing tagline, I'm naming Alien 'My Favorite Sci-Fi/Horror' movie. So there!

Now tell me that wasn't scary!

More terrors, anon.
Prospero

*PS - Could you name all 25 movies referenced in the checklist?

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