The Alien franchise has had its ups and downs over the years, but the latest installment, Romulus, is being praised as a glorious return to the franchise’s horror roots.
With viewers and critics alike praising the film for capturing the sheer terror of the original 1980 movie, it’s clear that director Fede Alvarez knew exactly what he was doing when he set out to make this film. And for fans of Alien: Isolation, you’ll be excited to know it wasn’t just the movies he took inspiration from.
New Alien Movie Takes Notes From One of the Scariest Games in History
In a recent interview with GamesRadar on the Inside Total Film podcast, Alvarez revealed one of his key inspirations for the new movie: the critically acclaimed video game Alien: Isolation.
After playing it, he was hit with inspiration on how it could truly be terrifying and done well in today’s cinematic landscape.
Alvarez recounted how he played the game a few years after its release, around the time his film Don’t Breathe (2016) was coming out, and it left a lasting impression on him.
I was playing, and realizing how terrifying Alien could be if you take it back to that tone.
This realization was a driving force behind the new movie, as the Director tried to bring back the suspense and horror that made the original film so iconic and the video game so terrifying.
The decision seems to have paid off, too, as the movie is sitting at an impressive 81% on Rotten Tomatoes with a 4.0 average from audience reviews on Google at the time of writing.
In particular, it seems to be the movie’s atmosphere and tension that are the star of the show, emulating the claustrophobic terror that the first movie had plenty of.
There’s An Easter Egg in Romulus: Did You Spot It?
The director didn’t stop at just capturing the tone of the original film and the game. If you’ve played Alien: Isolation and watched the new movie, you might’ve noticed a similarity—particularly with the movie’s use of phones.
In the game, emergency phones serve as save points where players can register their progress, but they’re not safe havens; the Xenomorph can still attack. And the movie tries to bring out the same feeling.
In the game, every time you knew there’s a phone you’d go, ‘Fuck, I’m about to go into some bad set-piece.’ It’s the same thing here. You’ll see they’re planted strategically throughout the film.
Alvarez translated this into a cinematic technique. Every time you see a phone in the movie, you just know something terrible is about to go down.
He successfully manipulates the audience, making them feel dread, or in his words, “brace for impact” when they see a phone on-screen.
If you’ve seen Alien: Romulus, do you think it did a good job of emulating the horror from the original franchise and the game? Plus, did Alvarez’s phone trick work? Let us know in the comments below!
