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Alien: Romulus has been one of those 2024 movies that, while not making a Marvel-level splash, has been pretty successful with its financial haul for more than a week now. Co-writer/director Fede Álvarez’s attention to detail is part of what’s made this new entry on the Alien movie timeline so rewarding, winning over fans and converts left and right.
Part of those details were a tribute to the fan favorite video game Alien: Isolation; which presented a firm focus on some of the action presented. That much was confirmed by Alien: Romulus’ director of photography Galo Olivares, thanks to a recent interview he conducted with Variety.
Citing the Don’t Breathe and Evil Dead director’s affection for Sega and Creative Assembly’s 2014 video game, Olivares shared this specific influence that crossed over into this cinematic bloodbath:
Fede loved that, so we brought a lot of things from that because it’s amazing — the tension. At some point [in the film], you feel like you’re in a video game, this first-person feeling lost in the video game, it’s that.
Situated between Alien: Romulus and Aliens, the adventure of Alien: Isolation follows Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda. While her mother is drifting through space in cryosleep, the search for her current whereabouts leads her to a space station that proves to be hell among the stars.
Cue the Facehuggers, murderous androids and a nuclear reactor just waiting to be overloaded for the safety of the universe. That list could be the building blocks to any of the best sci-fi movies, and yet the Alien franchise continues to make those elements work freshly with each entry that gets added to the cinematic canon.
Much like Romulus’ big Sigourney Weaver easter egg, there are some very specific references made to Isolation. Various switches, weapons and levers, as well as the save point phone consoles from Isolation, are all part of the movie’s central setting of the Renaissance space station. Even the headsets you see Cailee Spaeny and her co-stars use are similar to the one that Amanda is using to coordinate with other survivors.
But besides those pieces of iconography being thrown into the mix, there are definitely some scenes that follow that first person style of thrills. One scene in particular sees a handful of Alien: Romulus’ cast cautiously walking through a corridor laden with Facehuggers feels like a stealth mission brought to life.
Anyone who’s ever played Isolation can tell you that stealth is a crucial skill to possess in the setting known as the Sevastopol space station. Otherwise, the nearest Working Joe synthetic is just as likely to take you out as the Xenomorph chasing you down.
While I’m not going to spoil it here, I have a feeling that fans who have already experienced Alien: Romulus’ wild ending would also be inclined to agree that one other specific shot in the final act nails the first-person fright experience to a tee. I’ll tease it a little further by saying that it’s a very ‘in your face’ jump scare, which in hindsight feels like something people might be tempted to hit pause after seeing.
If you want to know what it feels like to have the living daylights scared out of you in the depths of space, Alien: Romulus is still offering that experience in theaters at the moment. Those of you looking to return to the past history of frights in the Alien movies only need a Hulu subscription to get you back to the action, as the platform is currently streaming every mainline entry in the franchise.