Bacon and eggs. Stripes and solids. Lennon and
McCartney. All perfect matches. And at the multiplex, there’s at least
one combo that can’t be beat:
Science fiction and horror.
That’s right. If you’re looking for a solid case of
the creepy-crawlies, nothing tops a flick in which some
extraterrestrial slime thing is chasing a humanoid around a space ship,
isolated Earth outpost or hostile planet. Like in “Predators,” opening
Friday, in which killer Earthlings are dropped on a distant orb and
find that they’re nothing more than chum for some nasty-looking ETs.
The “Predator” movies are “an evolution out of ‘Alien’; the difference is that ‘Predator’ is us,” says
editor of the “Predators” comic book series. “‘Alien’ is just a killing
machine, and we don’t presume it has any intelligence. The Predator is
more physically dangerous than us, and they might be more resourceful.
They do what we do, and they might be better than us.”
“There are a lot of things (the Predators do) that compare to us,” says “Predators” director
“They take trophies, which make them materialists. In our film, we
explore another facet of the predator universe, and that is predators
killing predators. And as human beings, we are really great at killing
one another. They also hunt, which taps into our most primordial common
denominator.”
In other words, they might be a little like us, but
the Predator is one scary off-worlder. And the feeling we’re up against
an implacably hostile alien force we can’t communicate with is at the
core of sci-fi horror.
Certainly that’s been the case since 1898, when
arrive on Earth, destroy everything they see and are only defeated when
they prove defenseless not against our man-made weapons, but Earthborn
viruses.
Science fiction and horror “both deal with the
unknown, and science fiction tries to show the unknown within a
rational framework,” says
scholarly Journal of Science Fiction Studies. “Horror tends to push it
in the direction of the unknown that’s menacing or horrible. Some of
the most famous science-fiction novels have horror elements to them.”
The whole concept of formerly unknown ETs coming out
of nowhere and causing harm “has to do with the sense of being afraid
of someone with more power than we have,” adds
“And if they can come to us,” he adds, “that’s
different than when we go to them. If they can get to us, they have
more power than we do. We’ve always looked at things this way.”
But sci-fi horror is not just about terror. Ever
since what is arguably the first science-fiction novel, “Frankenstein,”
which deals with issues like what it means to be human, the
sci-fi-horror combo has also served as a metaphor for our deepest fears
and desires. In the 1950s, for example, post-bomb concerns translated
into a distrust of science, as seen in movies like “Them!” (giant
mutated ants) and “Godzilla” (another atomic mutant).
Fast-forward to the “Alien” series, and you get what
Latham refers to as “body horror” concerns, in which “there’s a lot of
body anxiety — the alien will get inside you, it will invade you.”
These movies also “deal with sexual issues,” Rabkin adds. In “Aliens,” “
“There’s a lot of anxiety in the second alien movie
about reproduction,” Latham says. “It’s the good mother Ripley who will
defend the little girl against this evil alien mother. There’s a lot of
slime, which clearly has to do with body processes. And when Ripley has
a nightmare that the alien is bursting out of her, it’s almost like
birth.”
Like the “Alien” series, the “Predator” films play
with metaphor. The first, released 12 years after the end of the
Vietnam War, takes place “in the jungle, and we’re fighting an enemy we
can’t see,” Rabkin says. “During this time, Americans have started to
pay real attention to what was going on in
But, Antal says, the appeal of the Predator is more
elemental than a military metaphor. “When we sit down and say, ‘Let’s
make a list of monsters,’ vampires, zombies and werewolves are forever
on that list,” he says. But after seeing the first “Predator” film, it
was obvious “We were in the midst of a classic. We had seen a monster
step in, introduce himself and forever take his place in the monster
rogues gallery. We were among greatness, and that’s what brings you
back.”
Ultimately, these films all come down to that most
elemental fear, of things that go bump in the night. Factor in some
drooling, scaly creature from another world, and you’ve got the perfect
fright- night entertainment.
“Science fiction explores the unknown,” Allie says.
“The oldest and strongest emotion is fear, and the strongest fear is
the fear of the unknown, and that’s at the heart of horror. Life on
other worlds is the ultimate question mark for us. With such a giant
question, it’s natural that our brains go to dark places.”
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EXTRAORDINARY EXTRATERRESTRIAL TERROR
Interested in a heavy dose of extraterrestrial terror? Check out these movies:
“The War of the Worlds” (1953) and “War of the Worlds” (2005) —
terror emerged. This tale of killer Martians who invade Earth has been
filmed for both TV and the movies, and was adapted by
versions are solid, but the ’50s edition is filled with post-bomb
paranoia and won an Oscar for special effects.
“Alien” (1979) — Any film that features a slime
thing popping out of a guy’s chest … Hoo ha! If this isn’t one of the
scariest movies of all time, then what is?
“Aliens” (1986) — Well, maybe this is. Featuring
Sigourney Weaver in her Oscar-nominated role as the indomitable Ripley,
director
“The Thing From Another World” (1951) and “The
Thing” (1982) — Scientists on an Arctic outpost discover a spaceship
that has crash landed, and have to deal with its occupant, a deadly ET.
The original is more thoughtful, pitting macho military types against
scientists who want to make contact with the visitor. But director
“Predator” (1987) — A military team sent to rescue
some hostages in the Latin American jungle finds itself stalked by a
killer off-world life-form. Features the super-macho cast of
“Pitch Black” (2000) — A cargo ship carrying a
dangerous criminal is forced to crash land on a desert planet. When the
planet’s three suns go into eclipse, the survivors are attacked by
predatory, batlike creatures. Talk about things that go bump in the
night.
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