April 26th is “Alien Day,” a celebration of the storied and beloved Alien franchise. An IP that is arguably going stronger now in the 2020s than it ever has, there’s little doubt that the franchise has remained influential and, depending on the entry, terrifying. This is especially true of the original film. For instance, there’s 2024’s Alien: Romulus, which brought the saga back to its claustrophobic horror in space roots. In fact, Ridley Scott’s original 1979 is so influential that not only does Romulus go out of its way to link itself to it (specifically, Romulus takes place between Alien and Aliens), but so too does the upcoming Hulu series Alien: Earth, which takes place two years before the events of Scott’s film.
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It makes sense that Alien remains such a noteworthy entry in cinema history on both its own franchise and the industry at large because, without a doubt, it’s the scariest entry of the IP. When it comes to determining what the scariest scene in the whole franchise is, two moments come to mind, and they’re both from the original Alien. Though the death of Tom Skerritt’s Dallas is both perfectly drawn-out and unexpected (Skerritt was first billed, after all), it’s the off-screen death of Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) that serves as the franchise’s most horrifying scene. It’s the best off-screen death in film history, in terms of memorability and how much it forces the viewer to imagine what is happening just out of sight. Even over Ben Gardner in Jaws and Ned Rubenstein in Friday the 13th, it reigns supreme.
Almost every death in Alien is flat-out iconic, so what is it that makes Lambert’s the most jarring? Essentially, it comes down to the strong implication that the Xenomorph assaults her.
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It’s What We Don’t See That’s Scary
Lambert, Ripley, and Yaphet Kotto’s Parker are the last three remaining members of the Nostromo. John Hurt’s Kane goes first in the famous chestburster scene (the franchise’s best, and certainly frightening in its own right), Harry Dean Stanton’s Brett gets a toothy Xenomorph tongue to the head while looking for Jonesy the cat, Dallas is snatched up in the air shafts (and in the Director’s Cut is revealed to have been cocooned), and Ian Holm’s Ash is exposed as a nefarious android. After all that the three survivors decide to hop aboard the Nostromo‘s escape vessel, the Narcissus.
The issue is that the Narcissus cannot carry three people for an extended duration. That is, unless it is stocked up with coolant for its life-support system. It’s for this purpose that Parker and Lambert temporarily part ways with Ripley, who is activating the Nostromo‘s self-destruct system.
At first, the only indication the Xenomorph has entered the room with them is its shadow and the growing intensity of the ominous soundtrack. Then, Lambert sees it, and Cartwright’s eyes go wide. After quickly dispatching of Parker, the creature continues approaching Lambert.
The viewer sees the Xenomorph’s tail making its way across the grate-covered floor until it reaches Lambert’s legs. This is when we cut back to Ripley who, like the audience, hears her final cohort on the Nostromo blurt out halted, violated screams.
Like Brett and Dallas’ deaths, this character dispatching was a heavily edited alternative to the full-length version. Lambert’s death actually changed many times. For instance, at one point, after Parker is killed, she was just supposed to climb into a locker and die of fright. But, because of time and budget constraints, that footage with Cartwright was never filmed. In fact, the shot of the alien’s tale going between Lambert’s legs is actually a recycled image from the extended version of Brett’s death, meaning those are Harry Dean Stanton’s legs.
What was filmed and, thankfully, ended up being excised, was Lambert rolling a coolant cannister across the floor, the cannister hits the alien, at which point Lambert does her double take and we see Cartwright’s widened eyes. The alien then crabwalks over towards her, looks up inquisitively, and stands at full height. It utterly deflates the scenes impact. But, because of clever editing, the decision to allow less to be more, and the vocal work by (assumedly) Cartwright, it’s a deeply effective scene.
You can stream Alien, along with the rest of the franchise, on Hulu.
