The Xenomorph Isn’t the Scariest Monster in Alien

The Xenomorph might be one of the best monsters in movie history but the real terror in Alien comes from the company Weyland-Yutani.

Despite having lost three of her shipmates to an alien invader she doesn’t understand, despite learning that her shipmate and science officer Ash (Ian Holm) is an android, despite nearly getting killed when Ash tried to shove a porn mag down her throat, it’s something else that truly disturbs Ripley in Alien. It’s the two words she saw in a message from her employer: “crew expendable”

With those two words, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) realizes that she’s at the bottom of a food chain, and not just because there’s a bloodthirsty Xenomorph on board. Never one to portray businesses or anyone with power in a favorable light, Alien director Ridley Scott took writers Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett’s idea about a haunted house movie set in space and turned it into a screed against the ruling classes.

By focalizing the adventure through the perspective of working-class space truckers, Alien transcends its sci-fi horror trappings to become a statement on the predatory nature of modern capitalism. It’s commentary that not only remains relevant today but that makes Weyland-Yutani one of the most frightening corporations in all of sci-fi history.