Matt Trzcinski | Showbiz Cheat Sheet Writer

These 1970s Horror Movies Paved the Way for ‘Alien’

Matthew Trzcinski — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 21:00:56 +0000

Alien is one of the most beloved classic horror movies and no classic comes out of thin air. The film was the culmination of two horror trends from the 1970s. One of these trends was retro at the time but the other was very modern.

‘Alien’ was a response to horror films from the 1950s

Science fiction and horror have been soulmates since Mary Shelley published Frankenstein in 1818. While science fiction can help us understand how new technologies could change the world, horror can show us what happens when those technologies go wrong — whether they be nuclear energy, androids, or space travel. The dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II caused lots of anxiety over new innovations, paving the way for a boom in science fiction horror films during the 1950s.

Most of these films were creature features, such as Robot Monster, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and 20 Million Miles to Earth. While Ed Wood and Mystery Science Theater 3000 give the genre a bad reputation, some 1950s monster movies are pretty good and even have good special effects for the time period. While monster movies mostly fizzled out by the beginning of the 1960s, every 20 years, old trends come back into style. It was inevitable that someone would find a way to make the genre work for the 1970s. However, that task proved harder than it might seem.

The 1970s gave us a lot of science fiction creature features, most of which were terrible, such as Zaat, Octaman, and Night of the Lepus. Clearly, the industry was trying to bring back the 1950s monster movie, these films just didn’t have enough talent or money behind them. When 20th Century Fox gave Alien a real budget and the directorial chops of Ridley Scott, they were helping fill a nostalgic need for a quality answer to the monster movies of yore.

The movie was also the culmination of several slasher films

Another trend underway in the 1970s was slasher films. While the genre dates back a long way, it started to become popular again thanks to the success of films like Black Christmas, Suspiria, and John Carpenter’s Halloween. These films all focus on a group of people getting killed off one by one as tension mounts before a dramatic final showdown between the heroine and the killer(s).

While Alien’s space-bound trappings often preclude it from being considered a slasher film, it follows the genre’s formula to a tee. Whether you were a fan of old-school monster movies or hip slashers, Alien had a lot to offer you.

‘Alien’ movies still resonate

The Alien franchise is still going strong 45 years later with the release of Alien: Romulus. Box Office Mojo reports the film has earned over $108 million thus far. That’s interesting considering that the monster and slasher booms of the 1970s are far behind us. What could explain continued interest in the series?

As long as human contact with extraterrestrial life seems like a remote possibility, aliens will be scary. They fill us with both wonder and fear. Until we all have friends from another planet, films like Alien: Romulus will be around to exploit our morbid fascination with the otherworldy.

How Chucky the Doll Made Oprah Winfrey Eat 30 Lbs of Mac and Cheese

Matthew Trzcinski — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 03:53:49 +0000

In the late 1990s, Oprah Winfrey took an unusual turn and starred in a horror film. Audiences were much more interested in a new movie about Chucky the Doll that was in theaters at the time. This event led Oprah to eat 30 pounds of mac and cheese. Here’s a look at what Oprah thought about this binge years later.

Oprah Winfrey hadn’t heard of Chucky the Doll until he overshadowed her movie

Oprah has appeared in several historical films, like The Color Purple, Selma, and The Butler. One of the least remembered is Beloved, based on the classic novel of the same name by Toni Morrison. The combination of a massive star and a classic book could have been Oscar gold, but that wasn’t the case. According to a 2011 USA Today article, Oprah told Piers Morgan that Beloved‘s failure led her into “a massive, depressive macaroni and cheese-eating tailspin.”

Chucky the Doll had something to do with this. “[Beloved] premiered on a Friday and I remember hearing on Saturday morning that we got beat by something called Chucky,” Oprah recalled. “I didn’t even know what Chucky was. So, I asked my chef at the time to make some macaroni and cheese … and I ate about 30 pounds worth. I’m not kidding!”

How ‘Beloved’ is seen in retrospect

Of course, many great movies, including The Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane, and Sleeping Beauty were not successful when they first came out. All of them became more acclaimed and popular with time. Sadly, Beloved is not one of those films. While Morrison’s novel has only grown in stature, its film adaptation is usually seen as a footnote in film history rather than a towering achievement. Bride of Chucky is probably still more famous than Beloved.

Oprah herself wasn’t too upset by the film’s failure. “I think the way life is set up, for most people who have the opportunity to succeed, is that if you get the lesson, you don’t have to repeat that again,” he said. Notably, Oprah hasn’t appeared in a single horror film since Beloved.

How Chucky the Doll overtook Oprah Winfrey at the box office

Box Office Mojo reports Bride of Chucky earned more than $32 million in the United States and more than $50 million altogether on a $25 million budget. That’s pretty impressive for a horror film from the 1990s. Bride of Chucky undoubtedly benefitted from a resurgence in slasher films after the success of Wes Craven’s Scream. Like Scream, Bride of Chucky was humorous and hip.

Beloved was not so beloved. Box Office Mojo says the film made $22 million in the United States and doesn’t account for any gross overseas. $22 million isn’t as impressive as Bride of Chucky‘s $50 million haul. Beloved‘s gross becomes even more dismal when you account for the fact that Beloved had an $80 million budget. The movie wasn’t just a disappointment, it was a flat-out bomb. Oprah had one of the most successful careers of any public figure and Beloved was one of her rare missteps.

Beloved is based on one of the most acclaimed novels of modern times but audiences were more interested in the exploits of a killer doll than Beloved‘s film adaptation.

Why MTV Banned Lady Gaga’s ‘LoveGame’

Matthew Trzcinski — Sun, 18 Aug 2024 08:07:39 +0000

Lady Gaga‘s “LoveGame” has some cheeky, sexual lyrics that bothered a lot of people when the song came out in 2009. In fact, the song’s music video was too hot for a branch of MTV. People who worked for the network explained why they banned the clip — and Gaga explained what she was thinking when she penned the song.

Lady Gaga’s ‘LoveGame’ was controversial in multiple countries

The music video for “LoveGame” includes scenes of Gaga wearing nothing but jewelry and getting intimate with several people. According to a 2009 article from The National, MTV Arabia banned the clip. Samer al Marzouki, channel head of MTV Arabia explained the decision. “We represent the young generation’s mentality and culture so we can’t play something that conflicts with that,” he said. “If they can’t watch something comfortably with their brother, sisters or friends then we will not play it.”

al Marzouqi explained his network’s approach to controversial topics. “Our policy to keep away as much as possible from sex, religion and politics unless it’s educational,” he said. “What we play in MTV represents the hits of the region and global hits.” MTV Arabia wasn’t the only MTV network to ban “LoveGame.” MTV Australia did as well.

Lady Gaga wrote the song in a place that isn’t very sexy

While “LoveGame” was a controversial song, it was written in a pretty square palace: a library. The Washington Square News reports that Gaga revealed the origin of “LoveGame” during a 2017 interview with Ryan Seacrest. “Yes, I did go to college, Ryan — I went to NYU Tisch,” Gaga said. “In fact, I have never told anyone this before, but my song ‘LoveGame’ was actually written in NYU’s library — I think it’s called Bobst if I remember correctly.”

The “Bad Romance” singer said that she knew she’d struck gold when she wrote “Love Game.” “I started writing and writing, and before I knew it, the security guard was telling me I either had to leave or move down to the basement,” Gaga said. “By that time, I had been writing for hours, but I knew it was one of my favorite songs I had ever composed.”

‘LoveGame’ was part of a huge pop moment

“LoveGame” became a decent hit. The tune peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 22 weeks. Gaga teamed up with fellow provocateur Marilyn Manson for a remix of “LoveGame” that isn’t as fun or subversive as it could have been. Gaga included “LoveGame” on her debut album, The Fame. That record reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 377 weeks. While it’s not her best album, it remains one of the best debut albums of all time.

The Fame produced several other hits. “Just Dance” and “Poker Face” topped the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, “Paparazzi” reached the top 10. The Fame also gave us a forgotten single called “Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)” that didn’t chart but that’s OK because the song is some of the most flawless bubblegum pop of the 2000s.

“LoveGame” was too much for MTV but it was perfect for the pop charts.

Why Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ ‘Die with a Smile’ Fails So Hard

Matthew Trzcinski — Sun, 18 Aug 2024 06:36:26 +0000

The songs of Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars helped define the music of the 2010s and beyond. A duet between the two legends should have been the best thing since sliced bread. Instead, it’s about as good as the moldy sourdough that’s rotting in the back of your fridge. Of course, all disasters deserve a good autopsy, so here’s a look at why “Die with a Smile On” fails so hard.

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ ‘Die with a Smile On’ hearkens back to ‘Grenade’

Mars once made a song about loving someone so much that you’d be willing to die for them. That track was called “Grenade,” and there’s a reason why you don’t hear it as much at the mall anymore. It has a loopy, lyrical premise that doesn’t work. Anyone can say that they’d die for someone, but unless you are in a war zone, that sort of talk is cheap.

In contrast, “Die with a Smile On” is about wanting to be with someone you love when you die. That’s a better sentiment than the one in “Grenade,” but it’s still awkwardly morbid. Writing a love song about death is tricky, and if Gaga and Mars were going to pull that off, they should have written something less middle-of-the-road. “Bloody Mary,” Gaga’s Gothic pop ballad of Mary Magdalene’s supposed love for Jesus Christ, works so much better than “Die with a Smile On” because it embraces its own darkness.

‘Die with a Smile On’ is deathly boring

The other reason “Die with a Smile On” fails is because its instrumental has all the flavor of saltine crackers. It’s the sort of soft rock that Debby Boone would find boring. At some points, it slouches toward Mars’ signature R&B, but it never rises above the level of disposable 1970s radio cheese.

Why did “Die with a Smile On” have to be this way? There were a million ways the two stars could have merged their sounds. With her song “Do What U Want,” Gaga proved she can write smooth R&B like Mars. In addition, Mars has some dance tracks in his catalog that aren’t too far from Gaga’s signature sound. The pair’s decision to make a soft-rock silly love song when they could have done anything else will always remain baffling.

What Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars think of each other

In 2024, Page Six obtained a press release where the two stars explained themselves. “Bruno and I have a lot of mutual respect for each other and were talking about collaborating,” Gaga said. “I was finishing up my own album in Malibu, and one night after a long day, he asked me to come to his studio to hear something he was working on. It was around midnight when I got there, and I was blown away when I heard what he had started making.”

Gaga expressed her admiration for Mars. “Bruno’s talent is beyond explanation,” she said. “His musicianship and vision is next level. There’s no one like him.”

Mars had similar praise for Gaga. “She’s an icon, and she makes this song magical. I’m so excited for everyone to hear it.”

Mars and Gaga like each other but that doesn’t mean anyone has to like their song.

Lady Gaga Vs. Bruno Mars: Who Mas More No. 1 Songs?

Matthew Trzcinski — Sun, 18 Aug 2024 03:26:00 +0000

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars are two 2010s icons who collaborated on a new song called “Die with a Smile.” Maybe that song will become a No. 1 single in the United States and maybe it won’t. What we do know is that both Mother Monster and the “Grenade” singer have topped the charts many times.

Lady Gaga’s released 5 No. 1 songs so far

So far, Gaga has given us five Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles. The first two, “Just Dance” and “Poker Face,” came from her first album, The Fame. The fact that her first two singles reached No. 1 signaled the arrival of a bold new talent in pop music. The songs were both fun dance-pop tracks, but “Poker Face” was a bit darker. “Poker Face” really paved the way for Gaga to go in more experimental directions.

Her next album, The Fame Monster, produced zero chart toppers, but the title song from the album Born This Way reached No. 1. It reached the pinnacle of the chart for six weeks, making it her longest-lasting No. 1 song. While “Born This Way” is not one of Gaga’s more impressive tunes, it has become a lasting anthem for the LGBTQ community. You can bet on hearing it played at least once at every pride parade in the Western world until the end of time.

Gaga’s next two chart-toppers were “Shallow” and “Rain On Me.” The former was a duet with Bradley Cooper while the latter was a duet with Ariana Grande. As compositions, the two tracks could not be more different, as the former was a rock ballad while the latter was an up-tempo house track. Regardless, it seems like Gaga is starting to lean on other stars to find success, including Cooper, Grande, Mars, and Joker: Folie à Deux star Jared Leto.

Bruno Mars had even more No. 1 hits

Mars, on the other hand, was even more successful on the charts than Gaga. He’s released eight Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles thus far. The tracks in question are “Nothin’ on You,” “Just the Way You Are,” “Grenade,” “Locked Out of Heaven,” “When I Was Your Man,” “Uptown Funk!,” “That’s What I Like,” and “Leave the Door Open.”

While Gaga gave us four chart-topping dance tracks alongside a chart-topping rock ballad, Mars’ biggest hits are more musically eclectic. Just by listening to his big hits, you can hear that he’s dabbled in rap, funk, reggae rock, piano ballads, and pop.

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars both changed music

The real question is this: who had the better run of No. 1 singles? That depends on personal taste. Someone who loves club music will probably gravitate toward Gaga’s music while an R&B fan will gravitate toward Mars’. Either way, it’s obvious that both singers had a significant impact on popular culture. We might not have Kesha, Halsey, or Ava Max without Gaga and we might not have Lizzo, Meghan Trainor, or some of BTS’ funkier stuff without Mars.

We don’t know if Gaga and Mars are going to top the charts again with their new single but there’s a good chance they are going to release more audio magic for years to come.

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Has 1 of the Best Songs of All Time

Matthew Trzcinski — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 03:40:04 +0000

Marvel‘s Deadpool & Wolverine include far more pop songs than the average Hollywood movie. A track from the film is one of the best love songs of all time, but critics don’t give it much respect. Here’s a look at the angelic tune that made a surprising comeback through Marvel.

1 of the songs from ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ is about an angel

Deadpool & Wolverine includes popular songs like Madonna’s “Like a Prayer,” Avril Lavinge’s “I’m with You,” and Huey Lewis and the News’ “The Power of Love.” Those songs range from decent to excellent. The best of the bunch is “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls. A mystical love song, “Iris” is one of the rare 1990s easy-listening tracks that worked. It’s unusual, heartfelt, intense.

The track was also part of a 1990s resurgence of Irish music. The track takes some elements from Irish folk that make it sound intriguing to American ears. Considering “Iris” is about an angel and Ireland is a profoundly Christian nation, the fusion of the song’s instrumental and lyrics is perfect.

‘Iris’ was written for a movie that came out well before ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’

During a 2022 interview with Grammy.com, Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls explained how he penned “Iris.” He wrote the tune for City of Angels, a film where an angel (played by Nicolas Cage) falls in love with a human woman (played by Meg Ryan). Rzeznik wanted “Iris” to reflect the perspective of the fictitious angel.

“It was pretty interesting, because that was the first time I had ever written a song for a film specifically,” he said. “I had a guitar [that] had four strings on it because I broke two. I just wandered into this weird tuning, and I went back to my hotel room, and thought about it.

“I was able to write the song from the perspective of the character in the film, which was really a lot of fun, and it was great,” he added. “I played it for [Danny] on a four-string guitar, and then went in the studio with Rob Cavallo. Then it went boom.”

What Johnny Rzeznik wanted from his band’s big song

“Iris” peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was one of three top 10 singles from the Goo Goo Dolls, the other two being “Name” and “Slide.” “Iris” charted for 14 weeks in total.

The Goo Goo Dolls included the track on their album Dizzy Up the Girl. That record peaked at No. 15 and stayed on the chart for 105 weeks. It remains the group’s highest-charting and longest-charting album in the United States.

While speaking with Grammy.com, Rzeznik reflected on “Iris” ‘s inclusion on the City of Angels soundtrack. “I never expected that song to do so well,” he said. “I just wanted to be on a soundtrack U2, Peter Gabriel and Alanis Morissette were on. I thought, ‘Wow, that’d be really cool. It would be something cool to show people 20 years from now.'” “Iris” is a big deal over 20 years later, partly because Deadpool & Wolverine is far more prominent than City of Angels ever was.

“Iris” is a classic and hopefully, Deadpool & Wolverine will get a new generation to recognize its greatness.

How ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Jaws’ Led to ‘Alien’

Matthew Trzcinski — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 02:48:17 +0000

Star Wars and Jaws defined the 1970s so much they directly paved the way for Alien. Alien was even pitched as a knock-off of one of those movies. Interestingly, Alien‘s impact on cinema was comparable to that of Star Wars.

‘Star Wars’ caused the director of ‘Alien’ to completely rethink his creative direction

It might be difficult for modern viewers to understand the impact of the original Star Wars. Prior to George Lucas’ magnum opus, big-budget Hollywood science fiction films like The War of the Worlds and 2001: A Space Odyssey were rare. Once Star Wars premiered in 1977, Hollywood became much more comfortable with science fiction. By 1979, several expensive space movies were blasting off into theaters including Alien.

During a 2024 interview with Wired, director Ridley Scott revealed what he thought when he saw Star Wars. “I was stunned,” he recalled. “Star Wars just turned my head about completely. So much so that when I walked out of the theater, I thought, ‘Why the hell am I doing [an adaptation of] Tristan and Isolde?!’ Things are changing! It’s time to get down to business!”

Everything changed for Scott. “Six weeks later, I was offered Alien,” he said. “I was the studio’s fifth choice.” After Alien, Scott went on to direct other popular films like Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, and Gladiator, as well as a bunch of historical epics nobody liked such as Kingdom of Heaven, Robin Hood, and Exodus: Gods and Kings.

Ridley Scott’s film was pitched as a ‘Jaws’ rip-off

The similarities between Alien and Jaws are obvious. Both movies feature a giant monster who stays off-screen for much of the picture but is very frightening when it shows its face. Some of the creatives behind Alien knew they were going over the same territory as Steven Spielberg’s breakout movie.

When screenwriters try to sell a movie to a studio, they often devise a quick pitch that could be explained during a short elevator ride, usually called “an elevator pitch.” The script for Alien inspired the most famous elevator pitch of all time.

According to The Saturday Evening Post, writers Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett pitched Alien as “Jaws in space.” Considering that Jaws was a blockbuster and Star Wars made science fiction fashionable again, the pitch was brilliant. It explained the movie consistently while making it appeal to the studio.

‘Alien’ inspired some of the same devotion as ‘Star Wars’

During his 2024 interview with Wired, Scott compared Alien to one of its forebearers. “I remember I was in a horrible office in Times Square, and I was staring down at this billboard that said, ‘Alien … In Space No One Can Hear You Scream,'” said Scott. “I could also see a queue going all the way around the block. I hadn’t seen that since Star Wars. So at that point, I kind of figured that we would be in good shape.”

In the same way that Star Wars opened the doors for more cinematic science fiction, Alien opened the doors for more science fiction horror. The 1980s gave us many popular entries in the subgenre, including The Fly, They Live, and Re-Animator. The 1980s also gave us John Carpenter’s The Thing, which stands alongside Alien as the most famous extraterrestrial-run-amok movie.

The Xenomorph From ‘Alien’ Was Considered Too Sexual

Matthew Trzcinski — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 07:24:11 +0000

Part of the reason Alien is considered a classic horror film is because the design of the Xenomorph creature is so fascinatingly hideous. Director Ridley Scott reached out to a macabre artist in order to get the famous design in the film. Initially, 20th Century Fox wasn’t comfortable with the look of the creature, but Scott worked to change their minds.

The Xenomorph design existed before ‘Alien’

Scott is known for acclaimed movies like Blade Runner, Gladiator, and Thelma & Louise. The film that put him on the map was Alien, a big-budget answer to low-budget 1970s slasher films like Halloween and Black Christmas. During a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Scott discussed how he came across H.R. Giger’s design of the Xenomorph that would later be used in Alien.

“The guy who brought him to my attention was [screenwriter] Dan O’Bannon,” said Scott. “Inside of a book called Necronomicon, there was the alien. I said,’ It’s designed. This is it.’

“[Producer] Gordon Carroll and I flew to Switzerland and we went in to meet Giger at his house in Zurich. And that’s where I met H. R. and found him to be a gentle man, sweet man, who showed me his work, which is extraordinary. And I just said, ‘Would you come and do this,’ and he said, ‘I don’t fly.’ I said, ‘Don’t worry about it, we’ll bring you by train.’ He came by train from Switzerland, and stayed with me in Shepperton Village for nine months, and that’s how it happened. He wouldn’t get on a plane. I had to persuade him.”

H. R. Giger’s Xenomorph was considered rude and risque

Of course, the reception to Giger’s creature was not universally positive. “Fox at the time thought Giger was a bit obscene and a bit rude and a bit sexual,” Scott said “And I said, ‘This all sounds good to me,’ which nearly saw me off the case.” Scott prevailed and Giger’s reptilian nightmare appeared in the film.

Giger’s Xenomorph went on to appear in all of the other films in the Alien franchise. It became one of the most famous extraterrestrial designs in the entire history of cinema. Giger would have an impact on the science fiction genre outside of the Alien films. He also designed the monster Sil from Species. Like the Xenomorph, Sil has a sexualized, reptilian design that’s pretty grotesque. The movie is the unholy lovechild of Alien and Basic Instinct, which is to say that it’s great cinematic junk food if you are in the right mood.

Why H. R. Giger’s alien was so strange

During a 2009 interview with Time Out, Giger was asked why his art is so gooey. He admitted that he was obsessed with skulls and mummies as a child. During his early years, he got to see the remains of an Egyptian princess in Chur, Switzerland. Perhaps Giger’s interest in human remains explains why his creations are often humanoid, but not humanoid enough to feel normal or familiar.

Alien could have been a run-of-the-mill monster movie, but Giger’s genius made sure that it stayed in our nightmares forever.

The Original ‘Alien’ Was Meant to Be the Opposite of ‘Star Wars’

Matthew Trzcinski — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 03:54:38 +0000

Star Wars paved the way for many subsequent science fiction films, including the original Alien. During an interview director Ridley Scott revealed he wanted Alien to be the “antithesis” of Star Wars. He also said that he had 2001: A Space Odyssey in mind when he directed Alien.

The original ‘Alien’ was the most beloved of the ‘Star Wars’ cash-ins

George Lucas’ Star Wars came out in 1977 and changed cinema forever. In 1978 and 1979, many film studios released Star Wars cash-ins. We got Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Disney’s The Black Hole, the sci-fi James Bond romp Moonraker, and the bold Japanese Star Wars rip-off Message from Space. The most beloved of the bunch is Alien. Part of the reason why fans remember Alien a lot more than Message from Space is that Alien told a story that wasn’t derived from Star Wars in any meaningful way.

During a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Scott said he saw Star Wars as “the romantic version of space, and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey being the reality of space.” Watching both movies changed Scott’s perspective on technology. “It was the first time in my life I learned that computers are smarter than people,” he said. Notably, the character of Ash from Alien explores the threat of android artificial intelligence.

Scott decided that his movie should be “the antithesis of Star Wars and be kind of dirty spaceships in space, used craft that were no longer spanking new and no longer futuristic, but felt like, as we ended up calling them, the ‘freighter in space.’ I wanted to go in that direction. So in a funny kind of way, I was already reacting more subliminally, I think, than design-wise against the way that Star Wars had been done.”

Ridley Scott said the script for ‘Alien’ has ‘virtually no characterization whatsoever’

Scott also revealed how his approach to design influenced his work on Alien. “I thought the script had an inordinately good engine,” he said. “I thought it was virtually no characterization whatsoever. It was, ‘And then and then and then.’ And then I got to a page where it says, ‘And then this thing comes out of the guy’s chest.’

“And I’m thinking, ‘This has put off four of the directors’ — because I was No. 5 on the list,” he added. “Obviously, clearly, the previous four went, ‘What?!? This is ridiculous,’ and just put it down. Because I’m a bit of a designer, I could see the film and I knew exactly what to do.”

Why the original ‘Star Wars’ was the much bigger hit at the box office

Star Wars became one of the biggest hits of all time. According to Box Office Mojo, the original film earned over $775 million worldwide. At a time when movies didn’t make billions, Star Wars‘ $775 million gross was jaw-dropping. Star Wars went on to inspire Hollywood to make more big-budget science fiction films and movies aimed at a broad, family audience.

Box Office Mojo reports that Alien grossed more than $108 million worldwide. That’s no small feat for a horror film. Horror doesn’t have the same broad appeal as space operas do, so it’s no surprise that Star Wars was the bigger hit.

Whether or not Alien was the opposite of Star Wars, both films became timeless classics.

How ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ Inspired ‘Alien’

Matthew Trzcinski — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 02:54:25 +0000

If you’ve seen two 1970s horror movies, they were probably The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Alien. Interestingly, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre inspired the director of Alien in a major way. In addition, the director said Alien was similar to The Exorcist.

The director of ‘Alien’ called ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ ‘horrendous’

Ridley Scott is the director of popular science fiction films like Blade Runner and The Martian. During a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he said, “It was so outrageous in its idea and story—possession of a body by a massive insect that will lay eggs in you and create other insects. “It was remarkable. While Scott acknowledged that the portrayal of reproduction in Alien bore some similarities to the possession in The Exorcist, he still felt that Alien‘s premise was original.

Scott discussed his approach to directing Alien. “I don’t know, when you’re doing a film like [Alien], if you can have too much blood,” he said. “It is very difficult to really scare me. I watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre when I was prepping for Alien one Saturday afternoon in the Fox studio in a small theater. It was horrendous, and it scared the s*** out of me.”

Why the ‘Alien’ director couldn’t eat after watching Leatherface

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre haunted Scott. “I think I started with a hamburger at lunchtime and never took a bite,” he said. “But that was into overdrive and overkill.

“There’s a lot of people eating people and there’s a lot of violence — it’s tantamount to blood, I think,” he added. “What’s the difference, frankly? But [Texas Chainsaw Massacre director] Tobe Hooper did a [great] job, and it was my challenge to say, ‘How do I get that scary?'”

In the eyes of many, Alien captured a lot of the sheer, raw terror of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, even if Alien is far more polished and tells a more conventional story. Interestingly, both films have food as a major theme. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is partly about cannibalism, while the Xenomorph in Alien is a fearsome, hungry predator.

‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ changed everything

While Alien will always be connected to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, only one reigned supreme financially. Box Office Mojo says The Texas Chainsaw Massacre earned over $30 million worldwide. It was huge for an independent horror movie, but it couldn’t hold a candle to a Hollywood blockbuster. Meanwhile, Box Office Mojo reports Alien grossed more than $108 million worldwide. Alien had the backing of a major studio, so it simply had more reach.

While Scott’s film made more money, Hooper’s sleeper hit was more influential in the long term. On top of inspiring Alien, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a massive influence on the development of the slasher subgenre. We wouldn’t have Halloween, Friday the 13th, or A Nightmare on Elm Street without it. It also pioneered a grungy horror aesthetic that informed the Saw franchise, Rob Zombie’s movies, and the various iterations of The Hills Have Eyes. Leather face and company also made cannibalism a common horror trope.

Alien and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are both classics but The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is more culturally significant.