Movies
‘Aliens’ Changed the Essence of the Sequel 28 Years Ago
28 years ago today James Cameron changed the course of history with Aliens, his 1986 sequel to Ridley Scott’s terrifying Alien that not only changed the standard of sequels in Hollywood, but got every writer in town thinking in a new direction.
As we all know today, Scott’s 1979 sci-fi masterpiece was a straight-up horror film, fitted with a brooding pace. Cameron, who also flipped the script with his Terminator sequel, turned the Alien franchise into an action film, better suited for summer blockbuster stardom in the mid-80’s. The success changed the sequel formula, which was simply “do it again, with different characters.” It’s influence on cinema is unparalleled.
In addition to starring Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley once more, the sequel also introduced two more strong female characters: Jenette Goldstein as the ass-kickin Pvt. Vasquez, and of course the Queen Alien.
Michael Biehn also broke through as Cpl. Dwayne Hicks, with Bill Paxton as Pvt. Hudson, and Lance Henriksen as the android “Bishop”. The characters were influenced by the Vietnam War, which really helped gel their colorful and unique personalities.
Aliens is my favorite movie of all time being that it ups the ante and builds into such a massive finale that you can easily forget to breathe. And at times, I even prefer the director’s cut, which has an entire bit about Ripley losing her child that makes her plight to save Newt that much more relatable.
So, with the weekend approaching, why not relive 1986 by re-watching Ripley kick some Xenomoprh ass, once again and relish in one of the greatest action horror films ever made.
Before updating the video nasty Faces of Death, director Daniel Goldhaber and writer Isa Mazzei explored the dangers of online life in tech-thriller Cam, their feature debut that was acquired by Netflix in 2018 after making waves on the festival circuit.
At the end of last year, the Netflix exclusive quietly departed from the streaming platform, left without another streaming home.
It’s not an isolated story; Mike Flanagan’s Hush also left streaming entirely for a period until it was finally picked up on both physical media and other streaming services.
While the tech-thriller currently isn’t available to watch on Netflix, Tubi, Hulu, or any other platforms, that’s not a problem for Cam thanks to a very cool move by Goldhaber: the director has made his breakout film accessible to watch online for free via his website.
As his site notes: “CAM is unfortunately not currently available to view on any platforms, so you can watch it here if you like :).“
No subscriptions or fees necessary, just hit play.
Cam follows Alice (Madeline Brewer), who works as an online cam girl obsessed with her ranking on the cam site. The higher her ranking goes, the more it draws unwanted attention, and Alice soon finds herself replaced on her own show with a doppelganger.
Written by Mazzei, a former camgirl, it uses the horror thriller premise to examine the life of a sex worker; Alice’s career ambition is directly at odds with the shame it brings to her family, and how she tries to spare them from it by keeping them in the dark. It only compounds her danger when the doppelganger enters the equation in Goldhaber’s engaging thriller.
For a deep dive into the treacherous world of Cam, listen to Horror Queers’ episode on it now.
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