Fortean Times – September 2019

68 FT383

Memory: The

Origins of Alien

Dir Alexandre O Philippe, US 2019
On UK release from 30 Aug, DVD&
VOD from 2 Sept

Ridley Scott’sAlienis many
things: a superlative sci-fi horror
film; a designer’s dream;a
synthesis of what came before it
and a templatefor a lot of what
came after it. But can it withstand
deep scrutiny of its cultural
origins, its original ideas, and its
subtexts?This new documentary
subjects the film to just sucha
rigorousexamination and I’m
happy to sayAlienholds up
remarkablywell.
One of thereasons why the film
was, andremains, so massively
popular is because it tapped
into myths and imagery that
have fascinated and haunted
mankindfor thousands ofyears.
This documentary makes a fine
job of detailing these and making
it clear just how deep thewell
is that the likes of writer Dan
O’Bannon, director Scott, and
artist HR Giger drew from.Taking

imagery alone, the film cites

Egyptian, Hindu, Mesopotamian

and mediæval English

mythologies, aswell depictions

of Renaissance demons and the

work of Hieronymous Bosch.

Mostremarkable of all perhaps

is Francis Bacon, whose paintings

• particularlyThree Studies for
  Figuresat the Base of a Crucifixion


• bear a strikingresemblance
  to some ofAlien’s most iconic
  images.
  As well as art history this
  documentary isn’t afraid to
  delve intoreligion, philosophy,
  psychoanalytic film theory
  and, perhaps most notably,
  feminism. One critic makes the
  point that Ash, the android, has
  been created, programmed, and
  educated so that he not only

resembles a human being but can

alsopass asa human being.This

makes his subsequent assault on

Ripley, and his attempt to orally

penetrate her with arolled up

magazine, especially troubling.

Having said all that,Memory

is not at all a dry film.Thanks to

plenty of detailsabout the script’s

genesis and the film’s production

you ne ver get the impression

that the documentary is an arid

intellectualexercise. Gratifyingly,

it places Dan O’Bannon front

and centre in terms of the film’s

existence, which is not always the

case withAliendocumentaries.

There are also new interviews

with many of the behind-the-

camera personnel aswell as

cast membersTom Skerritt and

Veronica Cartwright.

I’ve seenAliena good few times

over theyears but this film sheds

new light on some of the ideas

within it. It’s anabsolutemust,

not justforAlienfans butfor

anyone interested in how art is

created.

Daniel King

HHHH

Leprechaun

Returns

StevenKostanski, US 2018

Lionsgate, £7.99 (DVD)

This doubleDVD set gives us

not just therecentLeprechaun

Returns, directedby Steven

Kostanski, but throws in anextra

disc containing the original

Leprechaunmovie created,

produced and directedby Mark

Jones back in 1993.

In the first film, Daniel

O’Grady (Shay Duffin) steals

the leprechaun’s gold in Ireland

and takes it back to the USA.

The leprechaunfollows Daniel

to get his gold back, but he is

imprisonedfor 10 years before

he is inadvertentlyreleasedby

Jennifer Aniston, and goes on

anothermurderousrampage to

get his gold back. Eventually, he

is trapped inside awell.

Leprechaun Returnstakes

us back to thewell where the

leprechaunwas banished 25years

previously. Ignoring thenumerous

interveningLeprechaunsequels,

it also attempts to correct some

of their errors. Nonetheless, due

to a disputeover his salary, Mark

Jones dropped out of this project.

Warwick Davis, who played the

part of the leprechaun in all but

one of the previous films, also sat

out this one because hewanted

to take a break from horror

films, and isreplacedby Linden

Porco.Th e productionwas also

unable to getJennifer Aniston to

reprise herrole asTory Redding,

and instead Heather McDonald

imitates hervoice when the

leprechaunun promises he can

bring her back to life.

This time Lila (Taylor

Spreitler),Tory’s daughter, goes

back to hermum’s old home

which she plans to fix up and

turn into eco-friendly habitat

with agroup of her fellow female

students during their summer

vacation.

Things don’t gowell (pardon

the pun) from the beginning,

Alien autopsy

It tapped into

myths that have

haunted mankind

for millennia

A new documentary finds plenty of new things to say about the DanO’Bannon/Ridley Scott classic,

fromexploring its visual inspirations in fine art to bringing a feminist perspective to bear on the film

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