Alien in It's 40th Annversery

I have an embarassing story ideal for Halloween. 40 years ago, I went to the Uptown Theater with a date to see the sci-fi horror film Alien. The review in The Post was great (an iconic monster) and we arrived way early in anticipation of crowds.

I dropped her off to get in line (this before reserved seating) while I went to park my car. Then my worst fear happened-I got lost! I was not too familiar with this part of DC at the time and I learned the states names as every street had a state name. I finally found my way back right before the showtime and wound up with a pretty food space as the previous show was letting out. My date was furious asking where did I go. When I told her what happened, she couldn't really get too upset at me- how could I makeup such a dumb story?

We wound up in seats close to the screen but it was a memorable film with the first shock with the contents of the opening egg causing the audience to scream and then giggle after  good scare. That was for openers in this space funhouse of terror.

This essentially remade version of the 50s film It the Terror from Beyond Space was Ridley Scott's second film that launched his great run. It made a star of Sigourney Weaver. The tagline was even unique, "In Space No One Can Hear You Scream". It won a deserved Oscar for visual effects abetted by Swiss artist H. R. Giger's alien designs. It spawned a series of lesser sequels (except for the terrific Aliens).

It was a great experience despite my wild goose chase. I even met one of its stars Veronica Cartwright at The MidAtlantic Nostalgia Convention a few years back. She signed my one-sheet. Ah what thrilling memories.