Alien is a 1979
science-fiction horror film directed by
Ridley Scott, and starring
Tom Skerritt,
Sigourney Weaver,
Veronica Cartwright,
Harry Dean Stanton,
John Hurt,
Ian Holm and
Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature that stalks and kills the crew of a spaceship.
Dan O'Bannon wrote the screenplay from a story he wrote with
Ronald Shusett, drawing influence from previous works of science fiction and horror. The film was produced by
Gordon Carroll,
David Giler and
Walter Hill through their
Brandywine Productions and distributed by
20th Century Fox. Giler and Hill made revisions and additions to the script. Shusett was executive producer. The eponymous
Alien and its accompanying elements were designed by Swiss
surrealist artist
H. R. Giger, while concept artists
Ron Cobb and
Chris Foss designed the human aspects of the film.
Alien launched the
Alien franchise and is chronologically the first of the main series, with the prequel trilogy set in an earlier timeframe.