ALIEN: Chestburster Scene Essay

ALIEN’s Chestburster scene has become one of the most famous horror/sci-fi scenes in cinema history. In the scene, the alien at hand suddenly bursts out of Kane’s chest in a whirl of screaming and blood after incubating inside his body for a couple of days. Compared to the horror films of today, this scene is fairly timid. But in 1979, it was one of the most horrific and disgusting scenes people had ever seen projected. We can see why it was so horrific if we take it apart and analyze it.

 I’ll start with a brief summary of the scene and how we get to it. While returning home from a deep space mission, the crew of the Nostromo intercepts an SOS signal from a nearby planet. 3 of the members, including Kane, descend onto the planet after landing to find the source of the signal. They discover a hive of thousands of alien eggs. Kane gets too close to one of the eggs and the parasite inside attacks him and attaches itself to his head, rendering him unconscious. A few days later the alien parasite removes itself from the host, leaving Kane seemingly fine. However, as the crew eats, Kane starts to splutter and writhe in pain. The crew restrains him, but to their horror, out of Kane’s chest bursts a small alien creature, which has been incubating inside his body.

 As well as the horror aspect of the scene, it is also perfect to analyze. There are many aspects of the scene that make it irresistible to watch, even though some would say it is morally wrong to watch it in the first place.

The cinematography in the scene is very impressive. It focuses mainly on Kane, as he writhes in agony on the table. There are a lot of wide shots of all the characters as they crowd around Kane, pinning him down.  Almost all the shots are two-shots, three-shots and medium shots to capture all of the action as it unfolds. With these shots comes a lot of deep focus. The filmmaker wants the audience to see everything in the scene. As well as medium shots of the crew, there are also a lot of medium close-ups on Kane and his chest. Over and over again we see him screaming on the table as the alien violently makes it’s way out of his body. The purpose for these shots is to show the audience exactly what he is going through, and to indulge them in the action. Also, to build more realism, the shots of Kane look like handheld shots, and are very jerky. This creates the effect of POV, like the audience is actually there trying to hold him down.

 The angle of the camera shots in this scene is also very important.  At the beginning of the scene, when there seems to be no danger, the shots are at eye-level, so the audience can put themselves into the position of the crew. However, as the scene progresses the shots seem to get higher. These high angles imply vulnerability and a potential threat to the crew, which is exactly what is about to happen. The high angles are of the crew and of Kane himself.

The mise-en-scene of this scene creates a certain irony. The entire chestburster sequence takes place in the dining area of the ship, which would naturally be a very clean and clinical area. White walls and the high-key lighting create a false sense of security – the normal viewer would not be able to foresee the impending gore. You would not expect a scene like this to happen here.

In this scene I felt very tense until the Alien actually appeared. I had thoughts running through my mind of what was happening to Kane. The scene certainly delivered tension. However, as the alien scuttled off to hide somewhere on the ship, I found myself humored slightly. Because this film was made in 1979, the CGI and special effects aren’t anywhere near as good as the films of today. The alien is shaped like a large worm, and darts from Kane’s chest quickly with a babyish screech – it was quite funny, and I could compare it to a small creature such as a rat or insect. Although, I do not doubt that this scene would have horrified audiences in 1979. I am used to much more graphic and realistic scenes of today that use cutting-edge CGI, but I was impressed with the originality of the chestburster.

Overall, I am very impressed with this scene. ALIEN is a masterpiece anyway, but this scene really is the icing on the cake. It is one of the most iconic sci-fi/horror scenes ever made. It made me tense, apprehensive, caused me to jump and even laugh. It will no doubt stick in my mind for a while.