Alien: Covenant will be 'scarier' than Prometheus!

That would be a good thing but I have my doubts. I don't think that Prometheus was scary so having it being more scary won't be difficult but gore could work.

I don't think I ever felt fear in Prometheus, so to be scarier than that isn't much of an accolade to me.

Cool!

Uggh...One year away. :( Hope the trailer comes soon!

I'd call Prometheus a 'Gripping movie'...... certainly horror....But I wouldn't use the word 'scary'.

As long as the gore is done moderately and not over done. I really hope that is as suspenseful as Alien and keeps you on your toes as Alien did. Hearing from Scott and Fassbender,  I am hopeful for a good return to the Alien universe that has a Giger nightmare tone.

Too true, Prometheus was very cerebral, versus the Aliens which are more visceral.  That's like saying Ozzie is gonna kick it up a notch or two from Enya.

Whether this is a good direction or not.  I think this is where A:5 is going, so I am hoping A:C tracks more towards the questions raised in Prometheus.   

The interesting thing for me is when he compared the scope to Prometheus... which is great news... means we are not going to be shown a Alien Flick in its entirety and with Micheal Beigns comments of the movie being set thousands of years before Aliens.... then some of those shots set in what looks like a Punishment on Engineers in the Past...

Gives me high hope for Alien Covenant and maybe the changes from the earlier Prometheus 2 drafts are not as massive as a complete re-write.

Happy to hear that A:C is going to be a noticeable departure from Prometheus in the ways that the next movie should be but hold the mystique & the "ohkay if this is how this is then that means..." intrigue to a much more overall gruesome (setting, emotional distress, harrowing situations, & overall ploy of the Alien) tone for A:C is exactly what we should receive. Just the Execution of Everything must be tip top; that was mai personal disdain for Prometheus in that the way it conveyed the Mythos corresponding to the Events we witnessed on LV-223 via the Weyland Expedition was just totally bogus & left a lot of substance to be had. 

Sure it left a lot open for the three Sequels to play upon but the actual events were Lackluster (minus the 7 bad ass scenes ala Deleted Elder Engineer/PebbleShip Sacrificial, Ampule Room, Deleted Engineer Head talking to the Crew, Hammerpede birth, Engineer HyperSleepWakeUp, the Climax, DeaconBirth) ^_^

Easywolf32: Is that the best answer that you got? One thing that I like about this discussion forum is that many people try to have civilized discussions in a thoughtful manner and your response is far from that IMO. Please try again but I would really prefer a well thought out answer that will contribute to the discussion.

David007: As long as it has a purpose and fits the movie then sure. I don't mean that they shall have gore just for the sake of having it so to speak.

I think AVPR was the scariest Alien film because the degradation of its story telling was always horrifying.

I hope it is scary. I enjoyed Prometheus, so I hope this installment steps it up.

While reading Fassbender's description I think I just got a huge Alien/Prometheus boner.

Love to hear that it'll be intense and large in scope.

@Facehuggers

On top of that people always say the things you don't see are the scariest since your mind is left to imagine things. Well with the dark shots and horrible shaky cam in AVPR I don't think anyone actually saw what was going on onscreen.

This is very encouraging. From the short time I have been on the site my twin themes have been the effect of Ridders making the Martian and it being such a success and the effect of the introduction of John Logan. 

These remarks from Michael are exactly what I would expect because Ridley has upped his execution and focus of his story telling and John Logan is very strong on threaded philosophical story telling.

It can go wrong in the cut, interference from Fox taking account of preview feedback with trial audiences but I think this movie at the moment is set to move with atmosphere and the big ideas are still there without letting go of focus and (this is a guess) the exposition is much clearer as its revealed.

The horror in A L I E N worked in two ways the constant sense of threat and several catastrophic scenes the most famous being the buster. However if you look at the blood everywhere factor it was limited and impactful. Short sharp and not endlessly repeated I hope he sticks to that as he has in other violent films he has made.  

The handful of "appalling" incidents will generate all the comment and draw people in but thats not the crux of the movie its the journey for the characters through the ideas and Ridleys visions that will make it what ever it is.  

This is extremely compelling and thought-provoking news! :)

In addition to continuing the bigger picture ideal from Prometheus, Ridley knows the Beast/MORB concept needs to be executed in a way that returns it to it's horrific and terrifying roots. Something that has been totally lacking post-A L I E N.

Just ponder on this for a moment, A:C will possibly treat us to a never before realised Big Chap, another rendition of the Beast, old favourites- Facehuggers and Chestbursers, an exposition on why and by whom their lifecycle came into being, give us more background and development on the Engineers regarding their origin, motives and purpose, continue to expand upon the Black Goo, explain the Urns vs Eggs. People, I cannot wait!!

THE MASTER-

"Easywolf32: Is that the best answer that you got?"

I thing Thoughts_Dreams they may have been having a laugh and not being serious ;)

I think some people can read to much into comments, take SM and he/she Facts lol  some can take it as a attack by SM.... but its not... they just like to point out Facts... i feel they sometimes dont get that we are not ignoring facts just trying to add some speculative debate... as well a World Based on Facts wont be fun...

There be no Alien for starters.... ;)

As others have said, "scarier than Prometheus" isn't a terribly high bar to jump.  Frankly, I just want this movie to be released already so that Neil Blomkamp, Sigourney, and Michael can get to work already.

"...an exposition on why and by whom their lifecycle came into being, give us more background and development on the Engineers regarding their origin, motives and purpose, continue to expand upon the Black Goo, explain the Urns vs Eggs."

I'll speak only for myself, but these are not things I've ever wanted explained.  Why do we need to know how the Aliens evolved?  I think what they are is much more interesting than why they are.  I think that Ridley's approach with The Engineers has demystified them in an uninteresting way, so why should I assume that his explanation for the Aliens themselves will be satisfying?

I'm still of the mind that prequels were a mistake. I think that the SJ was far more interesting as a fossilized relic; a victim of an unknowable event that resulted in the stranding of a shipload of Alien eggs.  Beyond that, I'm much more invested in seeing what happens to the characters, and how humans deal with contact with a dangerous new species, than I am in what happened years in the past.

This is why I have my doubts that the next Prometheus will be any more satisfying than the last.  And why I think that, despite my misgivings about Bloomkamp, the next movie in the Ripley timeline will be more enjoyable to a long-term fan like me.

Re. the OP

As others have said, Prometheus wasn't really a horror film to me.  It had some horrific elements that to someone who didn't know much about the ALIEN(s) would perhaps have been quite shocking.  I'd agree with MZ in that it was more of a gripping and thought provoking film, with body horror elements, than a straight up horror.

Re. AC:  I think the potential for both an intellectual and visceral horror is there and hopefully RS and Co. have learned from the mistakes of Prometheus and have a tighter story and more rounded and believable characters.  I think the latter is essential to make the horror elements work from an audience pov.

Hopefully it doesn't use too many 'body horror' tactics, but what is in there is fresh and doesn't re-hash older themes.  Yes, you can do different chest bursting scenes,and that is integral to the ALIEN, but don't rely on that for the scares.  Atmosphere, setting, good characters and mystery are what made ALIEN work (although the chest-burster scene was immense!) and also what I find best about good horror.   Blair Witch for example - not a great film but the lack of seeing a 'baddy' and letting our minds fill in gaps usually works better for me. 

Do like the noises coming out though and I am excited by these comments!

From it's opening credits, A L I E N achieved a sense of foreboding and almost unbearable tension. It was a slow burn of about 45 creepy Hitchcockian minutes before the lid blew off and we were caught up in the Nostromo crews shocked reaction to the unfolding events. Ridley played us like the master film-maker he is.

Prometheus took a different approach, and one which I both welcome and appreciate. Even more so given the information we have recently learned about Blomkamp's idea and it's re-hashing of old ground and formerly dead characters!

Prometheus contains scenes of absolute artistic brilliance and genius, some of Ridley Scott's best creative achievements to date. If people cannot reach beyond their narrow-minded Ripley-space-marine, pass the old worn out baton on to Newt mindset, then they probably will never allow themselves to appreciate A L I E N: Covenant either. Even if it turns out to be the best movie of the Franchise, or even the best genre movie ever made!    

So far, the impression we are being fed about A:C's tone, points to it being a merger of both P and A. At this point in time I really can't see anything to complain about.   

The challenge of a franchise is to establish how much of your artistic capital has been used up and whether there is more return there.

if you consider the Ripley story in her four movies the word desperate springs to mind. I am surprised how little has been made of the fact she has been killed off once and resurrected and that is now to be completely ignored. Effectively her character is going to go for a second reboot and how did they try and develop her, make stronger connections with the ALIEN. Ridley is taking the seed of this idea and going much much further.

If you opt for the route that the A L I E N is a fixed tradition a killing machine which you simply keep on putting up against another hapless group of humans surely that it is utterly formulaic and uninteresting. You know every twist and turn you know the outcomes what more can you say about it. Lets have them go up against Latin American Priests or a bunch of criminals (oh we have done that).    

This is science fiction where the invention should be grown and developed provoke thought and encourage us to dream and think of alternatives. Through that experience we come to understand our own existence better. 

Prometheus as I have said offered an existential threat. Ridleys imagery was so powerful you could believe mankind was a plaything which was about to be shut off. It stirred huge forces of power and terror. It showed in the cold blooded calculation of the curiosity how utterly dangerous artificial intelligence is and hinted through its fabric that out of this emerged a malevolent creature whose sole intent is retributive punishment and all from a mistake.

What makes all the recent attacks in our real world so awful is not the execution of the act but the idea behind them. To add an idea a history to this awful creature is to me utterly compelling rather than leaving it static to go up over and over against another hapless group.  

'Prometheus contains scenes of absolute artistic brilliance and genius'

Totally agree!  I don't want to side step too far from the OP but it has to be also said that Prometheus had some 'poor editing choices', shall we say . . .

I loved the film; especially its scale, imagination and the subtle, and even not so subtle, links to ALIEN, for example.  David 8 was a revelation! ( I could go on;)

I get the feeling RS has to juggle many balls for AC: please the pop-corn masses, please the critics, please the studio, please us 'avid' fans etc.   It can't be easy but from what I have seen and heard so far I am getting more excited by the day.  I think RS is going to get this just right and for me that will involve going back to the roots of what made ALIEN so great.  Fear and wonder . . .

What makes all the recent attacks in our real world so awful is not the execution of the act but the idea behind them. To add an idea a history to this awful creature is to me utterly compelling rather than leaving it static to go up over and over against another hapless group.

That's a great comment!  but will that idea $ell???!!! lol ;) 

@Deep Space

I get the feeling RS has to juggle many balls for AC: please the pop-corn masses, please the critics, please the studio, please us 'avid' fans etc. . . . . I think RS is going to get this just right and for me that will involve going back to the roots of what made ALIEN so great.  Fear and wonder . . .

Well put.

Thank you :)  Only joined this site yesterday but have been a reader for a good while now.  It's like being a kid at Christmas, discussing all these ideas, and I want to open my presents ;) lol

Welcome aboard Deep Space! :)

Thanks Lone :) I don't  think any other scene in cinema like the SJ derelict discovery in ALIEN has ever fascinated me so much . . .  It's an almost perfect movie moment! (also 1st saw it when I was about 8/9 and so was still, thankfully, very open and imaginative!)  ALIENS was a great film also, ALIEN 3 was better than it gets credit for imo but did somehow make the franchise loose momentum. The rest . . . well to be fair AR was OK as a pop corn chucker but nothing more.

I've learned so much about those films from this site and am very grateful to you all!  Also quite reassuring to know I'm not the only one that still daydreams about all the possibilities, lol.

I also love Giger's work - he and RS seemed to share a moment of artistic connection and purity when they made ALIEN.  Some of the stuff that gets on here i'd never seen before and it's very cool!

Prometheus got my childlike curiosity going again, and while it is in some ways flawed, it does reignite the, for me, best parts of what makes these films work.

As you can probably tell, I can't wait for August next year!

@Alienfanatic

Indeed somethings are better left as a Mystery and taking them away would take away the Enigma the Alien had....  But it seems Fox want to make money and they can do this be re-hashing the Xeno...  or try something different.

And the Xeno Origins and Space Jockey are things that where never covered...

And i think with Ridley he wants to return back to the Franchise and Put his Rubber Stamp on things... nothing he can do about Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien R unless he de-canonised them with a Alien Sequel..

But for him while he lost creative control over the Xenomorph from after Alien.... he can still play a part in the Xeno Origins and how the Space Jockey is connected.

While keeping it a Mystery is great...  at some point in time after Fox Re-Hash the Xeno, until there is nothing to cover but its Origins and the Space Jockey... then if Fox decided to do this after Ridley is too old.. or has passed on...

Then Fox could explore those Mysteries in ways that Giger and Ridley would Turn in their Graves over.

So if Ridley has a chance to explore those ELEMENTS in a way that he feels does a Service to Alien then i think thats what he is trying to do.

He could just had left it... then had Cameron come along in 10 years and give us the Predators created Xenos in a War against the Blue Smurfs from Avatar lol

Yes Michelle thats a great point....

We dont want them to go the route with the Franchise like they have done with Terminator and see a re-boot or another semi-reboot and cast someone else as another Ripley.....

I am however concerned that when CGI advances far more than we saw for Terminator Genesys then Fox could re-cast a young CGI Ripley voiced by Weaver. And thus make a re-boot or semi-ones.

As far as Scares.... what made Alien work was.

*First time we saw anything like this, executed in this way... the ideas are not original  but it was a original take on it.

*Chest Buster Scene was ahead of its time and the first time we saw it and the cast did not know exactly what was going to happen.

*We felt a connection and sense of loss of hope for the Crew.

*You did not see the Monster much, it was not in your face all the time and the use of Dark Scenes helped... you was more scared of what you did not see.

But repeating these is going to be hard... they would have to add more Gore... but also have to use darkness in a clever way and not have Xenos running all over the place... and we would have to be made to Care for the Cast.. for this movie to truely scare us.

Apart from Cheap Scares...

@BigDave

...and we would have to be made to Care for the Cast.. for this movie to truely scare us.

Yeah, and that's going to be difficult to do with another film in which we have to be introduced to a whole new ship crew again. To me Shaw was a pretty good sympathetic character. Not necessarily because of the way she was written (that was part of it), but it was it was how well Noomi Rapace played the part. She's a great subtle actress to me. Great nuance and vulnerability as well as strength. So I really like her character. Thought she was perfect for an Alien film. She was a great choice. I don't know much about this Katherine Waterston.

There doesn't need to be much gore. A little more explicit panic and physical consequences would do.

Take Milburn and Fifield: first, the worm's blood could have burned Fifield's hands, and Milburn's. Milburn could have gone into absolute panic when it entered his suit, imagine having something like that on you and you can't get at it. Then, when it entered Milburn's mouth, his eyes could have popped out a little, not in a comic way, but one that expresses the sudden change of pressure in his skull.

Dont get me wrong, a lot of amazing stuff happens in a short amount of time in that scene. Maybe if they were a little more unsentimental in the timing and cutting it would have been more powerful?

It seemed as though all the explicit distress was saved for Shaw, was this to keep the rating at R?