Strap in and hold your breath because Alien: Romulus stalks its way into Cineworld this August. This latest chapter in the terrifying Alien franchise takes place between the events of Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) and James Cameron's Aliens (1986), promising a mixture of knuckle-chewing suspense and all-out xenomorph warfare.
Suspense and gore-meister Fede Alvarez, director of Evil Dead (2013) and Don't Breathe (2016) is at the helm and Ridley Scott is on board as a producer. Here's the face-hugging new poster to get you in the mood.
On top of that, we've got a chilling new trailer that teases the film's horrific atmosphere. Watch it and then scroll down for our breakdown of the classic Alien references we spotted in the video.
A possible terraforming tower as seen in Aliens
As mentioned, Alien: Romulus takes place in the 57-year gap between Alien and Aliens, following the destruction of the commercial space tug Nostromo and the expulsion of sole Nostromo survivor Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) into deep space. Famously, Ellen drifts in hyper-sleep for 57 years before being woken up at the start of Aliens.
Have the colonists been established on LV-426, the planetoid where the derelict was discovered in Alien, by the time Alien: Romulus begins? This shot through a rainy window may be a glimpse of the same terraforming structure seen in Aliens, although we don't know what planet it is.
Amanda Ripley's watch
This seemingly incidental shot reveals an object from the acclaimed Alien: Isolation PlayStation game, of which Fede Alvarez is a huge fan. In the game, which takes place some 27 years after the events of Alien, the watch is sported by Amanda Ripley, Ellen Ripley's daughter.
In the trailer for Alien: Romulus it's worn by Cailee Spaeney's character. Is this an implicit connection between the events of Alien: Isolation and Alien: Romulus?
Iris vents modelled after the ones in Alien and Alien: Isolation
How can air vents possibly be sinister? Watch the Alien movies again to find out. These hissing, iris-like thresholds often define the border between life and death, as seen in Alien, when Nostromo Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt) dies, or in Alien: Isolation where a mere aperture opening can lead to a bloody, horrifying demise.
This shot looks like an update on the iris designs from Alien, but it's sufficiently similar to give us a nostalgic pang of fear.
Corridor designs linked to Alien and the interior of the Nostromo
Look carefully at the aesthetic design in the Alien: Romulus trailer. There's an intentionally retro, bio-mechanical design to the lighting and corridors that explicitly links the film to the world of Alien and Alien: Isolation.
A shot that directly references Aliens
We know that the face huggers and the resultant xenomorphs leak acid blood, making them virtually impossible to kill when one is in deep space. This shot, peering down through the hull to a lower infrastructure, references the reveal of the acid blood in Alien and the deep, acid-induced hole discovered by the colonial marines in Aliens. (Listen out also for the distinctive sound of the motion tracker from Aliens.)
The blue mist from the derelict spacecraft in Alien
In Alien, the ill-fated Kane (John Hurt) discovered the face huggers while investigating the mysterious derelict on LV-426. Before being impregnated by a face hugger that hatched from an alien egg, Kane observed a layer of blue mist that audibly reacted when broken. In the Alien: Romulus trailer, David Jonsson's character appears to make the same discovery.
A face hugger scene that alludes to Aliens
One of the scariest scenes from Aliens involved Ripley and Newt (Carrie Hewt) being caught in the med lab with two face huggers on the loose. Alien: Isolation looks set to unleash a similarly terrifying set-piece, complete with an Aliens-aping visual as the creature attempts to put its proboscis down someone's throat.
The pulse rifle from Aliens
It's only a brief shot but we can see Cailee Spaeney firing at the fully-grown xenomorph with the same pulse rifle sported by the marines in Aliens. Again, we're imagining this new film as a true hybrid mutation of Alien and Aliens, one that mixes up the aesthetic and the tech from two defining sci-fi horror masterpieces.
The title reveal from Alien
Mysterious bars on the screen forming the film's title? It can only be a reference to Alien's unforgettable opening title sequence, which set the stage for everything to follow. Will Alien: Romulus live up to this formidable sci-fi legacy? We'll find out before long.
Alien: Romulus is released on August 16th. In the meantime, click the link below to discover all the horror movies headed your way during the rest of 2024.
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