Memory: The Origins of Alien

2019, dir Alexandre O. Philippe w/Veronica Cartwright, Roger Christian, Roger Corman, Henry Jenkins, Ben Mankiewicz, Diane O’Bannon, Ivor Powell, Terry Rawlings, Carmen Scheifele-Giger, Gary Sherman, Ronald Shusett, Tom Skerritt, Clarke Wolfe, 95 min, DCP 

Just as he did for Psycho in 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene, writer/director Alexandre O. Philippe dissects, unpacks, examines, and otherwise reveals-all about a pivotal sequence in Ridley Scott’s Alien – the infamous ‘chest-burster’ scene. Philippe uses a wealth of clips, behind-the-scenes footage, and artwork, as well as both archival and new interviews with cast, crew, experts, and others close to the production (including the widows of integral creatives Dan O’Bannon and H.R. Giger) to fascinating effect. Reaching beyond the usual suspects, MEMORY makes connections between the scene (and the whole Alien series) and Francis Bacon, pulp comics, Joseph Campbell, H.P. Lovecraft, parasitic wasps, Egyptian mythology, and, most especially, Aeschylus – whose vision of the Furies from The Oresteia serves as a thread throughout the work.