Alien: Covenant (2017) - Sci-fi Horror Film Review

Alien: Covenant is a sequel to Prometheus which was an immediate problem for me. I know it's my fault but I never got around to watching that one, I think it was the ridiculous bit in the trailer when some people are about to be crushed by a rolling pillar but run straight ahead rather than off to the side. It also has to be said that I have never gotten into the whole Alien saga, the first time I properly watched any of them was around 1997 when I brought a VHS box set comprised of the original four films. Since then I have watched the trash that is AVP: Alien VS Predator which did nothing to warm me to the franchise. Still I had heard some good things about this latest movie and so decided I needed to check it out.

Alien: Covenant takes place ten years after the events of Prometheus. Covenant; a colony ship carrying two thousand people across space is midway through it's journey to a new habitable planet when an accident causes the crew to be awakened from cryo-sleep. The crew discover a signal coming from a nearby planet that also seems perfect for human life, so thinking they can cut down their travel time decide to check it out. On this planet they discover a crashed alien ship, as well as an android named David (Michael Fassbender who also plays another android called Walter) who is the sole survivor of the ship Prometheus which went missing a decade past. Before they know it the landing party find themselves assaulted by vicious alien monsters and must try and regain contact to Covenant so that the survivors can be rescued.

Life (2017) - Sci-fi Horror Film Review

People have been saying that Life is the best Sci-Fi horror since Aliens and after watching it I would agree, not that there have been too many of note over the years. The original Alien has been stated to be a direct influence on this and it really shows with the plot being in a way almost identical in a broad sense, though stuck into a modern setting rather than the far flung future. Of course this can't be said to be a better film than Alien, personally I have never rated that one too much, though it has been decades since I last checked it out.

A team of scientists are aboard the International Space Station awaiting the return of a probe which had headed to Mars to collect soil samples. When they start analysing the findings they are shocked to discover a dormant alien life form. This life form is so small it is invisible to the naked eye, yet a huge deal is made back on Earth with the being lovingly named 'Calvin'. After managing to reanimate this creature it quickly begins to grow in size until soon it has little tentacles. However an accident occurs which results in one of the scientists getting attacked and the creature escaping from the lab it was contained in. With the creature continuing to grow and getting more intelligent the crew are faced with the task of killing it, however Calvin is seemingly indestructible, and is determined to kill everyone on the I.S.S and escape to Earth where it will be unstoppable...