

The Alien franchise is best known for its awesome and now-iconic design of the creature, otherwise known as the Xenomorph, which has given audiences nightmares for decades now. The first movie in the series is incredibly chilling and sets the tone for the ones to follow. Ripley emerges as the one person who can stop the alien from making its way to Earth. And what the group doesn’t realize is that there’s a parasite ready to attack. On their way home to Earth, her crew makes a stop at another planet to check out a distress signal and ends up finding an alien creature.

Started in 1979 with the first installment which was directed by the one and only Ridley Scott, the series follows protagonist Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), an officer working on a spaceship called the Nostromo.

When we’re talking classic horror franchises in the history of the genre, the Alien movie series must be included in that conversation. (Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images) American actors Sigourney Weaver, Yaphet Kotto, Tom Sherritt, British actors John Hurt and Ian Holm on the set of Alien, directed by Ridley Scott.
