10 Best Horror Movies Of The 1970s, Ranked: ‘The Exorcist’ and More

“In space, no one can hear you scream” is what the tagline for Alien read back in 1979, and it’s become one of the most famous movie taglines of all time. Because it is indeed true that there is a lot of screaming happening in outer space in Ridley Scott’s terrifying, chilling horror-sci-fi triumph — but when you watch the film, you’ll be screaming at home as well.

The crew of a commercial space ship are in cryo-sleep, heading back to Earth when their slumber is interrupted by a distress signal. The crew wakes up and answers the call at an alien vessel, where they accidentally encounter a malevolent alien beast that infects a member of the crew. But the worst is still yet to come, and when the crewmember falls into a coma, something is waiting within him to escape and hunt everyone down. Though it was meant as a critcism by Roger Ebert at the time, Alien really is a haunted house film in space in the best way.