Fear of the unknown and curiosity about the unknown have always been two competing emotions that have driven the science fiction genre. While successful franchises such as “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” installed a multicultural society on an intergalactic level in cinema and television, works such as Ridley Scott’s “Alien” (1979) fueled fear of unknown beings from outer space. Scott staged the ultimate space horror trip at the time. Numerous sequels attempted to build on the film’s historical momentum and box office success, but fell apart into uninspiring genre poses that lacked the psychological and social subtext of the original. But then Scott took the reins back into his own hands. With “Prometheus” (2012) and “Alien: Covenant” (2017), he told two interesting future stories that were loosely linked to the original, against the familiar basic pattern. The two films were again designed as a blend of science fiction and horror genres and discussed semi-philosophical questions with effortless casualness.
