Summer vacation? Maybe for some. But not you, you truant little bastard. It's detention for you, and in detention we talk history. But fret not: It isn't the history of dudes in white wigs and knee socks. It's the history of horror movies. Time again for a retrospective look at this wonderful industry we all love, and how better to start than with a flick that changed horror cinema forever ...

Thirty Years Ago - Alien (May 1979)
It's hard to measure Alien's impact: Director Ridley Scott combined horror and scifi, using the isolation of deep space to paint a tale of terror that had audiences guessing and gasping. Pitched as "Jaws in space," Alien got financing thanks to the smash success of Star Wars in 1977. At $9 million, Alien was expensive for its time, but paid off big for 20th Century Fox, grossing $208 million to date. Alien has out-earned the sequel, 1986's Aliens, another landmark mix of hard scifi and brutal horror; it cost $17 million and has earned $183 million to date. Alien won a best visual effects Oscar and launched the career of Sigourney Weaver, who ten years later starred in another horror-related blockbuster...

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