Alien Vault

Alien Vault

The Complete Story and Legacy
by Ian Nathan

Epic Ink, 2019

Alien Vault first was published in 2011 by Voyageur Press. In 2019, publisher Epic Ink acquired the rights to issue a more elaborate 40th anniversary edition, also titled Alien Vault.

I recently came across the 40th anniversary edition on the shelves of a 'bargain' outlet for less than $10, so I decided to purchase it and provide an overview here at the PorPor Books Blog.

Author Nathan has written 'Vault' books for other franchises, such as The Terminator, as well as books on noted directors such as Ridley Scott, Tim Burton, the Coen Brothers, and the Coppolas. 

At 10.25 x 19 inches, Alien Vault is a thick, well-made book with a slipcase cover. The inside covers of the book are fitted with pockets, within which lodged bits of Alien ephemera, such as stickers, placards, and facsimiles of Ridley Scott's shooting script. It's a nice little exemplar of a multimedia presentation, and indicates that the author and the publisher took this chance to capitalize on the 40th anniversary quite seriously.

Among copious pictures, author Nathan provides an overview of the film. His prose style is relatively smooth and engaging, save for the chapter devoted to Ripley, where he goes into an overly labored exegesis on the innovative nature of the character in terms of the depiction of women in sci-fi films. There's nothing here that hasn't been said before in many other analyses of Alien. 

Elsewhere in Alien Vault Nathan provides anecdotes and observations about the genesis of the film, the cast and crew, the process of filming, and its reception (at a test screening in Dallas in the Spring of 1979, audience members reportedly lurched out of their seats and headed to the restrooms to vomit).

Nathan makes clear that during the filming, none of the actors saw the film as being anything more than a large-budget 'B' movie, and that is how most critics saw the film upon its release in May, 1979. So it's interesting to see how, over the years, the film has come to be seen as one of the greatest films of the 1970s, a touchstone of artistic cinema, and a pop culture icon.

As a 40th anniversary edition, Alien Vault devotes its final chapter to the sequels and prequels of the franchise, including insider anecdotes about Prometheus and an account by the author of an on-site visit to the studio in Australia where Ridley Scott was shooting Alien: Covenant.

The book closes on a note of some uncertainty, as Fox has not green-lit Scott's anticipated third entry in the Prometheus series. It does appear that an Alien TV series is in preproduction, but whether it actually makes to to the small screen remains to be seen.

Summing up, if you're a fan of the film, and you can find Alien Vault for an affordable price, then you may want to pick it up. While it lacks the in-depth nature of J. W. Rinzler's The Making of Alien (2019), it is a serviceable history of the film and franchise.