‘Alien: Covenant’: Ridley Scott On Why It’s Harder To Scare Audiences

'Alien: Covenant' director Ridley Scott explains why he believes it is harder to scare audiences than it is to make them laugh.

Alien
Alien: Covenant has finally arrived in theaters and fans are hoping that the film will return the science fiction franchise back to its roots after decades of critically lambasted sequels (James Cameron’s Aliens being an exception). While the trailers for the film certainly indicate that Covenant will feature a number of thrills and terrifying moments, director Ridley Scott explained to Variety why he believes it is more difficult to scare audiences today than when the first Alien film was released in 1979.

Scott explained that audiences today have seen almost everything, making it difficult to devise new ways to terrify them.

“It’s the hardest thing to do. Comedians will disagree, but I think it’s easier to make people laugh than to really, really scare the shit out of somebody. We’ve seen so much, we get a little bit numb to what should be scary. I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”

Personally, I find it hard to argue with Scott’s assessment considering the list of films that have had me in stitches outnumber the films that have truly horrified me. What do you think? Is it easier to scare people or make them laugh? Have audiences become too accustomed to concepts and visuals that should terrify us? Share your thoughts below!

Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created in ALIEN with ALIEN: COVENANT, the second chapter in a prequel trilogy that began with PROMETHEUS — and connects directly to Scott’s 1979 seminal work of science fiction. Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world — whose sole inhabitant is the “synthetic” David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.

Directed by Ridley Scott, the film stars Katherine Waterston, Michael Fassbender, Danny McBride, Noomi Rapace, Demian Bichir, Jussie Smollett, Carmen Ejogo, Billy Crudup and Amy Seimetz.

Alien: Covenant is now playing in theaters!

Source: Variety

Sebastian Peris

Sebastian Peris

Canadian film buff, political junkie, comic book geek, and board game enthusiast.