Alien: Romulus (15)

It’s a testament to the lasting impact of Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi horror that, 45 years later, we have filmmakers who grew up on the original now leaving their mark on the franchise.

And what a mark Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) has left. After a couple of disappointing entries with Scott’s own Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, we’re going back to the lean, stripped back roots of the original masterpiece, putting true horror front and centre once again, and breathing new, horrific life into the titular creature.

Set between the events of Alien and Aliens, a group of colonial twentysomethings (including Cailee Spaeny - the film’s “Ripley”, and an android played by David Jonsson) have fallen on hard times. They receive the ticket of a lifetime when they get a chance to scavenge the contents of a derelict space station. Lo and behold, this ship is abandoned for a reason, and it’s not long before our old friends come crawling out of the air ducts.

Simplicity is the key here: have a basic premise, build tension, then unleash hell. It worked then, and it works wonderfully now. Do not miss.