Alien: Covenant footage was screened. Results are in...

It does make you think about how relatively tame Prometheus was in terms of body horror. But if they're setting out to make us all sick, this is the franchise to do it with.

It does make you think about how relatively tame Prometheus was in terms of body horror. But if they're setting out to make us all sick, this is the franchise to do it with.

The song annoyed me most because it makes it seem like Suicide Squad or other current films that have tailored song covers on their trailers. It's something I find a bit too self-aware and takes away from the film's identity. The Raindrop Prelude played over the end titles of Prometheus was beauty following horror, and it attained a latent scariness and an ominousness as a result. This doesn't achieve that.

Aside from that what I found odd is that the film doesn't appear as visually interesting as either Alien or Prometheus; Billy Crudup is the only actor aside from Michael Fassbender who looks like a decent character.

And it does puzzle me a bit why every planet has to look so much like Earth; but, fair enough, the Engineers probably created at least some of what our planet looks like.

Looks very bloody and horrible but let's hope there's a point to it rather than it just being sensational (plus we know before seeing it exactly who dies first). I do like the new ideas that have been described recently, as if the planet itself is deadly.

The song annoyed me most because it makes it seem like Suicide Squad or other current films that have tailored song covers on their trailers. It's something I find a bit too self-aware and takes away from the film's identity. The Raindrop Prelude played over the end titles of Prometheus was beauty following horror, and it attained a latent scariness and an ominousness as a result. This doesn't achieve that.

Aside from that what I found odd is that the film doesn't appear as visually interesting as either Alien or Prometheus; Billy Crudup is the only actor aside from Michael Fassbender who looks like a decent character.

And it does puzzle me a bit why every planet has to look so much like Earth; but, fair enough, the Engineers probably created at least some of what our planet looks like.

Looks very bloody and horrible but let's hope there's a point to it rather than it just being sensational (plus we know before seeing it exactly who dies first). I do like the new ideas that have been described recently, as if the planet itself is deadly.

The backburster clip. How much of that sequence is the actor and how much CGI (apart from the obvious)? I feel like the percentage is weighted towards the CGI end* – the man's back looks unreal when what's needed is much more reality for it to be truly shocking. If you were to compare it to John Hurt especially, but also Noomi Rapace in Prometheus, there was an almost total reliance on the actor and the actor's body to convey what was happening. I think Scott's putting too much store on effects here in a way that is unusual for him.

*One thing I did overlook with this is that this man has been infected by the black liquid in 'pollen' form, so he's probably not just incubating an alien but his body is mutating as well, a bit like Holloway in Prometheus. That would account for why his skin almost looks translucent. I have to say though that even with that in mind the sequence doesn't work so well to me.

The backburster clip. How much of that sequence is the actor and how much CGI (apart from the obvious)? I feel like the percentage is weighted towards the CGI end* – the man's back looks unreal when what's needed is much more reality for it to be truly shocking. If you were to compare it to John Hurt especially, but also Noomi Rapace in Prometheus, there was an almost total reliance on the actor and the actor's body to convey what was happening. I think Scott's putting too much store on effects here in a way that is unusual for him.

*One thing I did overlook with this is that this man has been infected by the black liquid in 'pollen' form, so he's probably not just incubating an alien but his body is mutating as well, a bit like Holloway in Prometheus. That would account for why his skin almost looks translucent. I have to say though that even with that in mind the sequence doesn't work so well to me.

It reminds me of a fan film trailer, which I don't mean in a way that denigrates fan films, but that there are aspects that are a bit rough around the edges. An example, which I think triggered the thought in the first place, is the clip where a man allows a woman to run out, then follows.

It reminds me of a fan film trailer, which I don't mean in a way that denigrates fan films, but that there are aspects that are a bit rough around the edges. An example, which I think triggered the thought in the first place, is the clip where a man allows a woman to run out, then follows.