Those who were frightened out of their skin when “Alien” burst to life in 1979 are in for another chill. Hulu is streaming the newest iteration of the “Alien” franchise called “Alien: Earth.

This one is commandeered by writer Noah Hawley, best known for his icy characters from “Fargo.”

The movie “Alien,” directed by Ridley Scott, was so scary that it metastasized dozens of genetic offspring, with another “Aliens” in 1986 directed by James Cameron (famous for “Titanic” and “The Terminator”). “Alien 3” morphed in 1992, directed by David Fincher, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet followed that with “Alien Resurrection.” Prequels ensued as well with “Alien: Romulus” last year, directed by Fede Alvarez.

These stories are perpetually popular, says Hawley, because people like to view the future as both promising and fearful. “I think if you asked the people who have created the technology that we're using now, they were all the sci-fi nerds of their high school. So, it's the job of the fiction writers and the sci-fi writers to project a future that we can then accomplish (these projections) over time. I think we go through phases, where the stories are dystopian or they're hopeful,” he says.

You have, ‘2001: A Space Odyssey,’ then you have ‘Star Wars,’ right? And then you have ‘Alien.’ And it's like, I don't know, in ‘Star Wars,’ things are looking up; in ‘Alien,’ things are looking down. So, my responsibility in bringing ‘Alien’ to the small screen is really to try to create a vision of the future in a way that the characters in the show are working through this question of what does it mean to be human? And can humanity survive its own sins that maybe brings some optimism to the world?”

Of course, the terror exploded in the first “Alien” when the creature, the Xenomorph, burst out of John Hurt’s chest. Those who suffered that scene can never forget it.

“I could talk a little bit about the origin,” says Hawley, “which is, if my job is to render the emotional experience of watching ‘Alien’ into a new delivery system — which is this television show — then one of the critical feelings is the discovery of the life-cycle of the Xenomorph.

“I mean, it's really four monsters in one,” he continues. “And each step is worse than the last. And so, part of the horror ... is first, it's a facehugger, which is terrible. And then you think, ‘Oh, that's over,’ and ... and then something bursts out of your chest. So, there's this discovery process that, after seven movies, we can't get back.

“But if I introduce new creatures and you don't know how they reproduce or what they eat, then you feel that dread every time they're on screen. Or they're not visible, but you know they're out there because you're not sure what's going to happen next.

“And for me, it was really just function over form. What function do they need to provide in the story? And then I just tried to gross myself out as much as possible as I went through the process,” he says.

“What I'm sort of proudest of is that I was able to give the actors the real experience. They knew what they were acting against. They knew what these creatures were. And I think for the audience, we're really giving you that feeling that you got from watching ‘Alien’ back (then).”

Some of the actors in “Alien: Earth” remember when they first experienced the original. Babou Ceesay, who plays Morrow, the only survivor of the ship’s crash, recalls, “When I saw it way too early, I was 9 or 10 in Africa watching it on a French TV channel, actually. My mom corrected me, because I thought it was on VHS, but it was on a French TV channel. It wasn't dubbed. It was in English, but it had the subtitles, and it freaked me out a lot. The chest burster moment was the moment, I think that was almost too real. And then meeting a real Xenomorph on set — a real Xenomorph, can you believe that?”

Sydney Chandler, who portrays Wendy, the first “synthetic” to be imbued with human consciousness, remembers, “I saw this movie also at too young of an age, and the Xenomorph visited me in my nightmares many a time. So, it was a full circle moment to be chased by a real Xeno instead of just dreaming about it.”

Ridley Scott, executive producer on the series, remains Hawley’s mentor. “It was Ridley who made ‘Alien’ and then went on to make’ Blade Runner,’ right? He introduced this idea of synthetic beings, and then he went on to explore that in more depth in ‘Blade Runner.’

“By exploring the synthetic beings in ‘Alien,’ I'm certainly not trying to make’ Blade Runner,’ but I understand how the comparisons can be made, certainly aesthetically,” says Hawley.

“You could look at ‘Blade Runner’ and think, ‘Well, that must be what Earth looks like in “Alien.” It's raining all the time,' etc. But I would say to the department heads, if you find yourself making ‘Blade Runner,’ you're making the wrong Ridley Scott movie.”

Old pros join 'Murder Club'

If you missed it in the theaters, now is the time to catch “The Thursday Murder Club,” a comedy-thriller starring the old pros Helen Mirren, Ben Kingsley and Pierce Brosnan. This is a formidable gang of aged crime stoppers who set their walkers to work on solving cold cases. The film begins streaming on Netflix Aug. 28.

Mirren, so memorable in “1923” and everything else she’s done, tells me, “I think I started off quite shy, and I'm still not hugely gregarious. One of the things I like about acting is you don’t have to think what to say — it’s all written for you, which is kind of nice. I think also it fits in with my philosophy of life, the world you engage in as an actor is quite loose, quite liberal; it’s quite varied, it’s quite funky for want of a better word. You get to mix with people with all kinds of different attitudes and races. It’s an inclusive profession. It’s more inclusive than most professions, and I love never quite knowing what I'm going to be doing next.”

Ron Howard lands east of 'Eden'

Director Ron Howard delivers another memorable film with “Eden,” landing in theaters on Friday. It’s the tale of a disgruntled group that tries to set up a new society on a remote island – only to have things go awry. The film stars Jude Law and Ana de Armas. Howard, who has helmed a score of successful movies, tells me, “I'm not a genius but in some ways my life has, at times, made me feel like an outsider and not a member of the mainstream. ...

“One of the things that attracts me to a story is that possibility or the reality of a real and surprising and shocking loss and the way that changes your life and how you try to cope with that.

“I’ve dealt with it comedically. ‘Parenthood’ is about the belief that you think you know how to be the greatest parent and control something, and the realization that you can't, and what the toll is going to be. ‘Apollo 13’ is clearly about that. I think you can find that in ‘Ransom’ and even In ‘Cocoon’ — they’ve lost their way, who they were and sense of purpose. And it’s certainly there in ‘A Beautiful Mind.’”

Denzel stars in a classic remake

Most people would not connect Denzel Washington with the great Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. But lucky viewers can watch Washington star as a music mogul in “Highest 2 Lowest” in select theaters now and on Apple TV+ on Sept. 5.

The film is based on Kurosawa’s classic crime thriller “High and Low” and reunites Washington with director Spike Lee for the fifth time. ”Yeah, we just go,” says Washington of Lee. “It is a shorthand. I like working with Spike. It’s familiar territory.”

Washington admits that he takes something of each role with him. “They all become a part of you,” he says. “I’d like to say I’m doing something different. I’m just blessed to have had so many great experiences and to have traveled the world. I think going to Africa, the first time, had the biggest impact on me. ‘Cry Freedom’ because of my age, landing in Africa. They opened the door, and I thought, ‘Wow, Africa smells strong.’”

In spite of his success, Washington says, “Any film you do is a gamble. You never know. The more ammunition you have going in — if it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage. So if you have a good script to begin with. I can’t think of very many films I've been in where we had a great script and screwed it up. I've been in a couple where we didn’t have anything and maybe we patched it together a little bit.”

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