After exploring the backstory behind the iconic shower scene in Psycho, filmmaker Alexandre O. Philippe is taking a deep dive into one of the most beloved horror sci-fi movies of all-time in his new documentary, Memory: The Origins of Alien. Ahead of its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival as the Opening Night Midnight film on Thursday, January 24th, we've been provided with Memory's official poster (following its unveiling at Entertainment Weekly) to share with Daily Dead readers.

Sundance Film Festival Description"Memory was a script that Dan O’Bannon started in 1971, abruptly hitting a wall at page 29. But after the idea gestated for several years, it ultimately took the form of Ridley Scott’s masterpiece Alien.

Alexandre O. Philippe’s documentaries — most recently 78/52, about Hitchcock’s Psycho shower scene — have interrogated cinema’s cultural ripples. If MEMORY - THE ORIGINS OF ALIEN were only a comprehensive account of Alien’s origins — ancient myths, comic books, H.P. Lovecraft, sci-fi movies, and parasitic wasps — it would still be fascinating. But how did Alien lodge itself so indelibly into our cultural imagination? Philippe’s real interest lies in the deep resonance of myths and our collective unconscious. The strange symbiotic collaboration between Alien creators O’Bannon, Scott, and H.R. Giger suggests a greater synchronicity across history, art, and storytelling, a synchronicity that gives us the Furies, creatures of Renaissance painting, and even chest-bursting aliens.

Propelled by a pure joy of cinema (and sociology), the film is strewn with unearthed archival material, designs, and story notes. It’s safe to say you’ll never think of Alien the same way again."

  • Derek Anderson
    About the Author - Derek Anderson

    Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.

    When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.