Revealed: Censors gave 1979 classic Alien adults-only rating as 'teenagers would be confused about sex and reproduction' due to pulsating egg scene



Classic horror film Alien was given 'X' (18) rating instead of 'AA' (14+)

Key scene concerning censors was when Kane examines pulsating egg

BBFC: Image of egg too disturbing for sexually inexperienced viewers



Prudish: Censors were worried teenagers would become confused about sex and reproduction if they watched the classic horror film Alien (pictured), it has emerged

Censors were worried teenagers would become confused about sex and reproduction if they watched classic horror film Alien, it has emerged.

Archived files reveal the film could have been given an 'AA' rating by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) - making it suitable for cinema-goers aged at least 14.



Instead the 1979 film was stamped with an adults-only 'X' rating - which is today's 18 certificate - mainly because of just one scene.

When hapless Kane - played by John Hurt - examines a pulsating egg on an eerie planet, censors squirmed in their seats .



It is one of the scariest moments in the 117-minute film but was bizarrely deemed to present a 'perverse view of the reproductive function'.

There are no sex scenes or nudity in Alien and the 30-year-old document suggests censors were not concerned by the violence, gore or the escalating fear factor.

It was the image of the egg - which leads to Kane's shocking demise during a meal in an infamous scene - that was thought by the BBFC to be too disturbing for sexually inexperienced viewers .

Alien was directed by Oscar-winner Ridley Scott and starred Sigourney Weaver as heroine Ripley, fighting for survival against a murderous shape-shifting creature. It has a similar premise to the Steven Spielberg blockbuster Jaws which was released four years before Scott's space thriller.

But the killer shark film was deemed suitable for children and given an AA rating by the BBFC because child psychologists warned it would affect adults more.



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Scary: Kane - played by John Hurt - looked at the pulsating egg in a scene which gave the film an 'X' certificate

Too much? The image of the egg - which leads to Kane's shocking demise during a meal - was thought to be too disturbing for sexually inexperienced viewers by British Board of Film Classification censors

The judgement on the BBFC archives reads: 'I feel uneasy about passing for 14-year-olds a film which uses sexual imagery in a horror context.

'The images are not always explicit but run like a dark undercurrent throughout suggesting a powerful, threatening, unnamed force.

'Occasionally the image is explicit as when the leathery egg opens up to reveal a glistening pulsating membrane which erupts into a squid-like creature.'

The censor claims his decision was based on a similar scene from the 1978 remake of the B-movie Invasion Of The Body Snatchers which was also given an adult-only rating.

Archives: The film could have been given an 'AA' classification - making it suitable for those aged 14 plus

Star: Sigourney Weaver is pictured in the 1979 classic, which is still seen as one of the scariest films ever

The BBFC official concludes: 'I don't want to flash ideas like this to teenagers who might not have come to terms with the normal sexual functions.

Gloomy: The promotional poster for the 1979 film

'The early teens are a troublesome time with physical changes making terrific demands on emotional stability.

'I don't myself want to pass for this age-group a film which might be disturbing in a non-specific way to a significant proportion of them.'



The film was released uncut in 1979 and was a hit with audiences who squirmed and screamed at the tightly wound story.

Weaver starred with Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, Veronica Cartwright, Yaphet Kotto and Ian Holm as the doomed crew of the Nostromo.

There have been six films since the original was released and the Alien - designed by surrealist H.R. Giger - is one of Hollywood's greatest monsters.

Dr David Sorfa, head of film studies at Liverpool John Moores University, said the decision was based on a 'crude psychology' at the BBFC during the time.

Dr Sorfa said: 'The BBFC would make judgements in the 1969s and 1970s based on crude psychology of a perception of an ideal viewer.



'Censors would state their blanket judgements based on what they thought a viewer of a certain age would think.

'Today, there is a mechanism in place which essentially means certain imagery cannot be included.'

VIDEO: Alien 1979 trailer. A sex education lesson?

VIDEO: Pulsating egg in Alien. Too sexual for TV?



