By Ximena Gallardo-C. and C. Jason Smith. Published by The Continuum International Publishing Group, Inc., New York, 2004.

    By Stephen Pytak 

     Without question, one of most interesting books I've read about
the "ALIEN" film series, or any film series for that matter.
     "ALIEN Woman" analyzes the sexual politics of the "ALIEN"
films, with an obsession bordering on a fetish.
     This is an interesting way to review these films, since the
character of Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) was revolutionary
in 1979, taking the heroine to new heights in cinema. 
     She was the first of her kind, a woman who, in her debut, fought 
her own battles, using her wits, her flamethrower, her sexuality, her
cunning, her trigger finger and a grappling hook. 
     Since "Trip to the Moon (1902)"  the authors state science fiction
films typically relied on male heroes. "Barbarella (1968)" might be
an exception, but she was a sexual statement of another kind. Ripley 
was something else altogether. She didn't need some stock alpha 
male to come and rescue her from the big, bad xenomorph.
    The authors examine her bold, frustrating, sacrificial and kinky
 journey from "ALIEN (1979)" through ALIEN Resurrection (1997)"
 devoting a chapter to each of the films. 
    I really enjoyed their observations on all of the films, in particular
"ALIEN3 (1992)," in which they compare Weaver to Maria Falconetti 
in "La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928)," write with wonderment about
the masculinity of Weaver's shaved head and speculate on why the 
tagline for the film was "The Bitch is Back!"
    And wait until you start reading some of their descriptions of the
title character. The films' antagonist is based on the drawings
of H.R. Giger, which are laced with all sorts of subtle and not
so subtle sexuality. And the authors described the title character --
a villain which has become almost a stock character itself these
days -- in ways which made me rethink it's screen presence and
meaning.
    To them, the chestburster is "a little dick with teeth" and
the adult "a hard-core porn version of a vampire whose double jaws
drip KY jelly."
   For fans of this series, this is going to be some fun reading. But
sometimes they went over the top.
    There's an interesting section concerning the Colonial Marines
in "ALIENS (1986)," examining their masculine and feminine traits,
how "Vasquez" is macho and so forth. Interesting to an extent. But I 
thought it started to get funny when the authors went into great lengths to 
describe how "Hudson (Bill Paxton)" is restrained at the breakfast 
table while "Bishop (Lance Henricksen)" does his ultra fast knife trick.
     Page 89 states: "...the nature of (Bishop's) performance takes on a 
clear sexual connotation: Hudson is forcibly held down, he is threatened 
with a phallic weapon, and he screams. That Bishop ends his performace
with a soft 'thank you' and then later sucks the dribbling white fluid
that serves him as blood from his finger suggests a perverse 
sexuality..." 
     That's nice. Whatever...
     I found this title while surfing Amazon.com recently. I'm really glad I
picked it up. I was looking to read something new and fresh about the
"ALIEN" series, and this was highly entertaining and insightful.