Doug’s Cinematic Firsties is a recurring series wherein Douglas Laman (A.K.A. NerdInTheBasement) will review a well-known classic motion picture that he’s never seen before.

Predator and Alien have been intertwined for decades now, with a handful of Alien vs. Predator comics released through 1989 and 1990 introducing the concept to the world and the appearance of a Xenomorph skull in Predator 2 solidifying this connection forevermore. Interestingly though, there’s something pretty important that connects these two science-fiction franchises beyond just them sharing two cross-over movies together. Both Alien and Predator kicked off their individual sagas with small-scale adventures that heavily kept the titular alien organisms off-screen for much of the runtime. This decision led to Alien being one of the all-time best horror movies while it led to Predator being a smarter than expected action film.

Predator also hews closely to that original Alien movie by focusing on a group of normal human beings who have no idea what awaits them on a seemingly routine operation. Predator’s group of everyday people is led by Major Alan Schaefer (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who goes by the nickname of Dutch, who has been recruited to lead his men on a rescue mission into a dangerous jungle. They’ll be accompanied by Dutch’s former best buddy in the whole wide world Al Dillon (Carl Weathers), who may or may not have ulterior motives of his own in regards to what this operation really entails. While out in the wilderness though, Schaefer and his men encounter gruesomely skinned bodies that indicate they’re far from the only vicious killers out here in this jungle.

What could be behind these vicious murders? Well, that would be the titular Predator, who, as said before, is mostly off-screen for the first half of the film so that the viewer is as clueless as the human characters as to what exactly is lurking in the shadows waiting to catch their prey. As an unseen force begins to pick off Shaefer’s men one by one, Predator begins to function as an 80’s action movie version of an Agatha Christie novel, complete with a chilling sense of uncertainty over who is and who isn’t gonna make it to the very end. The fact that the cast has some fun chemistry together and are given distinctive characters to play also make it all the more absorbing to watch the Predator track these men down.

Director John McTiernan uses his knack for making individual characters actually stand out to make Predator far more suspenseful to watch than I expected while the memorably gruesome demises that meet the assorted characters at the hands of the nefarious alien villain make the Predator a truly intimidating creature. Like in McTiernan’s other iconic 1980’s action movie Die Hard, there’s so much smart writing going into the screenplay (which was penned by Jim Thomas and John Thomas) of what could have been a disposable dopey action movie, to the point that characters like Al Dillon get totally coherent character arcs amidst the various alien executions.

Perhaps the best story trait being how the Predator typically takes a backseat to the mission Schaefer and his unit are engaging in, which makes the sudden presence of this violent creature all the more impactful. The script does take a dip in quality once Schaefer is left as basically the last guy standing and now it becomes a mano-a-mano duel between him and that Predator. McTiernan still gets some really memorable suspense out of this section of the film, but with the Predator constantly being out in the open and no longer being shrouded in the shadows, a lot of the compelling unease stemming from both the characters and the viewer not knowing what exactly is out there killing them is gone, what was one unknown is now just lumbering out in the open.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, who’s preparations for taking down his alien rival get the lion’s share of the screentime in last half-hour, just isn’t as compelling to watch on his own as supporting players Carl Weathers or Shane Black are, that’s also dragging the climax down, though it’s still by no means a lackluster finale given that there are plenty of fun action beats and suspenseful moments to be found in the home stretch of Predator. Considering the rest of Predator has been firing on all cylinders as such an engrossing and chilling feature, it’s not too difficult to look past the underwhelming climax and see the numerous ways Predator above so many other 80’s science-fiction action fare, though it is, admittedly, nowhere near as tremendous as its kindred spirit, 1979’s Alien.