A dark and stylish space set horror, what Life lacks in originality it makes up for with tightly paced, slickly made, genre filmmaking smarts.

The existence of life beyond Earth is the holy grail of scientific exploration. Yet according to the movies it’s just too risky a hypothesis to pursue. War of the Worlds, Alien, Signs… save for that loveable finger wagging lug from E.T., the meeting between man and alien is one that is not recommended. Life, the latest film written by hot-property scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Deadpool), wholeheartedly agrees.

The film focuses on a crew aboard the International Space Station – among them medic Dr. David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), quarantine officer Dr. Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson), and technician Roy Adams (Ryan Reynolds) – who find evidence of extra-terrestrial life in samples collected from Mars. Yet this dream come true scenario quickly turns into a nightmare, when the ever-growing and lethally bright alien creature begins to decimate the crew one by one.

Directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House), there is a lot to like in this slick looking sci-fi horror. While there is no denying its influences (Alien, of course, is a given), Espinosa delivers all of the right elements needed to make this retread work so effectively, the kind of popcorn munching scare fest that features just the right amount of tension and plot-twists to keep things lively.

The sleek photography from Seamus McGarvey (Godzilla), to go along with the stellar visual effects work from British VFX house Double Negative, gives the film a visual punch that will knock audiences over. Tightly paced editing from Mary Jo Markey (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Frances Parker (Game of Thrones), not to mention the on-point dramatic score from Jon Ekstrand (Child 44), elevates Life further from its Alien knock-off status.

Despite the star power of Gyllenhaal, Reynolds, and Ferguson (who are all very good in their roles), the real star of Life is the alien creature, a chillingly effective and inventively made creation with a lethality that equals its intellect, a horrifying example of death in zero-gravity as ever seen in sci-fi lore.

In the end, all that is wanted in a monster movie is that the monster itself is of nightmare inducing quality. Life reaches that quota and more, delivering a frightfully fun movie.