Hi kids!: The Xenomorphs are back en masse in ‘Alien: Romulus’.

ALIEN: ROMULUS ***1/2 (119 minutes) MA

Having merrily chomped their way through scores of middle-aged adults over the goo-strewn stretch of the Alienfilm franchise, it’s now time for our favourite extraterrestrial carnivores – or Xenomorphs, as hardcore fans would insist they be called – to feast upon and terrify the youth of the future. And what nasty fun it is.

Though Alien: Romulus is the seventh entry in the much-loved Alien series – ninth if you count the two Alien vs Predator detours – it unspools as a direct follow-up to Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) and James Cameron’s Aliens (1986), both bona fide classics, the latter easily ranking alongside Godfather 2 and The Empire Strikes Back as one of the best sequels ever.

Ably orchestrated by director Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe 1&2), the gory joy takes place a mere 20 years after the events in Alien as a group of young, disaffected Gen Zedish mine workers on an industrialized world steal a vehicle and blast off to an abandoned spaceship near a planet with an impressive ring system.

Their smash-and-grab mission is to retrieve some valuable equipment before the giant ship crashes into the rings – but things go south when they rudely discover they are not alone.

Cue a highly satisfying quotient of running and screaming and shooting and chasing by the legendary facehuggers, their super-creepy talons and deep-throating breathing tubes as much a part of sci-fi movie lore as tricorders and light sabres. (Ah, but does Star Wars qualify as true science fiction? Discuss.)

Fans of the first two Alien films – especially oldies who saw the original as petrified high schoolers – will admire how faithfully Alien: Romulus recreates the grungy look, sound and feel of the clunky spaceship interiors of the Nostramo. It’s marvellously nostalgic.

It is also oddly comforting, even heartening to see how those early films have become so deeply embedded in popular culture that a new generation now carries the torch, much like what we see with Rocky, Star Wars, Star Trek and all those respectful remakes of classic horror movies.

Most enjoyable is the extensive use in Alien: Romulus of practical effects, proving again their supremacy over digital visuals, especially when it comes to getting up close and personal, usually just prior to meal time. The love young filmmakers have for analog filmmaking only seems to be getting stronger.

If there’s one recurring irritation to this briskly paced buffet it’s how the referencing via sound and set design – which makes perfect sense given how little things would have changed in the 20 years since the events in Alien – also spills over into the dialogue.

This is mildly irksome as every time there’s a verbal nod to the first films it takes you out of the picture, at least for a few seconds.

There are also action scenarios that self-consciously combine elements from the original films. One wishes in these moments that the creators had come up with something original, perhaps better. After all, they had a four-decade advantage.

That’s quibbling, though.

Alien: Romulus is beautifully mounted and lovingly sculpted, a whole-hearted and adoring embracing of Old School by New School.

It might not match the scares of Alien or Aliens, yet it honours the Alien legacy with much more fidelity than Alien 3, the execrable Alien: Resurrection, the terrible Alien: Prometheus or the pedestrian, eminently forgettable Alien: Covenant ever did.

Feels good to say that.

Here’s to more.