“Alien: Covenant” (R) 3 1/2 stars (out of 4); Kid Quotient: None

Director Ridley Scott is back with his first official prequel to the “Alien” movie series with “Alien: Covenant,” a thrilling sixth chapter in the franchise that began with “Alien” in 1979. The first possibly to more prequels to “Alien,” the film bridges the events of 2012’s “Prometheus” to a new intergalactic ship, the Covenant, which is populated with 16 crew members and 2,000 people in hypersleep headed to a distant planet for colonization.

But when a communication beacon tempts the Covenant to veer off-course, the ship lands on a different planet to discover not only the fate of the “Prometheus” characters Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and the android David (Michael Fassbender), but the horrifying destiny that awaits them.

Hear Tim’s review of “Alien: Covenant” with Tom Barnard and Phillip “The Philly Dawg” Wise on KQRS.

While “Alien: Covenant” has the distinct feeling of an “Alien” film (especially when the face-hugging Xenomorphs come into play), Scott, through his expert direction creates tension and bloody gore that easily bests any horror film in theaters today.

The bonus is, there are great actors like Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Demian Bichir and Danny McBride (in a rare, serious role) to help amplify the atmosphere, setting up a tantalizing premise to the next “Alien” film.

Watch Tim’s review of “Alien: Covenant” with Adrienne Broadus on KARE 11.