Giger’s work has always been of a bio-mechanical bent and that vibe’s used to great effect throughout the Alien epic: technologically advanced but breathing and pulsating with life.
As with his artwork, there is a sexual element to it all as well. Massive members and cavernous wombs abound.
The fearsome “facehugger” was the first creature Giger designed for the film. Its proboscis, was actually made of a sheep’s intestine would you believe.
The design of the “chestburster” was inspired by Francis Bacon’s 1944 painting Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion (below). Giger’s original design apparently resembled a plucked chicken before it was refined to its final state.
For the filming of the chestburster scene the cast members knew the creature would be bursting out of Hurt, and they’d seen the puppet, but they hadn’t been told that fake blood would also be bursting out in every direction from high-pressure pumps. The scene was shot in just one take using an artificial torso filled with blood and viscera, with Hurt’s head and arms coming up from underneath the table.
The chestburster was shoved up through the torso by a puppeteer who held it on a stick. When the creature burst through the chest a stream of blood shot directly at Veronica Cartwright, shocking her enough that she fell over and went into hysterics. Perfect.
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