AN hour into 1986’s Aliens, Colonial Marines soldier Hudson screams “Game over, man!” upon realising that the remaining members of his team were most likely to be slaughtered by the film’s alien antagonists.
It is a memorable line said with a tinge of dark humour from actor Bill Paxton that is still quoted by fans of the Alien franchise every time they rewatch the old films and new ones, because they know that for the characters in these films, it truly is “game over” when they face the Xenomorph aliens.
Originally conceived for Ridley Scott’s Alien, the design of the Xenomorph is primarily credited to Swiss surrealist artist H.R. Giger, who was brought on board the project by the film’s screenwriter Dan O’Bannon who had known about his art years beforehand.
After seeing Giger’s painting Necronom IV, Scott was convinced as the film’s “biggest, single design problem” and “maybe biggest problem in the film” had been solved. The painting, along with the artist’s unique biomechanical aesthetic, became the instrumental inspiration behind the Xenomorph’s disturbing and otherworldly appearance.
The practical effects team, led by Carlo Rambaldi, brought Giger’s designs to life by creating a costume and animatronic head that could be worn by actors while smaller details such as the Xenomorph’s translucent saliva was produced with KY Jelly.
In those days when CGI was still crawling on all fours, practical effects had to be masterful to sell believability and for Alien, the approach contributed significantly to the creature’s realistic and terrifying presence on screen.
