David Fincher’s Alien 3 doesn’t get nearly enough appreciation, in my mind. It had a troubled and rocky production that was still salvaged into a really solid and enjoyable movie. Sure, there are some flaws but the atmosphere is unbeatable, Sigourney Weaver plays Ripley with an intensity not yet seen, and it took risks that many people hated (Newt and Hicks, for example) but ones that drove the story into new territories. We’ve defended it twice, once from Daniel’s perspective and once when Evan gave it a revisit.
One of the interesting aspects of the film was that it showed the Xenomorph can change its appearance and mannerisms depending on which animal the facehugger incubates. In the first two films, we’d only seen human-based aliens. But in Alien 3, we saw the facehugger attach to a dog (or an oxen, depending on which edition you watch), which gave it a different appearance.
But did you know that Giger’s original design was intended to be more erotic? It’s a rather unsettling vision that marries a svelte, almost lithe body with a feminine chin and lips. Below are images of the fully constructed design as well as a video of H.R. Giger discussing his approach to Fincher’s request.
If you want to read more interesting facts about this design, there’s a great piece over at AlienExplorations that detail all the ideas Giger had, including making the Xenomorph’s skin have holes so it would make musical notes when wind passed through it!
