Aliens

A number of different directors were approached to make Alien (1979) before Ridley Scott eagerly excepted the job. His enthusiasm and artistic direction even impressed the Fox executives so much that the initial production budget was significantly increased. In hindsight, perhaps Scott’s best decision was to hire Swiss artist H.R. Giger to help design and drive the “alien” element of the film’s look. Ridley Scott had seen Giger’s painting called Necronom IV and decided that this was the look he desired for the creature. The rest, as they say, is history.

When James Cameron came to make the sequel to Scott’s classic in 1986, the Alien creature was clearly to be centre stage again. A few subtle changes were made to Giger’s original. The head was completely re-sculpted (keeping the same overall look), the feet and hands were also remade for the new film. The rest of the suit was recreated from Giger’s original Alien moulds. The only other tiny change was a forearm bone which was added via snap poppers. The Alien Warrior in the Propstore collection is one of the actors costumes used in the sequel which were utilized for the bulk of the shoot.

There were also Alien puppets made for special effects filming, particularly the explosion and creature extermination scenes. The vast majority of these were destroyed in the process. The puppets had another difference to the costumes in that the arms were changed. These arms were actually the smaller arms of the four arms created for the Queen alien of the films finale. It was Cameron’s wish that the creature look a little more “insect like”. But, to the general public the villain of the new movie was fundamentally the same.

The “Propstore” alien is missing its original head, chest and “exhausts”. Replacement pieces have been added to complete him. The costume is essentially a fairly standard grey nylon bodysuit which has the creature parts, made from polyfoam glued on. It is in remarkable condition and has been displayed in a formidable action pose with the tail menacingly overhead. The custom base even shows some evidence of the creature’s acid blood! Original components of the creature costumes have become almost impossible to find.