44 years of the original 'Alien' movie: How it came to be
‘In space, no one can hear you scream’
Exactly 44 years ago in 1979, the eerie science fiction horror film "Alien" was released in theatres which stands the test of time till today.
Its groundbreaking special effects, suspenseful environment, iconic creature design and brilliant cast launched it to unseen success. It won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, and won two for Best Visual Effects and Best Production Design. The movie remains one of the greatest science fiction and horror movies ever.
However, reaching this glory was not a walk in the park. From getting the story through to production, and hiring the right cast to actually shooting the sequences amid unbearable stress, creating special effects and managing budgets, it was a most fascinating and tiring journey to produce the movie. A Twitter thread by All The Right Movies explores Alien's backstory as it turns nearly half a century old today.
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Dan O'Bannon, the writer of the original script, who became homeless due to a failed project in 1976, while living with his writing pal, Ronald Shusett, together came up with the idea for a science fiction/horror film that would change their lives forever.
They had the idea of an alien terrorising a ship but could not word it. Then one night, Shusett woke in a sweat and called O'Bannon: "I've got it. The alien jumps on one of their faces and f***s them!" O'Bannon replied, "Yes! That's the movie."
They took inspiration from Braconid wasps, which lay their eggs inside caterpillars. And, slowly, the idea developed into the facehugger.
The first draft was called Memory, then it became They Bite and then Star Beast. After reading through the script, they realised how frequently the specific word "Alien" comes up and decided on the historic name. However, nobody wanted to buy the script.
That changed when in 1977, Star Wars came out and science fiction movies became red hot. 20th Century-Fox had produced Star Wars, and it gave an immediate green light to Alien.
The script was heavily rewritten by Shusett and then by producers - David Giler and Walter Hill - who also introduced the character of Ash, the duplicitous android.
As for directors, big names were touted such as Robert Altman (MASH) and Peter Yates (Bullitt). But none stuck. Impressed by The Duellists (1977), Fox spoke to Ridley Scott who accepted immediately, not knowing it would launch his career.
One of the most important parts of a movie is getting the right cast, and Scott nailed it. Big names were up for the part of the female protagonist Ripley. Genevieive Bujold and Katharine Ross were considered. Then, a Sigourney Weaver came sprinting to the Regency 30 minutes late, where the auditions were being held. One of the producers says, " There was a knock at the door, I went to open it and, right before me, Ripley was standing there."
Helen Mirren and Meryl Streep both auditioned too. Ridley Scott said, "Meryl will be a great actress, but Sigourney is Ripley."
Harrison Ford was sought for the role of Dallas, captain of the Nostromo, the commercial space towing vehicle. He declined as he was concerned about doing another sci-fi film just after playing Han Solo in Star Wars.
The one who plays the captain, Tom Skerritt, was approached early in the film's development, but he declined as it had no director and a mere $2 million budget. He changed his mind when Scott was hired and said: "The Duellists was like a painting. I thought 'if anybody can make this work, it's Ridley'".
John Hurt as Kane, the executive officer who becomes the host of the alien, came as a replacement for Jon Finch, who took ill during production and was diagnosed with diabetes.
The visual effects in the film were unreal for their time. It introduced us to the Xenomorph, which was known as "The creature" in the movie. It remains one of the most iconic movie monsters of all time. The huge spaceship Nostromo was made using practical effects and matte painting. The use of practical effects and stop-motion animation gave a realistic as well as horrifying effect.
Scott cited three other films as being big influences:
- Star Wars influenced the designs.
- HAL-9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey influenced Mother, the Nostromo's computer.
- The violence from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was a model for the horror in Alien.
The innards of android Ash, the android, was a combination of spaghetti, milk and onion rings.
The alien was designed by Swiss artist HR Giger, who worked with O'Bannon on Dune, the project that brought O'Bannon to the streets. When Giger shipped over his designs for the facehugger, US customs were so alarmed that they detained them. Dan O'Bannon had to go to LAX to convince them they were for a horror movie. The customs officer described the images as "repulsive."
Originally, the fully grown creature had eyes, but Giger asked the effects team to remove them.
How the Alien was created:
- The front part of the alien's head was made from a cast of a real human skull.
- The slime that drips from the alien's mouth was K-Y jelly.
- And shredded condoms were used to create the tendons on the alien jaws.
A 7ft 1 graphic artist called Bolaji Badejo was cast as the creature, wearing the rubber suit. He was discovered in a London pub by the casting director.
The eerie blue effect in the egg chamber sequence was made possible by borrowing lasers from a next-door stage where rock band The Who was working.
Working on set was no picnic either. The 2001-style spacesuits caused the cast to pass out often. The set being 38 degrees did not help in any way. Also, to make the Space Jockey set look huge, Scott and DP Derek Vanlint's kids would be shot in the suits. When they passed out too, changes were made to the costumes.
Although the revised budget was $8.4 million, the production was so huge that they ran out of money mid-shoot. The execs wanted to pull the plug completely, but an enraged Scott kept ranting till he got an extra $2 million.
They had to deal with legal troubles too. Fox was served a lawsuit by a writer called AE van Vogt. He'd written a science fiction short story in 1939 called Discord In Scarlet where an alien boards a spaceship and starts implanting eggs into the crew's bellies. The dispute was settled out of court.
In the end, Alien was out. It took the visual effects industry by storm. It inspired other films in the genre such as Predator, The Thing, Event Horizon and so on. The film's tagline, "In space, no one can hear you scream," has become a classic. It took a toll producing the movie, but the rewards have been sweeter than the crew ever imagined.
