The Alien (1979) Movie - Secrets They Kept?

The making of the Alien movie of (1979) has many secrets. Here are some of them.

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THE ALIEN MOVIE - SECRETS THEY KEPT
The 1979 sci-fi horror film Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, remains a cinema landmark, and its production is filled with fascinating behind-the-scenes details and enduring mysteries. Here’s a dive into some of the most intriguing elements surrounding its creation.

First, one of the most iconic aspects of Alien is the unsettling creature design by H.R. Giger. Giger, a Swiss surrealist artist, was known for his “biomechanical” style, blending organic and mechanical elements. The Alien design was groundbreaking and horrifyingly unique, and Giger’s concept art was so graphic that some of it was censored during the production. The creature's famously disturbing inner mouth was inspired by a parasitic fish called the goblin shark, whose jaw extends forward to capture prey. The creature’s biomechanical appearance was meant to evoke a sense of “otherness” that could disturb on a primal level, yet its explicitly grotesque elements made it hard for censors to accept even Giger’s artwork, let alone a full-size model.

The actors in Alien were given a limited understanding of what they would face during the infamous "chestburster" scene. Scott wanted genuine reactions of terror, so he withheld details, only telling them that “something would happen.” What they didn’t know was that gallons of animal entrails and blood were ready to erupt from John Hurt’s chest in the scene. The shock and horror on their faces are real, especially Veronica Cartwright, who nearly fainted from the unexpected, gruesome explosion.

Special effects in Alien were groundbreaking but also low-tech. Many of the scenes relied on creative illusions. The alien egg chamber, for example, was constructed using fiberglass and filled with real animal organs to appear convincingly alien and revolting. To enhance the mystery of the Alien’s lifecycle, they even filmed in slow-motion to give the creatures a weighty, ethereal feel. For the Xenomorph’s dripping saliva, they used simple yet revolting substances: K-Y jelly and shredded condoms, which created a sticky, gooey effect under lighting.

On set, the actors struggled with physical discomfort, especially Bolaji Badejo, the Nigerian artist chosen for the Xenomorph role. Standing 7’2” with a slender frame, he was uniquely qualified to bring the terrifying creature to life. The suit he wore was custom-fit and made from latex and rubber, which proved nearly unbearable under hot studio lights. Badejo could only wear it for short periods due to the heat and physical strain, so all of his scenes had to be tightly scheduled to maximize his endurance.

Finally, there’s the enigma surrounding the “Space Jockey,” a colossal alien skeleton the crew finds aboard the abandoned ship. Ridley Scott deliberately kept its origins mysterious to amplify the unknown horrors in the film. The Space Jockey model was so massive that the film crew needed children in spacesuits, including Scott’s own son, to play the actors’ roles in a forced-perspective shot to make it look even larger. This odd trick gives the set an eerie, otherworldly quality that became one of the film’s many enigmatic touches, spawning fan theories and speculation for decades about the alien civilization that created it.

Alien’s production remains one of Hollywood’s most inventive, using practical effects, mind games with actors, and artistic genius to shape a new type of horror movie that would haunt audiences long after leaving the theater. The secrets, true and speculative, make Alien as captivating behind the scenes as it is on screen.