Reading further into my A L I E N novelisation by A L A N Dean Foster I was amazed by yet another feature from the earlier script he used.
The Facehugger had an eye!
I couldn't believe it! Its such a startling addition to what is basically a severed hand I was gobsmacked. An eye on a hand is perhaps the single most disturbing anatomical combo going.
When the hugger drops off Kane's mush in the book Ripley, Dallas and Ash all jave a go at prodding it in the eye. It doesn't really describe it but I imagine it was to be a recognisable eyeball.
I can see why Ridley Scott left it out of the original film. The Facehugger doesn't really need vision. It latches onto the first face it senses and that's that, a form of imprinting. It only drops off once its shed its parasitic cargo so again no real need for sight.
The eye in the hand has been a popular trope in other films. I'm pretty sure there's one in Conan or Red Sonja. There could even be one in Lord of the Rings. Anyone recall?
What do you think readers? Should Ridley have left the eye on the Facehugger?
WOTAN WADES IN
Apologies Woodsy, but had to show you this. Giger's early visualisation of the hugger clearly has an eye and Foster would have been working on the book at around this stage, consequently, little gems of backstory creep into the novelisation!
Wow! Giger had the eye! Cheers Bill. Its quite subtle really, not at all how I envisaged it. This original hugger has much more body than I recall seeing in the final movie. When you look at some huggers that fans of made a much more Scorpion-like shape has emerged with the tail held high and the fingers shorter.
ReplyDelete