‘Alien Romulus’ Director Explains Why the Chestburster Scene Is a Favorite

There’s a lot that’s grabbing and holding onto our attention when it comes to Fede Álvarez’s upcoming film, Alien: Romulus. The promo material has been nothing short of jaw-droppingly impressive and, with the director teasing a stellar storyline to go along with its killer cast, what’s not to like? The cherry on top is The Evil Dead (2013), helmer’s dedication to paying homage to the movies that came before this one, specifically in how they handled their effects. The original Ridley Scott-directed feature, Alien, came out back in 1979 and a lot has changed since then. While the film is not devoid of CGI, Álvarez knew that to terrify audiences with Xenomorphs, he’d need to feature some good old-fashioned practical effects.

The use of practical effects has been a major marketing and selling point on Romulus’ road to the big-screen. We know that the creative team reached out to those behind the effects in 1986’s Aliens to get a better overall idea of how they should handle Chestbursters and the like, and with a glowing review from the original film’s director, we know that all the hard work and dedication has paid off.

During a Collider Studio interview with editor-in-chief Steve Weintraub at SDCC, Álvarez shared the moment he was most excited about, and it unsurprisingly had to do with a Chestburster.

“I think one of my favorites, because it’s all pure old-school puppeteering, is a Chestburster. That was just a joy to see happening. The complexity of it is nine people puppeteering that thing. It takes so much time and love and effort to do it right, but I’m super proud of that scene.”

When you think about the art of puppeteering in the entertainment industry, titles like Sesame Street, Labyrinth, and Puppet Master likely come to mind. But, whether you realize it or not, the craft is having a major resurgence thanks to productions like Chucky, The Boys, and the latter’s spin-off, Gen V. The Child’s Play franchise has long used puppetry to bring its killer doll to life, from the first movie in 1988 to the three-season (and hopefully counting) running series on USA Network and FX. When we spoke to Alex Hedlund, the show’s executive producer, last fall, he revealed that “At any given moment, there may be up to six to eight people doing some kind of performative action, and that is everything from one person is controlling the eyes and doing the facial movements and then somebody else is doing the bodywork and someone else is doing the stabbing.”

Meanwhile, when Season 1 of Gen V exploded onto screens at the end of last September, plenty of puppets were slaughtered when one of the young superheroes hallucinated while tearing people apart. The fourth season of The Boys would carry over the use of the cute inanimate objects for a handful of scenes as well.

Prepare yourself to be blown away by puppetry when Alien: Romulus arrives in cinemas on August 16.

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