Monday 12 March 2018

In space, no one can hear miscellany scream

As inferred, this is a medley of anything and everything.

Life cycle was inspired by parasite wasps, namely the process of laying eggs inside a living host.

Nature eh? Disgusting yes, but at the same time - fucking amazing.

Chestburster design from 1978 was inspired by Francis Bacon's painting Three Studies for Studies at the Base of a Crucifixion.


While obviously not identical, this scrawl was more accurate to what would eventually become cinematic reality.
Alien is a reworked version of 1958 sci-fi It! The Terror from Beyond Space.

More controversially, was a key sequence from Mario Bava's Planet of the Vampires ripped off?

Exploring deserted planet encased in fog



Giant corpse found inside spaceship



Of course, this also extends to prequel Prometheus.

When interviewed at the time, both Ridley Scott and screenwriter Dan O'Bannon claimed they had never seen it.

Hmmm...

Perhaps lesser known is that A. E. van Vogt successfully sued 20th Century Fox for stealing chapter meat from The Voyage of the Space Beagle, specifically Black Destroyer and Discord on Scarlet, as an alien creature called lxtl boards a spaceship and lays eggs inside the crew.

The case was settled out of court and novelist received $50,000.

James Cameron sent Leslie Barany (H.R. Giger's agent) a letter of apology for not involving Giger in Aliens.

Surrealist was very upset to only receive credit as the creature's original designer in Alien 3.

However, Alien: Resurrection credited legendary ass with Jack and shit.

In 1997, Giger penned an angry letter to Fox.

Selection follows:

"The creatures in Alien: Resurrection are even closer to my original Alien designs than the ones which appear in Aliens and Alien 3."

Could he be referring to Newborn?


Err, fuck yeah.

Rant continues.

"As for those responsible in this conspiracy: All I can wish them is an Alien breeding inside their chests, which might just remind them that the 'Alien Father' is H.R. Giger."

Ha ha ha!

He also called Jean-Pierre Jeunet's abomination an 'excellent film', which I believe had an element of [cough] sarcasm attached.

Okay, time to serve the main course.

LV-426 portfolio DOES NOT include what I consider to be rip offs.

Instead, expect parodies, homages and references to original and sequel.

Alien (1979)

Alien Syndrome box art (Master System) vs Dallas' last stand


Aliens: A Comic Book Adventure
 Aliens Infestation (DS)


R-Type (Arcade)

Dobkeratops
Opening boss Subatomic in the relatively disappointing sequel is actually the salvaged corpse of Dobkeratops hidden beneath armour. 
Death Machine
Yutani, Weyland and Scott Ridley (yes, not Ridley Scott).
Therefore, I'm confused why characters Sam Raimi and John Carpenter aren't listed as Carpenter John and Raimi Sam.

Errr...
What's that I see in the title sequence of 1980 classic Fade to Black?
Yep, an alien figurine.
Towards the end of Chronicle, Matt (Alex Russell) wears a Nostromo tee.
Samurai Shodown II (Neo Geo)
Gen-an's minions are cooking up an interesting meal inside giant cauldron.
Xenomorph and skulls marinated in blood?
Yummy yummy for fucked up tummy.
Turbocharge (C64)
Front page of Daily Crock reports 'Barrow boy abducted by space aliens!'

Frying tonight! is surely a reference to Carry On Screaming and Ninja Ate My Ferrari may be a play on title of famous computer game Rockstar Ate My Hamster.
Animaniacs (SNES)

For the record, Mega Drive version was completely different.

You can't have a facehugger without an egg.
Konami swap famous head for aubergine.
How odd.
In Poltergeist (1982), children's bedroom has a certain film poster on display.
Although impressive, I was slightly underwhelmed by the second season of Stranger Things.

Will the Wise (Episode 4)
Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) finds Dart's molted skin.
Shortly before his death, Brett finds similar evidence.
In the intro to the SNES version of Alien 3, we see Ripley in her cryotube.
Great.

But there's one big problem - it's not even from the film.

Instead, meat is lifted from the closing shot of Alien.
What the... FUCK?

Project Firestart (C64)

Deadly creatures have wiped out the crew of research vessel Prometheus.
Mary in cryosleep.
Jon Hawking escapes in the shuttle.
Aliens (1986)

Aliens: A Comic Book Adventure
Hericksen is an obvious reference to Lance Henriksen.
Game Over Man

Exclusive to Alien 3 (SNES), game over screen boasts a digitised sample of Hudson's famous line.
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (Wii)
On E.D.N. III (Lost Planet's setting), Snow Pirate 2 declares:
"That's it for us. Game over, man!" 
Cloud of vapor the size of Nebraska


Aliens: Extermination (Arcade)
Aliens: Thanatos Encounter (Game Boy Color)
Knife trick

Bishop, hey man.
Aliens: Infestation (DS)
Extra game gives stylus control.
Ted
At Sam 'Flash Gordon' Jones' wild soirée, Seth MacFarlane's title character predictably fails recreating dangerous party piece.
The IT Crowd
Moss gives his stress machine a whirl.
Full Throttle (PC)
In Lucasarts' classic 1995 graphic adventure, Emmet relieves boredom in the Kick Stand by...
Queen and Bishop

Android impaled and famously ripped apart.
Mortal Kombat X and XL (Various)
Guest character Alien calls upon mother to execute Killer Queen fatality.
Alien vs. Predator partially recreates scene. 
Ever since shot of trophy room in Predator 2, crossover was always on the cards.
Contrary to popular belief, concept was born before 1990 sequel in Mark Verheiden's comic. 
Alien: Isolation (Various)
The first part of Axel's death rings loud bells.
Alien vs. Predator (Arcade)
Mixing shit up, her majesty uses mouth on human to complete fatality.
Get away from her, you bitch!

Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64)

Born from the 'evil panther-type king', bad tempered squirrel fights Heinrich inside makeshift power loader.



After game 'locks up', Conker decapitates xeno with sword.

Why does it roar like a fucking lion?

Maybe Rare were taking the piss out of Jaws: The Revenge?

Also, iconic line is used against Sigourney Weaver's villain in sci-fi comedy Paul.

I'm a huge fan of Grasshopper Manufacture's Shadows of the Damned (PS3/360).

Act 3-1 It's a Bughunt is a direct reference to a quote from Hicks during Ripley's de-brief.

While that's pretty obvious, my personal best is much more subtle.

Act 5-1 Twelve Feet Under

G: It's hot as hell in here...
Johnson: Yes... but it's a dry heat.
Reffing:

Frost: Hot as hell in here.
Hudson: Yeah man, but it's a dry heat.

Lovely stuff.

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