Gunnison Facehugger (Aliens versus Predator Requiem)

The Facehugger appeared in the 2007 film Alien versus Predator Requiem which was directed by the Strause Brothers. We only see the Facehuggers at the start of the film. They are in the stasis on the Predator ship and later we see them attacking a father and son out hunting in the forest. We next see them in the sewer attacking some homeless people.

Characteristics

The Facehuggers in Gunnison are very similar to previous specimens but are dark brown in colour. As before, they compromise of an abdomen, long digits to wrap around their victim and a tail allowing it to leap over large distances. They can subdue their victims by inserting a long retractable tube down their victims’ throats. Like all other stages of the Alien life cycle, the Facehugger possesses acidic blood.

Story

Shortly after the Predator mothership leaves Antarctica, a smaller scout ship departs near Saturn. We can see numerous Facehuggers in stasis tubes aboard the ship. The Predalien Chestburster bursts out of the slain Scar Predator and quickly grows into an adult Predalien. It goes on a rampage on the ship and a few Predators are killed. The scout ship crashes in Gunnison, Colorado, freeing the Predalien and the Facehuggers.

The first victims are Buddy Benson and his son Sam who are out hunting in the forest. They are both attacked and subdued by the Facehuggers. The aliens head to the sewers and more Facehuggers attack some homeless people living down there. By this point, all the Facehuggers are assumed to be dead and more Xenomorphs emerge and cause havoc in Gunnison.

Behind-The-Scenes

Amalgamated Dynamics, led by Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, was hired to do the creature effects while the Strause Brothers’ own effects studio, Hydraulx, handled the visual effects. The Facehuggers were again based on molds from Alien Resurrection although the Strause Brothers asked for a different paint scheme.

In the opening scene, on the ship, actors in Predator costumes were taking Facehugger stasis tubes in front of a large screen (which would later be replaced with the interior of the Predator ship). Marc Irvin and Paul Hooson were puppeteering the Facehuggers’ body movements using poles while Jeny Cassady and Steve Frakes were wiggling their tails via monofilament lines.

Trivia: In the theatrical version, it’s implied that the Facehugger stasis tubes are on the mothership but the Unrated cut of AvP Requiem, shows a scout ship departing from the mothership near Saturn.

There were four different versions of Facehuggers built for the film. There’s one that runs across the ground. Special effects studio A.D.I. built it as a self-contained piece that had motors and through radio articulation, they can turn it on or off and make it crawl backwards and forwards.

In the sewer scene, the animatronic version runs towards the homeless people and then they switch to the floppy stunt Facehuggers and they pull it on a cord so it looks like it’s leaping. They then cut to a third version which is a hand puppet version. The Facehugger that leaps from the water – the stunt floppy Facehugger is used, pre-set on the victim and it’s filmed in reverse.

An important scene in Aliens is where the Facehuggers run on extended fingertips across the floor of the Med Lab. The Strauses wanted to take that further and see them scurry through the sewers and across the forest floors.

A sophisticated puppet was built that allowed the fingers to articulate in a rhythmic pattern as if it were propelling itself by its own power. Batteries allowed the fingers to move and the tail thrashed from side to side as a puppeteer adjusted the speed from a radio control. Despite the Facehugger being realistically articulated, the fingers could not take the weight of the animatronic so it was either supported from above by a monofilament or a single cable that ran through a guide inside the puppet from front to back that allowed the crew to predetermine its path.

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