Ridley Scott’s Alien is widely considered one of the most influential science fiction and horror films of all time. Alien received mixed reviews at the time of release but managed to find success at the box office. Scott was meticulous with the film and did everything in his capacity to bring his vision to the screen. It also meant that he had to make some wise choices about what made it to the screen and what was removed from the film.
Fans believe that one such decision proved to make a difference in the film as it would have turned the film into a complete joke. The film removed parts of the footage where the Xenomorph attacks and kills Veronica Cartwright’s Lambert.
Ridley Scott Deleted One Scene That Would Have Turned Xenomorph Into A Joke In Alien
Veronica Cartwright‘s Lambert was a character added to Alien to reflect the audience’s fear for the creature. Ridley Scott intentionally made the character emotionally weak to make his audiences vulnerable to the film. In the film, Lambert and Parker are ambushed and killed by the Xenomorph, when they are out getting the supplies. However, Scott deleted a good portion of the scene where the Xenomorph encounters Lambert.
Before the Xenomorph attacks her, Scott filmed footage of the alien slowly approaching her, increasing the drama and terror in the scene. The creature is shown to be curled up on the floor in front of Lambert in the deleted scene of the film. The creature first points its tail threateningly to Lambert. In a weird shot that follows, the alien walks over to Lambert on its back like a crab.
The Xenomorph studies his new victim for a few seconds and rises to its tower over the terrified Lambert. However, the footage leading up to this scene was removed from the film, because Scott felt that the entire sequence showed too much of the Xenomorph. The Napoleon director felt that it clearly conveyed to the audience that the character was played by a man in a suit.
The deleted footage was later made available on the Alien Legacy box set and Alien: 20th Anniversary Edition DVD. Interestingly, Lambert’s death scene was a point of creative confusion during the filming of the movie. It was changed multiple times during production.
All the confusion finally resulted in the film running out of time to film the actual footage of her death. In the final film, her death was shown off-screen with the help of unused footage and sound effects.
Fans Agreed That The Scene Had To Go From The Final Film
The ‘crab-walk’ from the deleted footage of Alien quickly became infamous and fans appreciated Ridley Scott’s judgment to remove the scene. Fans expressed their opinions in the comment section of the YouTube video of the deleted footage, posted by @patjng02.
One comment from @AcidGlow read, “Thank god it was deleted from the film…”. @Kiyosuki expressed the general emotion of every Alien fan when they wrote, “I’m sorry but having the Xenomorph scooch forward when sitting down like a little kid in kindergarten story time like that would have absolutely ruined the movie.”
One fan could absolutely relate to Scott’s justification that it made the alien look more human in the film. @HandsOfCinderblock also appreciated Scott’s choice of only showing the Xenomorph in brief glimpses throughout the movie. They wrote, “It made the Xenomorph seem too human. The actual movie never shows the creature in its entirety; we only get brief glimpses.”
Alien is now available for streaming on Hulu.
