Hans Rudolf “H.R.” Giger, Oscar-winning creator of the beasts from Alien, has died from injuries sustained during a fall. He was 74. In addition to winning an Oscar for Alien, Giger worked on films like Poltergeist 2, games like Dark Seed, and the cover art he did for artists such as Debbie Harry and ELP routinely end up on top 100 lists.
You could argue that Alien wouldn’t have been so scary or effective were it not for Giger’s naturalistic, terrifyingly sexual design. The aliens lurked somewhere deep within the recesses of our minds, threatening not just invasion but violation. In short, they were perfect as the enemies in a film that was all about rape. The proportions were impossible, the biology unfathomable, and the fact that they came seemingly out of Lovecraft instead of a flying saucer is what made Alien have such an indelible effect.
Giger was more or less ignored in his home country of Switzerland, where he was denied federal grants and looked down upon for his forays into pop culture. Hopefully his passing will change that.
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