Alien 3: Beast partly inspired by
HR Giger's New York city paintings?

leading from 


a) Questions about general similarities
The similarities discovered in this case are very vague and might only be described as generally similar.

One might look at a work such as ADI's Viper's Nest for the movie Alien Resurrection and appreciate the fact that it is based on structures to be found in Giger's Passage Temple entrance painting and then although they've borrowed Giger's concept, the features of the viper's nest don't actually match up.

Describing any of the structures in Giger's paintings is another problem.

Alien 3 feet extensions for the alien costume being airbrushed by Yuri Everson,
(source: Alien 3 blu-ray extras)
b) First observations, the alien feet
When ADI went ahead and designed the Alien 3 beast, they gave the creature a body covered in mostly horizontal ribbing almost to the point of being geometric.

First of all when I noticed the undersoles of the feet, I thought it resembled the ribbing patterns from Giger's New York City X Chelsea Cockroaches and New York City XI Exotic. 

Giger often used metal stencils in these works for the geometric ribbed and electronic circuitry like patterns. 

HR Giger's "New York City X Chelsea Cockroaches", the Alien 3 costume's feet extensions and "HR Giger's New York City X Exotic"

c) Heel of foot in comparison to Giger's "New York City X Chelsea Cockroaches"
On the heel, I perceive see the general impression of the insect face like form from "New York City X Chelsea Cockroaches".

I see a similarity to the eye like shape on one side of the heels of the Alien. 

However there seems to be only one eye on each heel and the sculpting on the feet does not look entirely symmetrical, a small rectangular area on the back of the heel containing ribbing patterns on the left appears to be flat while on the foot on the right it curves over the back of the foot.


a very generalised similarity between the central insect like head form from "New York City X Chelsea Cockroaches" 
in comparison to the eye like shape on one side of the heel of the Alien 3 foot.


d) Sole of foot in comparison to HR Giger's New York City X Exotic's painting
On the sole of the foot, I'm looking at the generalised bulbous form of the phallic head divided into two in one part of the HR Giger's New York City X Exotic's painting.

It has the features of the skull like face not at all occurring on the foot and it is as if Giger has incorporated a flatter inverted face beneath and sharing the teeth with the main phallic head.

Its eyes are like tabs coming around the side and one of these eye like forms but as an empty space has been incorporated into the area beneath the pad on the ball of the right of the foot. 

And yet again how Giger's patterns get incorporated into the foot of the Alien 3 beast here is again so generalised. 

It isn't really about what is in Giger's painting but what the designer is perceiving through a blurred perception of what he is looking at in Giger's work using his own inventiveness.

Detail from HR Giger's New York City X Exotic in comparison to the Alien 3 costume foot



e) Second observation, the alien spine
My thought became that ADI generally made used of the ribbing patterns from the New York city patterns for their Alien 3 body. A direction to go was the Giger's New York City VI (Torso) featuring a human upper torso from the back. At the lower part of the back, direct straight lines run across from one side of the spine to the other, and it is as if ADI expanded on that with the segments making the skin around the waist.  I don't have an image of a direct view of the back of the final suit but it generally conforms to the same pattern and it's only a general adaptation of Giger's ideas on the suit but perhaps I am seeing enough to assume where they generally got the idea from.

Alien 3 costume maquette, alien rod puppet, full size costume sculpture and Giger's New York City VI (Torso)

comparison between the lower waist of Giger's New York City VI (Torso) and Alien rod puppet waist.


Giger's New York City V

f) See also: Alien 3 beast partly inspired by Poltergeist 2 creature designs?

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