The CinemaCon event proved to be a real treasure trove of intriguing details. Among the revelations was Alien | Romulus, which is just four months from its international release.
The film’s director, Federico Alvarez, has delivered on his promise of a movie rich in practical special effects that journalists say look stunning. To substantiate these claims, let’s look at some quotes.
“The scenes of Alien | Romulus at CinemaCon are violent and scary, exactly what I wanted. The practical special effects and scenery look great.”
Steven Weintraub of Collider
“Alien | Romulus, judging by the small amount of footage we’ve been shown, looks like the Alien returning to horror. This is “Evil Dead” (2013) for the “Alien” series. Vicious, vile, and shocking. People were closing their eyes.”
Hunter Balding from That Hashtag Show
“In the footage, you can see how the facehuggers are holding their heads, their chests are bulging furiously, insane horror and tension. Sorely. It’s amazing.”
Brandon Davis
“We just saw a whole scene from Alien | Romulus where the crew is attacked by a horde of facehuggers. Many of them are dolls. They also showed a scene with a buster, it didn’t feel like it was using CGI.”
Andrew J. Salazar from Discussing Film
In the scene, viewers meet Raine Carradine, portrayed by Kaylee Spaney, along with other crew members, as they investigate a mysterious crashed spaceship. The majority of the crew finds themselves trapped in a room submerged in knee-deep water. Unbeknownst to them, they are standing in an incubation chamber filled with numerous alien eggs, inside which facehuggers lie in wait.
Due to a malfunction, Android Andy (portrayed by David Jonsson) must shut down and reboot. As he remains immobile, the Ovomorphs hatch into Facegrabs. The crew is besieged by a swarm of these creatures; some use their tails to pull victims into the water, while others leap from hidden spots. Despite the onslaught, the crew survives, repelling the creatures with weapons and collective effort. In the nick of time, Andy regains functionality. He aids his companions by seizing facehuggers in his hands and ripping them away from people’s faces, a feat possible only because the creatures hadn’t fully secured their grip, which would have otherwise spelled instant retaliation.
Raine succeeds in opening a sliding door to flee the trap, albeit briefly. The audience witnesses a scene where the team is ambushed by numerous facehuggers in a narrow corridor during their frantic escape. The scene concludes with the sliding door shutting just as everyone crosses through, with a swarm of facehuggers slamming against the glass on the opposite side. Yet, a team member, who took a fleeting glance backward, is abruptly seized by a lone facehugger that sneaked in at the final moment.
Then time shifts forward and the audience is shown a scene where this crew member, who was attacked by a facehugger, is about to burst out of his chest with an alien. The girl begins to feel intense pain as she and another crew member pilot a small ship. When the pain becomes intolerable, she uses a device resembling an X-ray flashlight to examine her body. It becomes apparent that something within her chest is attempting to break free. As the entity begins to emerge, she falls to the ground, which prompts the co-pilot to rush to her aid. The scene ends with a chestburster making its appearance.
Visually, Alien | Romulus bears more resemblance to the original Alien trilogy than to the recent prequels. Additionally, at the excerpt’s conclusion, they presented a sequence of frames from the movie, revealing a fully-grown xenomorph that appears more akin to an actor in a suit than to an animatronic creation.
