There's been a link on my blogroll for a few years now called Strange Shapes, and it just so happens to be the most exceptional Alien blog on the web. If you're an Alien fan and you haven't discovered it yet you need to do yourself a favour and go there now.
Strange Shapes is owned and written by one Valaquen, a Scottish Alien fanatic and Xenomorph scholar par excellence. This guy's knowledge of the Alien universe, both in front of and behind the camera, is vast and frankly, a little intimidating. I've been in love with Ridley Scott's movie for 35 years now, but reading Strange Shapes can make me feel like a lightweight.
So whilst scrolling through Bloody Disgusting today I was blown away to find a link to a behind the scenes gallery "curated" by Valaquen. And fuck me, what a gallery it is. I'm always on the lookout for rare Alien pics that I haven't seen before, and this gallery is a goldmine.
Of the 245 images he's posted there must be at least 50 that I've either never seen before or haven't seen for years. Some of the coolest are below, but you should really check out the whole gallery here.
killer promo shot of the Nostromo crew
a nice look at Giger's handywork
HRG with his designs for Jodorowsky's unrealised Dune
on the Space Jockey set
working on the Jockey
with Dan O'Bannon
O'Bannon with Chris Foss
and on the Nostromo's bridge
closeup of the unused full sized prop for Kane's burial shroud
John Hurt
Veronica Cartwright
together on the bridge
Harry Dean Stanton looking cool
and Yaphet Kotto looking even cooler
Kotto contemplating Parker's fate
Parker and Lambert dead
this appears to be an effects test for Parker's gory demise
Sigourney Weaver looking badass and beautiful during a promo shoot
and posing with a Jones that looks suspiciously unlike the Jones seen in the movie
Weaver and Stanton
the Narcissus on a workbench with raided model kits in the background
an amazing look at the underside of the Nostromo coming in to land on LV-426 that was rejected by Ridley Scott. I wish they'd stuck with this one because the final effect seen in the movie is by far the weakest in the film
the Nostromo model on the planetoid set
another angle
and finally, a good look at the detail and texture of the derelict model
