The Queen Alien
About the monster:
This giant monster appeared in the Alien series of films that have included Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), Alien: Resurrection (1997), Alien Vs. Predator (2004) and AVPR: Alien Vs. Predator - Requiem (2007). The Xenomorph Queen is the ultimate Alien breed - forever producing more of her type.
The Queen is much different to a regular xenomorph. For a start, she's much larger - being almost 5m tall. Her posture is altogether more like that of a theropod dinosaur than that of a humanoid, which the regular xenomorph's resemble. She also has a much larger brain, with a defensive crest protecting her head. The most notable feature of the Xenomorph Queen, however, is the gigantic ovipositor in the lower part of her body, which produces numerous facehugger (another Xenomorph species) eggs. She is very protective of her children and eggs and will go out of her way to help them. This mothering instinct was perfectly demonstrated in Aliens (1986), in which she chased the film's heroine, Ellen Ripley, after Ripley burned all of her eggs.
Visually, the Xenomorph Queen is more frightening than a regular xenomorph and she has powerful back legs and long, sharply fingered arms. Her powerful and imposing head can bite through most things and her body is continuously dripping with the Xenomorph acid. Her most memorable appearence is in Aliens, in which she lays eggs in the most grotesquely compelling way imaginable.Imadjafar 11:08, December 25, 2009 (UTC)
Making the monster:
Based on H.R. Giger's design of the Xenomorphs for Alien, the Queen was the brainchild of Aliens director James Cameron and master effects maker Stan Winston. The Winston Studio created a foam queen first before making a full hydraulic puppet. To puppet it, two people were working on the arms while the rest of the team manouvered her jaws and head. Using close shock cuts rather than long full shots, the Alien was seen less than is usually thought, appearing only briefly in the film. The reason she did not stay on screen for long was mainly because of effects constraints and audiences would have to wait till 2004 - in Alien Vs. Predator - to see the queen running for the time, which was made possible because of contemporary CGI techniques. The queen in Alien Vs. Predator was even larger, being 6m (20 feet) tall and she also had a stronger and more streamlined appearance.