The Xenomorph is poised to return to movie theaters later in 2024 with Alien: Romulus, which looks to channel the dread of Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror classic with a new cast of characters left isolated on a space station. One sight that stood out from the film's first trailer wasn't the Xenomorph, though, but the swarm of facehuggers, which has been given a new behind the scenes look at how the creepy alien was brought to life.

Director Fede Alvarez shared the behind the scenes look at a facehugger animatronic as it skirts along the floor while a crew member controls it like an RC car, according to Entertainment Weekly. Alvarez shared the video on his X, showing how the animatronic skitters on the floor fairly quickly when using it on set.

The director posted the short video in celebration of Alien Day on April 26, which took its date after the numerical ID for the planetoid Ripley and the crew of the Nostromo story with the Xenomorph began, LV-426. In addition, the original Alien is back in theaters for one weekend to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the film's release.

Alvarez had previously spoken with the outlet about the process of bringing creatures like the facehugger and Xenomorph to life and the balancing act the production needed to do between being respectful to the earlier films while employing modern filmmaking techniques.

“We’ve got puppeteering, animatronics, all the old-school techniques,” Alvarez said in March. We had the right guys because they worked on the originals. So, for some creatures, we needed those guys to nail the look and make them exactly as you’ve seen them in the past. But then when we needed something new, we had those guys as well, so that we made sure we’re faithful to the spirit of the original movies.”

The Terrors of Alien

Among Alien's pantheon of creatures, the facehugger has always stood out among fans as quite possibly the creepiest in its now vast universe.

The first time audiences got a glimpse of the creature was when it leapt from an egg and wrapped itself around the face of John Hurt's Kane while exploring an alien ship on LV-426. Shortly after, the creature's purpose became clear as chestbuster broke through Kane's chest after impregnating the Nostromo's executive officer before dying as its purpose was completed.

As the series would go on, the facehuggers would play a consistent role as an ominous creature that filled audiences with dread over the terror various human characters were about to face at the claws of the Xenomorph.

There is also something to be said about the lack of any real design changes to the facehugger despite Alien's 45 year history on screen.

The Xenomorph would undergo design changes across multiple films, new creatures would be introduced, but through it all the facehugger remained largely unchanged in that time. It speaks to the how the production team on 1979's Alien “got it right” the first time and allowed the facehugger to remain an untouched source of fear for audiences.

Alien: Romulus is scheduled to release in theaters on August 16, 2024.