Alien: Romulus‘ VFX Supervisor Eric Barba has revealed just how practical the film’s terrifying chestburster scene really was. Directed by Fede Álvarez, the 2024 sci-fi horror returns to the roots of the Alien franchise, featuring a mix of practical effects to bring its nightmarish creatures—the Xenomorphs and facehuggers—to life. Set between the events of Ridley Scott’s original and James Cameron’s sequel, Alien: Romulus follows a group of young space colonists who encounter extraterrestrial terrors while scavenging an abandoned space station.
In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Grant Hermanns, VFX Supervisor Barba delves into the practical effects behind the film’s chestbursting sequence. As one of its most gruesome and standout moments, Barba’s chestburster scene pays homage to the iconic 1979 original while delivering its own brutal twist. Alien: Romulus has since received an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects. Here’s what he had to say:
Well, that team, that sequence, hurt me, because, literally, I had a smile from ear to ear all day long watching the playback on the monitor. I couldn’t believe how great it looked. But honestly, once it got all cut together, we did some little touch ups and paint outs of things that, naturally, you’d have to do, but that’s pretty much 99% in camera.
Alec Gillis and his team and everyone played so nice together. Alec had worked with Shane from Legacy before, back on Aliens, so when they got together with the effects teams from Weta, or our local Hungarian effects team, it didn’t matter whose thing it was, they all jumped in and started helping each other. It was like being back in school having fun. There was fun, and I think that shows, there’s a lot of love for what they do and a lot of fun for what they do.
What Alien: Romulus’ Practical Chestburster Scene Means
The Craft Behind The Carnage
The terrifying design of Alien: Romulus’ new Xenomorphs was achieved through a masterful collaboration between actors, makeup artists, puppeteers, cinematographer Galo Olivares, and special effects artist Alec Gillis. This careful coordination mirrors the groundbreaking work done in Scott’s Alien (1979), where practical effects heightened the realism and horror of its goriest moments. Scott’s original film relied on physical models, puppetry, and even real animal organs to achieve its unsettling, organic aesthetic—a philosophy that Álvarez and his team embraced for Alien: Romulus.
By using practical effects, Alien: Romulus allowed its cast to interact with real, tangible elements, heightening the intensity of their performances. Aileen Wu (Navarro) previously detailed the physically demanding nature of the chestbursting scene, where she wore a heavy prosthetic chest piece—an experience reminiscent of John Hurt’s (Kane) ordeal during Alien’s original 1979 chestburster sequence, which similarly used a mechanical rig hidden beneath the actor’s torso (via ScreenRant). These behind-the-scene details show how Alien‘s practical effects continue to deliver visceral, authentic terror far beyond what CGI alone can achieve.
Our Take On The Practical Effects In Alien: Romulus
A Gory Triumph That Honors Its Roots
Alien: Romulus proves that practical effects remain at the heart of the franchise’s horror. The commitment to in-camera effects makes the otherworldly terror of Xenomorphs feel immediate, real, and an appropriate continuation of the careful work that turned Scott’s Alien into a sci-fi horror classic. Álvarez’s dedication to the practical despite modern filmmaking techniques ensures that Alien continues as a genre-defining series. It will be interesting to see how the upcoming FX series Alien: Earth continues this tradition, maintaining the legacy of practical scares that has defined the franchise for decades.
