Original Alien script by Dan O'Bannon was heavely influenced by H P Lovecraft's work
7756 Views38 RepliesNecronom 4
MemberNeomorphApr-16-2014 4:32 AMJust been reading through a few threads on the Strange Shapes site and came across a very interesting Dan O'Bannon statement in a thread titled:
In this thread, there is a quote by O'Bannon, which reads:
“Alien went to where the Old Ones lived, to their very world of origin,” Dan remarked in his essay, ‘Something Perfectly Disgusting’. “That baneful little storm-lashed planetoid halfway across the galaxy was a fragment of the Old Ones’ home world, and the Alien a blood relative of Yog-Sothoth.”
It's interesting to note that both Dan O'Bannon and H R Giger were big fans of and heavily influenced/inspired by Lovecraft's work.
The poster was good though!
Necronom 4
MemberNeomorphApr-16-2014 6:14 AMThis is the name given to Yog-Sothoth in August Derleth and H. P. Lovecraft's novel The Lurker at the Threshold. In the story, Alijah Billington describes Yog-Sothoth's appearance as
...great globes of light massing toward the opening, and not alone these, but the breaking apart of the nearest globes, and the protoplasmic flesh that flowed blackly outward to join together and form that eldritch, hideous horror from outer space, that spawn of the blankness of primal time, that tentacled amorphous monster which was the lurker at the threshold, whose mask was as a congeries of iridescent globes, the noxious Yog-Sothoth, who froths as primal slime in nuclear chaos beyond the nethermost outposts of space and time!
Source - Yog Sothoth Wiki
The poster was good though!
Necronom 4
MemberNeomorphApr-16-2014 7:10 AMHere is a depiction of Cthulhu:
He bares a striking resemblance to the hunched over creature in the ampule chamber fresco in Prometheus.
The poster was good though!
oduodu
MemberXenomorphApr-16-2014 8:11 AMNecronom4
Brilliant
This is the kind if stuff
I was looking for when
I started my thread on the
Connection between alien
And prometheus
Thank you sir !!
Pure gold
Necronom 4
MemberNeomorphApr-16-2014 8:14 AMYour welcome Odu!
Do you think the depiction of Cthulhu above ^^ looks similar to the hunched creature in the ampule chamber fresco in Prometheus?
The poster was good though!
oduodu
MemberXenomorphApr-16-2014 8:23 AMNecronom4Will have a look But might take
some time though !!
Something Real
MemberTrilobiteApr-17-2014 1:02 AMNecronom 4
MemberNeomorphApr-17-2014 1:49 AMThe following video is an interview with Dan O'Bannon not long before he past away, where he talks about is love of, and influence by, Lovecraft:
The poster was good though!
BigDave
MemberDeaconApr-17-2014 4:48 AMYes Necron...
If you look at the image you posted and this sketch that O'Bannon did for Star Beast then they do look similar and Dan O'Bannons sketch looks even more like the Fresco creature than the one of Cthulhu you posted but they are all similar.
I think also this is why the Trillobite has a Squid look to it, just like Lovecraft's work.
Here is the Star Beast concept work for inside the Pyramid, as you will notice the Mural on the wall the Octipoid creature does look similar to Shaws Baby Trillobite, also i think the creature depicted on the Altar that this Octopoid is comming from looks similar to the Fresco Creature in Prometheus as its hard to work out what that creature is but it looks like it could have a beak like a Bird, or mandbles like a Ant but also it could be tentacles like the face of Cthulhu.
If you notice this Mural from Star Beast it does have some similar things to Prometheus Mural Room.
The Altar seems to have inbetween its base and top rows of what look like Alien Eggs, also on the walls we have what look like some kind of Head or Cthulhu mask if you know what i mean.
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017
Anunnaki50
MemberOvomorphApr-17-2014 4:58 PMDefinite influence I see on Dan O'Bannons sketch of what really looks like Cthulhu but more with a carapace and exo-skeleton. That mask above is really weird I cant tell where the eyes and mouth are.... creepy.
The Anunnaki were on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, mighty men of high reno
Necronom 4
MemberNeomorphApr-18-2014 10:43 AM@BigDave; Thanx for the contribution!
That sketch by O'Bannon defo looks like Cthulhu.
The poster was good though!
Lone
MemberPraetorianApr-18-2014 11:31 AMGreat work Necro and BigD! Thanks guys!
You know, I was just thinking the other day how disappointing it is that Discovery never included an episode on Lovecraft in their Prophets of Science Fiction series, which was hosted by Ridley Scott.
It's a great series, perhaps they could do a second set of 'prophets' and include him!
Oh and yes guys....those Cluthu-like creatures are very reminiscent of the being depicted in the fresco!
And the Ampule Room Archway here:
"Let The Cosmic Incubation Begin" ~ H.R. Giger
Something Real
MemberTrilobiteApr-18-2014 3:51 PMgranolaboy
MemberOvomorphApr-19-2014 10:59 AMFox, I want to see the birdy chtulu creature ! in p2 please not in thirty years !
BigDave
MemberDeaconApr-19-2014 1:09 PM@Lone..
Indeed that head over the arch ways to the doors i alway thought had a similar look to the Space Jockey Helmet to a extent if you say removed the hose/snorkel/trunk.
But you know the eyes on it do look like the creature from the fresco so there must be some kind of connection between them all and the Xeno and even the Derelict/Jugernaughts.
Hope we get some clues or even answers by the time the franchise is finished.
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017
oduodu
MemberXenomorphApr-23-2014 1:27 PMNecronom4I have looked at the picturesYou and bigdave posted.So the idea for the sj being aSuit was perhaps ridleys And not o bannons. So Perhaps the sj is a derivativeOf the cthulu creature you postedA picture of and perhaps. The sj In. Alien wasn't a suit but in fact A cthulu creature that could be Called an elder an that the Engineer is a cross of this creatureAnd humans. This could fit in Nicely with my slaverace theory Since the cthulu creature is gods And they do indeed exist if I readCorrectly outside our dimension.Like I predicted the elders mightBe. So perhaps the xeno as a relative of The Yog-Sothoth is perhaps a godLike type of pet as sometimes Kings would have a tiger or lionOn a chain near their throne andWould sometimes let them feed onTheir enemies they have conquered.Therefore perhaps the sj humanoidsAre carryinp eggs of xenos that theseCthulu elders or deities have Commanded them to drop On other deities planets as To compare whose "pets" areThe strongest. Maybe its just aGame for them and mankindWas perhaps not showing the Respect to the cthulu as they Were created as lesser race to Perhaps test the xeno 's strengthAnd had to be removed becauseWe no longer served this purpose.So the sj 's are interstellar lesser Versions of the cthulu and the Engineers are a cross between Mankind and the and the cthuluTo perhaps test different aspectsOf our design .This could fit nicely with my Hierarchy slave race theory andPerhaps the xeno is like the petsOf the god that is being in an Interstellar game of war betweenThe gods.This fits nice indeed.
Necronom 4
MemberNeomorphApr-23-2014 2:49 PM@Odu; Yeah, O'Bannon and Giger were both aficionado's, and to a degree, experts of H P Lovecraft. Both had the vision that the Pilot of the derelict would be the skeletal remains of an alien creature. It was indeed Ridley's impression that this humanoid creature was infact a suit.
Your idea of the Giger alien being some kind of slave-pet, while i appreciate the thought you've put into that, i really don't think that is the case. Ridley showed us, with ALIEN, that the alien is much more than that, "A perfect organism."
James Cameron obviously ignored that ASH scene to suite his vision of a sequel.
Imo, the Giger monster is an ancient evil that can't be contained or controlled.
The poster was good though!
oduodu
MemberXenomorphApr-23-2014 3:16 PMNecronom4
Where did o bannon get the idea
For the xeno being a blood relative
Of the Yog-Sothoth ?? Is this
Something he himself thought or
Is this wriiten/indicated by
Lovecraft himself ??
Necronom 4
MemberNeomorphApr-23-2014 3:27 PMOdu; OBannon came up with the idea for his Star Beast story. John Carpenter was also inspired by Lovecraft and it shows in his The Thing.
Everyone is inspired by something or someone. Lovecraft himself was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe amongst other people.
EDIT: O'Bannon was inspired by the whole Lovecraftian universe when writing the script for StarBeast. He is the creator of the alien but Giger gave it a face (so to speak.)
The poster was good though!
BigDave
MemberDeaconApr-23-2014 3:57 PM@oduodu
LOL, i know your being serious but that did make me giggle.... sounds like the Elders using the Xeno and Engineers for Galactic Pokemon ;)
While influenced by Lovecraft i dont think that the way Alien had evolved from Star Beast is intended to lead us down the path of any Cthulhu old ones etc as the Elders or God... maybe something very Giger and Lovecraft inspired as the origins of the Xeno? who knows.
But we cant rule out it, i do think the Engineers are just a clone race created to serve a purpose for the Elders just as David 8 was created by Weyland.... only they are redesigning the Elders and so they may not look as small or frail as the ones they never used in Prometheus.
But then i think they would still be humanoid, but who knows. We could see them be completely redesigned to look nothing like humans. Maybe there is a Godlike creature or race that is at the top of the Hierarchy. Maybe even Giger or Lovecraft inspired...
Or maybe just some kind of Bio-Mechanical God Machine... who knows.
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017
Necronom 4
MemberNeomorphApr-23-2014 4:14 PMNo we can't rule it out, especially as we know so little about it.
I found this description of Yog-Sothoth very interesting:
"Yog-Sothoth knows all and sees all. To "please" this deity could bring knowledge of many things. However, like most beings in the mythos, to see it or learn too much about it is to court disaster. Some authors state that the favor of the god requires a human sacrifice or eternal servitude."
The poster was good though!
oduodu
MemberXenomorphApr-23-2014 4:24 PMNecronom4
So I take it then that
the blood
Relative thing
of the yog sototh
Was then what
o bannon thought
Up by himself .
The creature in
Star beast script
was basically
Just tentacles if
I remember
Correctly and
that the original
Premise was for
a being that
Was supernatural
and that could
Sense thought but they
Later dropped That for a physical
entity . Then Giger used the
necronomicon
idea For the
xenomorhp
we know now
But it seems the
idea for it being Able to super
naturally sense
Other beings and
their perhaps Their intention /
motives means
That the xenos
are related to a
Super being and
that idea was
Never Completely
dropped.Therefore
they possess
superior Dna in
there
adaptive abilities
and Telepathic
sensing
that we lack.
So perhaps in
prometheus they
are Revered as
gods
by the engineers
Because they are
likened to the elders Because if I read
correctly the
Yog sothoth are
the parent or
Grand parents
of the cthulu. Then
Perhaps the
elders(cthulu)
also Paid homage
to the xenos as
their Ancestors or grandparents
and the Xenos
are like agents
for yog sothoth
Who live in a realm outside the
one the Cthulu
elders live
in and the
engineers As
a lessor
version of the
cthulu And perhaps
with dna of the
humans That
they used
to create mankind u
nder the orders
of the yog sothoth
so That perhaps
the xeno more
easily Procreate and
control the
cthulu/elders
And as such
the engineers .
Perhaps the
elders rebelled
against theYog
sothoth and tried
subdue the
Xenos to their
own cause .Do
you think studying
the yog Sothoth
wiki and cthulu
wiki willHelp me
understand the
the Original
script better ??
Perhaps that is
why xenos were
Worshipped : they
were links to The yog sothoth
and the cthulu/
Elders was the
yog sothoth's
Children.So you
make your own
xenosBy creating
a liquidised virus
Version and then
you can tap Into
the yog sothoth
hive mind At will
he/they
decided to xemo
Earth for that
purpose by
dropping The
goo on
them .So that
they can control
the xenosAnd
tap into their
great grandparents
Information stream
and steal the "fire"For themselves.But yog
sothoth sends an
agent Too unleash
an unspeakable horror
On them .perhaps bob ......Who knows......
oduodu
MemberXenomorphApr-23-2014 4:34 PMBig dave
Yes perhaps that
fell away in the
Final draft. But
I do feel that their
Are remnants of
that that remains.
The alien seems
to know just what
To do at the right
time. It somehow
Knows that the
lifeboat is the
only Safe place
to go . I know its
a stretch.but it
might indicate a
possible Remnant
that could show
some Meaning to
the murals and
Happenings in
prometheus
Which might male
prometheus
A lot more plausible.
oduodu
MemberXenomorphApr-23-2014 5:12 PMIs all my posts readable
Or are they going outside the
Borders again ?!
Please advise !!
Necronom 4
MemberNeomorphApr-24-2014 1:31 AMOdu; Yeah the text is running off the page again, which is a shame 'cause i wanted to read your post!
Can you copy and paste it and post it again?
The poster was good though!
BigDave
MemberDeaconApr-24-2014 3:10 AMWell i can read your posts if i highlight text and paste into notepad lol
Yes i think the movie is and will show us multiple layers of Creation, Sacrifice and Rebelion.
Engineers Sacrificed to create Mankind, Mankind Sacrificed to create something else, Mankinds rebelion against the Engineers and we see seeds of David 8's rebelion against Mankind.
I dont think this cycle starts with the Engineers and so they may had rebelled also against their creators and maybe they was created with a Sacrifice also.
I do think the Cthulhu Mythos could losely fit in, but not as in exactly the same, so for instance the deities and creatures will not be the same design but serve the same purpose prehapese.
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017
BigDave
MemberDeaconApr-24-2014 3:47 AMIts also good to point out that maybe just maybe Star Beast did get some ideas from some other movies... Planet of the Vampires ... for one features a Alien signal detected by a Human Ship that when they land on the planet they find giant skeletal remains of a Alien Humanoid Lifeform.
Maybe Star Beast borrowed some elements of this movie, also Promethues visually has some things similar to this movie.
It may also had taken some ideas from At the Mountains of Madness .... and again Prometheus seems to borrow some ideas from that while not being visually the same.
Funny enough the design of the original idea for the Adult Beast in Star Beast as described in the draft does bear a resemblence to some images from that movie.
In particular this one.
You can see some traits of the Star Beast in the image above. Also "The Thing" design for its original form also has some similar traits and The Thing was based losely on some of the Lovecraft ideas.
And when i look at it some of my theories about Prometheus before could fit in with the Mountains of Madness.
The Elder Things in that movie do tie in and many parts of that movie about them do seem to reflect what we see with the Engineers.
The Mountains of Madness also says these Elder Things was at War in past with the star-spawn of Cthulhu and these beings are from Cthulhu. Maybe this parallels Prometheus in that the Engineers was at conflict with some other beings, also the Elder Things was at War with the Mi-go which again are connected to Cthulhu.
Indeed when we explore what the Mi-Go are and the story The Whisperer in Darkness we see some parallels with Prometheus also.... here is what is said about the Mi-Go "They are capable of going into suspended animation until softened and reheated by the sun or some other source of heat" this seems like how the Urns in Prometheus are effected by changes in climate etc. And also these Mi-Go can keep Human Brains Alive by placing them in Jars. Maybe thus Star Beast and Prometheus borrow some ideas from that and that the Urns store a species DNA comes from this.
The Mountains of Madness goes on to show that latter after the Conflicts with Star Spawn and Mi-Go these Elder Things created a race known as Shoggoth to perform tasks, but these Shoggoth turned against and killed their creators. The Shoggoth being described as mainly being iridescent black slime that takes any form.
We see the Engineers have in part created what ever is in those Urns (or maybe they did) and that in these Urns is Black Substance that eventually cost the Engineers their lives and we see Engineers bodies scattered across LV 223 due to a outbreak of the Black Goo, just as in Mountains of Madness we see the bodies of the Elder Things after being attacked by the Shoggoth (Black Slime).
So yes maybe there are borrowed ideas from the Lovecraft Mythos and Books and thus maybe in some of them stories many more things that have not yet been borrowed from in the Alien Franchise could be borrowed from for our explanations in Prometheus.
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017