Every Time Hollywood Re-Used Expensive Props

63. Alien’s Face-Hugger Mechanics

Also Appears In: Piranha 2: The Spawning
Estimated Savings: Unknown

The horrifying “Facehugger” from Alien is, in the movie, a parasitic life form hatched from a Xenomorph egg. The Facehuggers are the second part of the aliens’ life cycle, and they attach to peoples’ faces to impregnate victims with a Xenomorph.

The Facehuggers seen in Alien were partially recycled from props used in another James Cameron movie, Piranha 2: The Spawning. Cameron reused internal mechanisms to give alien Facehuggers motion in the blockbuster sci-fi flick. Also, the video-tolling sound effects and sliding doors in Alien were recycled as well; both came from The Prisoner, a UK TV show that ran in the late 1960s.