Demon Master - the little HR Giger Page

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GigerA deformed Swiss camera housinghad been mutated into a nightmarishmetallic cyclops. All aroundhung panoramic gray-black triptychesof famous works from hisNecronomicon. This book of earlydrawings served as inspiration forthe creature in "Alien" and hasinfluenced many subsequent filmsof the genre.Sleek, beautiful women with upturnedeyes and a deathlike palor,steely serpents that grew into phalluses,twisting labyrinthine plumbingfixtures that metamorphosedinto diseased ribs and vertebrae.Amid all the harmonious depravity,Giger's two Siamese cats, Muggiand Noneli, posed like Egyptianstatues as my Minolta snappedaway. (He often uses them asmodels for his paintings, I discoveredlater.) Then, rounding a corner,I ran smack into the full-sizeadult creature from "Alien." Itsdouble jaws gaped wide and itsarms were extended in the horrific"Mammy" pose from the film.Giger was eager that I see andphotograph two preliminary designsfrom his latest film project,"The Mirror." Serving as conceptualartist, the movie is based ona number of his most gruesomeillustrations from Necronomicon I.The story by co-writer/directorWilliam Malone involves an an-Giger at work with his aribrush on another of the Bosch-influenced demoniceroticpaintings which have become his trademark.Photo by Les Paul Robley.cient mirror that acts as a portalto another dimension. This paralleluniverse is the world of H.R.Giger. Sitting in Giger's study,engulfed by his sickening organiccreations, rotting babies, goatheadeddemons, congested surreallandscapes and coiled metallicguts, I felt like I was being castin the nightmare world of "TheMirror," as I asked my firstquestion....LPR: For "The Mirror," whichpaintings are they using specifically?GIGER: They are using some ofmy best paintings for the film. Yousee them through the mirror inthree-dimensional form. The peoplefrom The Mirror saw it in mybook Necronomicon I and wantedto use it in their film. It was also
the "right stuff" for Ridley Scott tobring to "Alien" (particularly, themutants from the painting NecronomIV). One of them, "TheSpell," I began in 1972 and finishedin '76. I've done about three orfour of these environments. Theyare always about this size: 420mmlong and 240mm high. I makethem in three pieces so I can getthem out of the house. (He alsouses a dumbwaiter system to movethe artwork while he paints, amethod borrowed from SalvadorDali.)LPR: Will you actually work onthe set for "The Mirror?"GIGER: Now I have not much todo on the film. For me it's the bestwhen someone takes my imagesand brings it to life in the film, andI don't have to invent anotherthing. That's very nice.... I hopethey use independent people forthe effects and not a company, soI can become involved and controleverything. Because it never endsup looking like my stuff. It alwayslooks a little influenced by the manwho is doing it. If he has spenthis whole life modeling apes, theshapes look ape-like. The biggestproblem is to find someone whocan make my stuff look exactlylike it is.LPR: Who is doing it for thefilm?GIGER: I don't know. I heardthere are some people who workedon "Alien 2" or "Aliens." ButI would prefer to bring along myman who modeled my home environmentand furniture: the table,chairs. Des Fries is the best for mebecause he knows my work.LPR: Will you work on "TheMirror" yourself and sculpt as youdid on "Alien?"GIGER: No, I don't think so. Justoversee. But I like to be very muchinvolved in the film because Inever was satisfied with what theydid with my work in the past. Iwas horrified about "PoltergeistII." I couldn't find anything there... . But that was probably mymistake not to be there. So, thistime, if they want to transform myimage they can't change a lot. Butit's difficult to see how my paintingslook from the side. So, probably,I have to give some adviceand make some sketches of howthey look dimensionally.LPR: What did you think of thechanges made to the designs ofyour creatures in "Aliens?"GIGER: I thought the wholemechanization was very well done.Though, I was a little depressedbecause nobody asked me to workon this film. I was in Los Angelesat the time working on "PoltergeistII" and I asked around about"Alien 2." People told me theydidn't know, that it was in England.For me it would be the mostlogical thing to work on that film.I also heard they didn't ask RidleyScott about this movie.LPR: You received compensation,though. . .GIGER: No! Nothing. They putmy name in the credits as designerof the old "Alien" concept, but Inever got any money.LPR: And they're your monsters!GIGER: In the contract, Fox canmake as many films as they want.It's always the company's rightsand they do what they want.LPR: Can we talk a little aboutthe story of "The Mirror?" Do youknow much about it?GIGER: No. (laughter) I onlysaw a short 5-minute promo of thefilm in Italy. It shows some of myworks and what I did on "Alien."It has a different mirror than mythree-angled one. I was too late to
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Page 5 and 6: Giger sits beneath the triangular m
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Page 9: GIGER: Boring things. Visions ofhel

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