@alan@phil Premise - Alien Design Update

During the Interim Crit I received some helpful feedback on the overall project, and the area I felt I needed most feedback was in the design aspects. One thing that was brought up was that my current alien design looks like a character that would be hard for an audience to be scared of during the climax point of my story. Another point that was made was that the overall shape of the alien is quite generic when it comes to aliens. It was mentioned that I could either accentuate these familiar features and push my film in the direction of classic horror B movies, or perhaps be careful with my design so that it doesn't become too generic if that is not what the film's intentions are.

Following this, I then had a conversation with Phil regarding the approach to this problem. During this discussion, it was brought up that perhaps there could be an 'attack mode' for the alien character. One where his appearance shifts, into something more horrific and less cute. This could be done if he possessed some features that became more useful/prominent at this point in the story. For example, in the first picture below I have drawn two rough thumbnails of the alien, looking at the general head shape the alien currently has. He could have small details all over his head, and in this ending scene they could pop open to hold multiple eyes. As well as this, his current jaw shape is medium sized, and it could be that in this attack mode it extends even further and wider. In the bottom picture it is meant to suggest the alien's brain and skull/muscle on his face showing, as if his skin has been peeled off or grown out of during this evolution. Also, the alien's body could shift during this too, for example if the regular alien is quite hunched and closed in, during the attack his bones and joints could pop in and out to make him appear larger with more threatening posture. If I did decide on this, it would solve my issue of having an alien that isn't too cute or portrayed too softly, but it would also mean doing more technical work in regards to the alien's design and features, ensuring these two appearances share a connection and can be logically understood as going from one to another.

Another question raised is if I actually want the audience to be scared of the alien. By this point, the audience should be rooting for this character no matter what, and it could be that it is just the scientists that are meant to feel fear, as the audience will see the scientists as the actual monsters. A point I think I've made before is that I want the alien to appear more human than the actual humans, so if that's the case then it might be a little out of place to have him transform into a hideous monster by the end, when instead his expressions and emotion could provide the sense of his danger, as well as him being covered in the dark blood that he caused to explode in the lab. It was also said that if I went with this then I should maybe make the alien look slightly more human and less alien, i.e. smaller sized head. 

With this in mind, I feel that either approach could work if the rules and logic of it are followed too. My current script would not need many major changes at all despite what route I decide to go. Whether I give the alien an attack mode that evolves him into a murderous monster or I keep him more human-like through to the end, I think both would work for my story regardless, but I am now just struggling to choose which design approach would be better to use overall.

Any feedback/advice on this would be greatly appreciated.