Alien (1979)
The Xenomorph was designed by H. R. Giger, who gave the creature an armored, mechanical design that represents the union of the biological and the mechanical. This design suggests that the Xenomorph is an embodiment of the potential threat of technological advancement. Giger also created the Xenomorph to appear phallic in nature. The alien's elongated head and second, smaller mouth that protrudes forth when it is about to kill its victim indicates that the Xenomorph is the embodiment of primal male sexual desire that essentially penetrates its victims to death. The lack of apparent sensory organs like eyes, ears, and a mouth reveals that the creatures operates on the most feral level, existing only to eat and reproduce.
The implantation of the embryo into the unsuspecting crew member by the first alien, referred to as a "face hugger" is a metaphor for sexual assault. In this assault, however, the roles are reversed, with a male crew member being impregnated by a creature that is yonic in appearance. This inversion is expanded when one considers the mechanism of the face hugger's initial attachment to the crew member, when the face hugger shoots out of an egg toward its host. The alien's initial state is therefore female in structure, being an ovum, but male in action, shooting its young at a target that can host its offspring.
