When Predator started filming back in 1986, the titular monster had a somewhat different and, according to most involved, significantly more “awful” look. A recent interview from the good folks at the Stan Winston School Of Character Arts goes in depth with Steve Johnson, the creature FX supervisor on Predator, who pulls few punches in his conversation about what was originally conceived as “the Hunter.”
The video, embedded below and transcribed with some more production photos here, is worth a watch if only for the inherently hilarious footage of the later fired Jean-Claude Van Damme running around the jungle in a bright red floppy rubber alien suit. Footage like this, and, as the video suggests, Van Damme’s apparent confusion as to what his role in the film actually entailed could possibly be one of the many factors that later got him replaced by Kevin Peter Hall. The fact that his former co-workers are still making fun of his accent 30 years later probably didn't help either.