Madame Tussaud's Alien: Escape is your chance to come face-to-face with a Xenomorph

The world-famous waxwork attraction has brought out a terrifying new experience to celebrate this year's release of Alien: Covenant

I spent my weekend getting spat on by a Xenomorph. Sure, it’s not everyone’s preferred approach to spending their idle days, but, for an Alien fan, this was some kind of twisted dream come true.

It’s all part of Madame Tussaud’s new horror experience entitled Alien: Escape, based off the franchise’s most recent outing, Alien: Covenant, and an opportunity to step straight into the centre of several key scenes from the film.

Out of the glitzy embrace of the attraction’s celebrity room (make sure to say a quick hello to Robert Pattinson and Nicole Kidman on your way through), you’ll step straight onto the USCSS Covenant, the titular colony ship that sent its couples, eager to find a new home, straight to their own dooms. Don’t worry; you’ll be a little luckier.

Presumably Covenant’s own resident synthetic Walter (played by Michael Fassbender in the film) is on board to calm anyone’s nerves, but his waxwork figure here is so realistic, it’s a little eerie itself; each miniscule detail of the actor’s face has been captured, right down to the faintest marks of stubble.

A quick check-up from Walter later, and disaster soon strikes. Gathered around the ship’s CCTV system, you’re beckoned by a frantic crewmember to watch as a Xenomorph bursts into action, before being ushered into the Covenant’s winding corridors as you walk/run/cower past several horror shows.

First up, Covenant’s new take on the chestburster, as a neomorph claws itself out of somebody’s back. Madame Tussaud’s iteration certainly doesn’t hold back, having worked closely with Creatures Inc., the team behind Alien: Covenant, in recreating all the gore and carnage right before your eyes.

Next, a room of Xenomorph eggs, eager to unleash a new generation of terror in its full glory; obviously, anyone who’s seen the film knows it would be but a fool’s errand to have a peek inside, with a Facehugger-strapped body close by acting as a stern reminder of what happens to those with an overly curious mind.

Turn another corner, and you’ll enter David’s lair, the place where the power-crazed synthetic (also played by Fassbender), set about creating his greatest masterpiece: the Xenomorph. Lurching out of the darkness in front of you, it’s an incredible feat of design, and a heart-stopping sight for anyone familiar with exactly what this thing is capable of.

And, yes, the thing spits; so don’t stand there too long. That was the mistake that I made, before I carried on into the next room of Madame Tussaud’s to discreetly wipe the excess moisture off on Tom Hiddleston.

The experience is brief, and might even benefit from multiple walkthroughs: one to just run through, screaming at the top of your lungs as you turn each pitch-black corner in frantic terror at what you may uncover next, another to actually appreciate the level of artistry put into the models and the experience’s overall atmosphere – just as cramped, chaotic, and sweating as the films themselves.

Alien: Escape is now open. The experience is recommended only for those 15+, please see the website for more details.