Here’s What The Creatures From BIRD BOX Almost Looked Like

Note: This post contains spoilers for Bird Box.

Susanne Bier's Bird Box debuted on Netflix over the holiday break, and seems to have been quite the success! It launched its very own social media challenge (people blindfolding themselves before doing innocuous things, a game Netflix was quickly compelled to advise people against playing), racked up something like 700 bajillion* views during its first week of release (*Source: Netflix), and even did pretty well with critics (it's currently sitting at a 62% on Rotten Tomatoes). 

In both Bier's film and the Josh Malerman novel upon which it's based, mysterious creatures show up on earth one day and, once spotted, cause people to kill themselves in a variety of ghastly ways. Malerman's book never explicitly reveals where these creatures came from or what they are, and one of our favorite things about Bier's film is that it follows suit: we never see exactly what's stalking Sandra Bullock and the rest of the Bird Box cast. The audience is instead forced to imagine what these creatures might look like.

It's an effective move, because whatever you're picturing is probably way more terrifying than anything Hollywood could come up with. Here's the thing, though: things almost turned out much differently.

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The unseen creature from Bird Box created at @knb_efx that was sadly cut from the final film. Andy Bergholtz @andy_bergholtz sculpted and pre-painted the prosthetics. Stephen Prouty @proutyfx went to set and applied the makeup on actor Dirk Rogers @thehalloweendirk. Reposted from the amazing Howard Berger (@hoops511) ''It’s always a bit disappointing when so much effort goes into something that ends up in the cutting room floor, but I get it and it’s always what is best for the final product" @birdboxmovie @netflixfilm @knb_efx -- #makeupeffects #sculpture #birdbox

A post shared by SFX ATLAS (@sfxatlas) on Jan 2, 2019 at 1:34am PST

As you can see, we apparently came very close to a version of Bird Box that would've revealed Bullock & Company's tormentors. Created by the wildly talented folks at KNB EFX Group, this creature looks something like a screaming baby, or that horrifying old man who used to appear in Six Flags commercials. According to the note attached to this Instagram post, the folks behind the design were disappointed to learn it hadn't made its way into the film, but understood Bier's decision to cut it. 

We're happy Bird Box's creatures were left unseen, but your mileage may vary. What do you think of the design above? Happy it didn't make the final cut? Feeling robbed? Haven't even watched Bird Box yet and are kinda sick of everyone talking about it? Sound off in the comments below.