The look of the monster contributes to the fear element in any horror movie, and that's what War of the worlds is, a horror movie with a very real monster. Well's postulated that the Martians represented everything we could eventually evolve into if we continued to rely on our intellect over all our other elements. Literally nothing more than a head, with few, if they could be called such, limbs to rely on. The anatomy of a martian is remarkable in it's simplicity really, which makes it doubly horrifying. Imagine a body that made the the wasteful fucnction of disgestion pointless by the simple process of injecting fresh blood into the viens. It is after all the reason why we eat, to provide a constant flow of blood to our system. Digestion in itself is process that requires the expenditure of energy. The Martians take away waste by using this very process of feeding in order to maintain their abundant energy reserves. It's fast, eeficiant ans simple, leaving more energy to perform the needed tasks ahead. That the only organs of any real use, that being the brain and the heart, are all that's left, surround by a sinew of bone and exo-muscle, the Martian become little more than a brain that constructs bodies, like the fighting machine, according to their requirements. The Martian, in effect, becomes the perfect organism ever to evolve from a sentient being.
Taking this into consideration, and recognizing both the monstrous nature of these creatures, designing the Martians for this film became a major challenge. I didnt want in anyway to shy away from the Well's description, but at the same time required an imagry that would ingrain itself in the psyche of the audience. Orginally the Martian was desigend as a cute but menacing creature, I have since moved on from that concept and moved to a more monstrous, alien design that in every way should show exactly how terrifying these creatures are. I hope I'm getting the results I'm looking for
