Alien: Specimen

Last updated
Alien: Specimen
Directed byKelsey Taylor [1] [2]
Written byFederico Fracchia [3]
Based on
Alien
by
Produced by
  • Quaid Kocur
  • Adam Lee
  • Huan Manton
  • Dawson Taylor
  • Kelsey Taylor
  • Executive producers:
  • — James DeJulio
  • — Caleb Light-Wills
  • — Lesley Worton
Starring
  • Jolene Andersen
  • Goose
  • Aubrey Wakeling
CinematographyAdam Lee
Edited byKelsey Taylor
Music byRobert Evan Hunt
Production
companies
Distributed by IGN
20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • April 5, 2019 (2019-04-05)(IGN)
  • May 3, 2019 (2019-05-03)(Fox)
Running time
10 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom

Alien: Specimen, originally Alien: The Greenhouse Effect, [4] is a short film based on the science fiction action media franchise Alien . Released via IGN on April 5, 2019, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the franchise, the film was written by Federico Fracchia and directed by Kelsey Taylor, through Tongal Studios and 20th Century Fox. [5] Starring Jolene Andersen, Goose, and Aubrey Wakeling, the film follows botanist Julie and her dog Maggie as they attempt to escape a facehugger.

Contents

The seventeenth short film in the Alien franchise, it received a positive critical reception. [6] [7] [8] The plot element introduced in the film of xenomorph eggs being smuggled across the galaxy would be returned to in the 2023 video game Aliens: Dark Descent .

Plot

In a remote greenhouse facility on LV-492, [9] Weyland-Yutani botanist Julie works the night shift with the company of outpost dog Maggie. On discovering an unexpected shipment of barrels of soil, [lower-alpha 1] she radios her colleague Dev to express suspicion, who dismisses her concerns and tells her to get back to work. Later that night, Julie discovers one of the barrels of soil to have been tipped over. As she discovers an open egg within the barrel, the facility's power goes out, setting it into lockdown; Julie and Maggie then find themselves hunted by the facehugger that hatched from the egg and cut the power lines, attempting to hold it off using a shovel as Dev tries to restore power remotely.

Before the facehugger can latch itself to Julie, Maggie tackles it into the darkness, before the power comes back and Julie cuts the facehugger in half. Dev arrives on the scene to see an emotional Julie seeing to the twitching body of Maggie — revealed as a synthetic dog — and on thanking her for saving her life, Julie grants Maggie a mercy kill. [11] [12]

Cast

Production

In July 2018, it was reported that 20th Century Fox had joined forces with Tongal Studios to produce a series of Alien short films to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the franchise. [13] [14] [15] By March 2019, the details of the short films were released, Tongal co-founder and CEO James DeJulio describing the joint-production as "reflective of Tongal's mission to bring creative opportunities to the next generation of talent." [16] [17] The second short released and the seventeenth overall in the franchise, Alien: Containment was written by Federico Fracchi and directed by Kelsey Taylor, describing herself as having "committed to making our short feel as though it was made in a similar era as the original. We really strived for our production design to be analog, the wardrobe to have similar textures to the original, the addition of grain to the image", while having the premise "embrace the situational aspects of Alien–– someone just trying to do their job and finding themselves in the midst of a terrible situation forced to choose between hiding out or facing the monster head on", attributing the greenhouse setting to her writer Federico Fracchia, and the production of the film as a "collaborative effort [as] we both built off each other's ideas", [18] with visual effects provided by Luc Delamare.

Release

Alien: Specimen was released on the IGN website on March 29, 2019, after which it was uploaded to the Alien Universe website, and all Alien social media pages on May 5, 2019, the short film then premiering alongside five others at the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, [16] and as a Movies Anywhere-exclusive bonus feature accompanying the digital release of Alien. [19]

Reception

Alien: Specimen received a positive critical reception. Josh Weiss of MovieWeb complimented the film as a "delight [to] fans of the series who are desperate for some facehugger action", praising its "very much in line" aesthetic and its tone for "really feel[ing] at home alongside the Alien movies", [6] with Vijay Varman of Circle of Cinema praising the film for "eschew[ing] the specific repetition of the Alien installments [to] instead [depict] a much broader depiction of girl vs monster", with "incredible sound design [m]ixed with strong cinematorgraphy [embodying] a product that oozes the same spine-chilling atmosphere from Alien", providing "something very unique to the Alien domain". [7] Eric Li of The Scariest Things praised it for playing off the "old chestnut of a trope" of putting a dog in danger, embodying "fantastic storytelling, using all the lore possible for this scenario packed into one ten-minute piece", along with being "smartly written, playing upon our expectations and then giving it a knowing wink at the close". [8]

Notes

  1. ↑ In Aliens: Dark Descent (2023), these barrels are revealed to have been sent by the Darwin Era, an anti-Weyland-Yutani proselytic cult who revere the Xenomorphs as a higher stage of evolution. [10]

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References

  1. ↑ Meet the Filmmakers | Alien: Specimen | Kelsey Taylor | Alien Anthology. Alien Anthology . 20th Century Fox. April 9, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019– via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ↑ Douglas, Nick (August 7, 2019). "I'm Filmmaker Kelsey Taylor, and This Is How I Work". Lifehacker . Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  3. ↑ Squires, John (April 5, 2019). "Facehugger Attacks in New 'Alien' Universe Short Film 'Alien: Specimen'". Bloody Disgusting! . Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  4. ↑ Taylor, Kelsey [@kelseytaylorhasnoinsta] (March 20, 2024). "A custom birthday slate courtesy of @drtaylor35 for #alienspecimen formerly titled The Greenhouse Effect. I'll be thanking the awesome people who made this project possible over the next couple weeks and sharing some fun BTS!" – via Instagram.
  5. ↑ McLaren, Samantha (March 21, 2019). "Here's What We Know So Far About the Alien 40th Anniversary Shorts". Scream . Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  6. 1 2 Scott, Ryan (April 5, 2019). "It's Facehugger Vs. Dog in New Alien: Specimen Short". MovieWeb . Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  7. 1 2 Varman, Vijay (April 10, 2019). "The Short View – ~ ~ Alien: Containment (2019) / Alien: Specimen (2019)". Circle of Cinema. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  8. 1 2 Li, Eric (April 7, 2019). "Horror Shorts: Alien 40th Anniversary Short #2: Specimen". The Scariest Things. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  9. ↑ Wilson, Angel (March 29, 2024). "The Ultimate Guide to the 'Alien' Film Franchise". The Geekiary. Retrieved March 29, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ↑ Connolly, Spencer (May 21, 2024). "Alien Explains the Real Reason Synthetics Think Xenomorphs Are "Perfect"". Screen Rant . Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Specimen"| Alien Anthology. Alien Anthology . 20th Century Fox. April 3, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2019– via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ↑ Flowers, Maisy (July 11, 2020). "Every Alien Prequel Short Film & What They Revealed". Screen Rant . Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Alien 40th Anniversary Shorts Project on Tongal.com". Tongal Studios . March 29, 2019. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  14. ↑ Squires, John (July 26, 2018). "Pre-Production Has Begun On Six 'Alien' Universe Short Films". Bloody Disgusting! . Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  15. ↑ Banks, Nick (July 28, 2018). "20th Century Fox Selects Six Filmmakers to Create Short Films Set Inside the 'Alien' Universe". Horror News Network - The Horror News You Need!. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  16. 1 2 McMillan, Graeme (March 13, 2019). "'Alien' Celebrating 40th Anniversary With 6 Short Films". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  17. ↑ Billington, Alex (March 13, 2019). "A Quick Teaser Trailer for Fox's Six New 'Alien' Universe Short Films". First Showing. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  18. ↑ Mindling, Maddie (April 11, 2019). "Creator Interview: Director Kelsey Taylor on the Making of Alien: Specimen". Tongal Studios . Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  19. ↑ Kelley III, Bill (April 26, 2019). "New Ultra 4K gives "Alien: 40th Anniversary Edition" extra punch!". High-Def Watch. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
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