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Alien: Specimen

  • 2019
  • 10m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
Alien: Specimen (2019)
HorrorSci-FiShortThriller

During the night shift in a colony greenhouse, a botanist does her best to contain suspicious soil samples that have alarmed her sensitive lab dog.During the night shift in a colony greenhouse, a botanist does her best to contain suspicious soil samples that have alarmed her sensitive lab dog.During the night shift in a colony greenhouse, a botanist does her best to contain suspicious soil samples that have alarmed her sensitive lab dog.

  • Director
    • Kelsey Taylor
  • Writers
    • Federico Fracchia
    • Dan O'Bannon
    • Ronald Shusett
  • Stars
    • Jolene Andersen
    • Aubrey Wakeling
    • Goose
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.4/10
    1.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Kelsey Taylor
    • Writers
      • Federico Fracchia
      • Dan O'Bannon
      • Ronald Shusett
    • Stars
      • Jolene Andersen
      • Aubrey Wakeling
      • Goose
    • 10User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations total

    Photos8

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    + 4
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    Top cast3

    Edit
    Jolene Andersen
    Jolene Andersen
    • Julie
    Aubrey Wakeling
    Aubrey Wakeling
    • Dev
    Goose
    • Maggie
    • Director
      • Kelsey Taylor
    • Writers
      • Federico Fracchia
      • Dan O'Bannon
      • Ronald Shusett
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews10

    6.41.1K
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    Featured reviews

    7Andrew426

    Surprisingly tense, made the Facehugger scary again (for a bit)

    Specimen to most seems to be the best short of the bunch. Though I would disagree, it certainly isn't bad. Acting was good and the twist at the end was unexpected but very much appreciated.

    The entire short itself is basically that one scene in Aliens where Ripley and Newt are stuck in a room with Facehuggers. As such, the highlight of the short was making the Facehugger scary again. Being trapped in a dark lab, being only able to hear it scuttling around with its bony legs truly is a terrifying thought, and its played out remarkably well here. Unfortunately, the effect wears off the moment our main character whacks the thing with a shovel like a cartoon. A couple more gripes would be the CGI of the creature when in full view being a little flat, and the music Julie listens to being kind of 'un-Alien', but these are just nitpicks.

    Beyond that, the short did an absolutely fantastic job at building tension, but the payoff was not quite as strong as I would have wanted. Still a great short and worth a watch. If not solely for its originality in NOT featuring a Xenomorph as the main threat.
    8emwee609

    Brings back the horror

    Alien: Specimen is a solid short film-maybe even the best of the six in the Alien Anthology series. It delivers genuine suspense and horror, along with some dynamic action. The casting for the protagonist was spot on; she even gave me a few Ripley vibes.

    The third film in the Alien franchise might be the weakest overall, but it did introduce one interesting element: a dog. This short also features a dog, and I actually enjoyed that addition a lot. What surprised me most, though, was the plot twist at the end. I genuinely didn't see it coming, and it managed to catch me off guard in the best way.
    yswift-18014

    We need another Alien movie!!!!

    There are a lot of short films directed at the Alien Trilogy movies. Being a fan of all the Alien films I feel that " The Specimen" and Harvest are the best and I feel they would make great full movies if ever made. I am from the era of the very first Alien movie ever made and have been hooked ever since. Ripley really made the movies interesting and the Alien vs Preditor movies were ok but I prefer to keep the story line the same. They should really think about turning these into full length movies I would definitely watch them.
    8geokar-24117

    It's a short and I was briefly entertained

    What else can I ask for?

    What weirded me out was that I was convinced the whole thing was CGI/Animated with really good motion capture. Don't know why, something they did to the images made them look artificial. Not a bad thing, just a thing.
    7jrneptune

    Mini-Alien movie in 10 minutes

    Found it on Youtube and watched this since I am an Alien fan.

    From decent to great acting. Well shot. Good short story. I would watch it again. It definitely left you wanting to know more.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Of the six anniversary shorts, Alien: Specimen was one of two not written by their director, the other one being Alien: Harvest. Kelsey Taylor didn't learn about the project until so close to the submission date that she felt unable to develop a good story herself, so she reached out for ideas from participants who were unable to enter due to living outside the USA. The greenhouse idea was selected out of four proposals pitched to 20th Century Fox and Tongal.

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • April 5, 2019 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Чужой: Образец
    • Production companies
      • Tongal
      • Twentieth Century Fox
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      • 10m
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39:1

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