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Badass ‘Prometheus’ Alternate Scene Would’ve Made the Movie So Much Cooler!

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Image courtesy of Fox

When it was released in 2012, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus more or less split audiences right down the middle. While some felt that the film was a total mess, full of plot holes and plagued by frustratingly unanswered questions, others praised the heady sci-fi flick for working as both its own movie and a clever prequel to the original Alien. I personally fell into the latter camp, and consider Prometheus a more-than-worthy addition to the overall Alien mythology.

But there’s one scene they kind of messed up.

In the film, the character Fifield (played by Sean Harris) falls into a puddle of alien goo shortly after discovering the creatures known as Hammerpedes, and later is shown to have been completely mutated into some sort of monster. His face melted and his forehead bulged out, the hideous Fifield goes on a bloody rampage inside the hangar bay, and is ultimately crushed underneath the tires of a group transport vehicle. It’s a confusing scene, as it’s unclear what exactly the alien goo has turned Fifield into, and many fans have noted that he looks more like an infected zombie than anything else.

The original version of that scene was SO MUCH COOLER.

In the original Prometheus script (titled Alien: Engineers, at the time), writer Jon Spaihts used the transformation of Fifield as a means to more directly connect the film to Alien. When Fifield shows back up at the hangar bay, he has quite literally transformed into a Xenomorph, described as having an elongated skull, impossibly long arms, claw-like talons, and dorsal tubes tearing out of his spacesuit. Sounds pretty cool, right? What’s even cooler is that the scene, as Spaihts originally wrote it, was actually created in post-production.

When Prometheus hit Blu-ray, the four-disc set contained a whopping 7+ hours of bonus features, including a 3 1/2 hour documentary and all sorts of deleted/extended/alternate scenes. The most must-watch of those scenes that were left on the cutting room floor is hands down the original Fifield attack sequence, which is pretty close to Spaihts’ original vision for the scene.

With generous amounts of CGI laid over top of the practical makeup effects, the alternate scene reveals that the black goo literally turns human hosts into Xenomorphs, adding another layer to the mythology of the creatures and making for a pretty chilling sequence that makes a whole lot more sense than the one that ended up in the finished cut of the film. Yea, for once, CGI was kind of a good thing.

Ultimately, the added-in-post CGI was removed from the scene, presumably because Ridley Scott desired to separate Prometheus from the Alien franchise a bit more than was originally intended. Then again, the film does end with a baby Xenomorph being born, so one has to wonder why this incredibly badass version of Fifield’s transformation didn’t make the final cut.

Is it just me or would a human-Xenomorph hybrid have made Prometheus so much cooler?

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

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Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

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Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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