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I deliberately try and opt for a bad movie sometimes, just so that I can rag on it (I find doing so quite therapeutic), and Specimen bore all the hallmarks of a real stinker: a no-name TV director, Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) in the lead, a dreadful DVD cover bearing the lousy tag-line 'Be very quiet... They might want you...'. But although the film is definitely a cheap piece of derivative cheeze, a mish-mash of ideas stolen from 'Firestarter', 'The Terminator' and a whole handful of other sci-fi films, it still managed to be slightly more fun than I had expected.

The film begins with a pre-credits sequence in which a young boy, Mike, somehow unwittingly causes fires in his sleep, resulting in the accidental death of his mother. That boy grows up to be Gosselaar, who—after the death of his grandmother—finds a box of his mother's belongings which leads him to her hometown in search of the identity of his father, and an answer to his uncontrollable pyrokinesis. All of this is handled pretty well by director John Bradshaw, and Gosselaar is actually decent; at this point, Specimen is shaping up to be a surprisingly classy flick.

And then 'The Terminator' arrives—or rather Eleven, an extraterrestrial in human guise (played by Doug O'Keefe, doing his best Schwarzeneggar), arrives—and the film becomes an unintentionally laughable mess. Eleven's mission is to find and destroy Mike, who is an alien/human hybrid, the result of his mother being abducted and impregnated by scientists from another world (and who can blame the naughty ETs? Mike's mother is played by the very probe-worthy Carmelina Lamanna, who flashes full-frontal during some flash-backs), but is thwarted by another alien named Sixty-six who happens to be Mike's father!

Matters get progressively sillier here on in, with the two aliens battling it out with each other while Mike tries to come to terms with his bizarre lineage and the fact that he might not be able to get it on with new girlfriend without causing her third degree burns. Expect a lot of pyrotechnics, a Terminator-style synth score, plenty of dreadful dialogue, no explanation as to why Eleven wants Mike dead, and an open ending that makes one wonder whether this was intended as a pilot for a TV series that (not surprisingly) never happened.

Young Mike Hillary dreams of fire which kills his mother. He starts sleeping in a bath even as a young man (Mark-Paul Gosselaar). He returns to his mother's home town and uncovers his secret origins with his superpower.

This is a mashup of various sci-fi premises. There is Firestarter, an X-Men, a Terminator, and a Close Encounter. All in all, it's a B-movie. It's not terrible. It tries but it doesn't have it.

Oh, overall, this movie is very cheesy, and I wish the aliens had been something other than walking blocks of muscle, but the story was a good idea in its inception. I thought Mark-Paul's acting was just fine, actually. He took the role seriously, regardless of the movie's lower budget, which denotes him as a good actor. Granted, it's been a while since I've seen it, so I can't give a good take on the supporting actors, but aside from the villain's one-note plot motivation, I don't remember groaning too badly. :) The handling of some of our main character's heritage problems (the whole problem with starting fires while asleep) was a particularly nice touch. Considering the budget, I thought they did the best they could--I'd like to see it redone.

I've seen this film and its not great,but not terrible. Mark-Paul did a good job as the alien. I liked the film and would like to see it again. I was wondering about it and couldn't remember the title,and then I looked it up. I also know other people who enjoyed the film. Granted, I respect other people's opinion's I don't think it deserved the trashing that the Joe guy gave it, It was actually not that terrible!

One of the worst movies ever made. At first I thought it was a made for TV movie since there a number of pauses where the movie goes to black (insert commercial here). However, since it has full frontal nudity (female) and full rear nudity (males), eliminates it as a made-for-TV-movie.

It took the best of "Firestarter" and "Terminator" and created a rather anemic alien. If it looks like a Terminator, walks like a Termminator, talks like a Terminator, and creates fire (it's only weapon), then it must be "Termifirenator".

Awful special effects, acting, plot line, and continuity. Definitely should be on the 100 worst movies ever made. Shining a search light on the water for the effect of landing aliens was a insult to the viewers.

Ok, well, maybe it was! But don't be too hard on Mark Paul Gosselaar! He didn't do that bad of a job. I actually rented the movie because of him. I guess you would have to be a fan of his to enjoy the movie. It really dosen't make any sense. So, if you think he is cute, get it. I guess I am one of those people who actually liked Saved By The Bell. I like him as Zack better.

A child of extraterrestrial origins is found walking through the fires of a burning building. He's promptly adopted, but still has questions about where he came from. Years later, the boy, now a young man (played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar of Saved by the Bell fame) can start fires with his mind and frequently dreams of his forgotten earlier life while he submerges himself in bathtub water. Another alien (Douglas O'Keeffe) wants to get the young man back.

With shades of much better films (such as Firestarter, the Terminator, and even Starman), this movie can't help but epicly fail in comparison. It doesn't help that the film spots horrendous acting (especially by Gosselaar and O'Keeffe extremely sub-par special effects, and a plot that is a clichéd muddled mess. This is one movie that makes those that are made for the Sci-fi channel (I refuse to call it by the insanely stupid SyFy moniker, but that's another rant) look of Oscar-caliber. That's no hyperbole, this movie is just that bad.

Eye Candy: Carmelina Lamanna gets fully nude

My Grade:D-

Specimen, a direct-to-video science-fiction flick, is just about as terrible as you might guess. Mark-Paul Gosselaar (possibly one of the worst actors that have ever even made a film) plays a man who has always had a strange attraction to water and later finds out that he is the spawn of an alien and that another alien has come to Earth to kill him. Gosselaar--best known as Zack Morris on the terrible sitcom Saved by the Bell--is beyond terrible in a performance that makes Elizabeth Berkeley seem like the next Meryl Streep. (He is even worse in the even worse movie Dead Man on Campus).

This movie is a total waste of the thirty dollars it probably cost to make. Half a Star out of Four.

I'll never understand why someone would want to dump money into a production like this. Do they really expect a return? Awards? Recognition? Praise? The plot, acting, dialogue, soundtrack (I hear cloned Tangerine Dream) are all nauseating at one point throughout the film.

I wouldn't buy this movie; it simply isn't worth the money. However, if you're a fan of the actor or the genre, or have a penchant for cheesy movies, check it out when it comes on Sci-Fi.

The overall premise of the movie is bad, but it is poorly executed. In particular, the young boy saying "Eleven" all the time makes little sense. I assume he's supposed to be another hybrid, but then why don't the aliens want him? Too young?

BTW, I would be extremely gratified if someone could tell me the name of the theme song. It's running rampant through my head, and it won't settle down till I give it a name. :)

It is just the most useless movie I´ve ever seen. What a waste of time and money. The only thing I really liked was the first song from the sound track, but everything else is boring and nonsense.

This is not an excellent film. It was released when all of the "new science fiction films" were being released, The Faculty, The Relic etc.

The fact that the lead of Saved By The Bell, Mark-Paul Gosselaar is the main character is something to go on. The reason i watched this film is due to the fact that Mark Lutz, Groo from the series Angel stars as Blaine Masterson. Being a big fan of Angel i wanted to see Mark Lutz in another role besides that of the Groosulaug.

The Specimen attempts to be a cross between The Faculty, Firestarter and the Terminator, it does not really succeed, scenes are boring and overdone, there are shots of feet walking down corridors and the opening credits are almost unbearable.

I said it before that this is not a good film, but for all fans of Angel and Buffy it is good to see Mark Lutz in a different role besides the Groosulaug and the "Hunky Security Man" in the film Dick. Watch it, but rent something else too.

Wow what a bonkers TV movie this is!

It has humans getting impregnated by aliens, horrible music choices, superheros of a kind, corny romance angle, terminator aliens, great autumn locations and telepathic kids. Its unintentionally funny as hell and all done in a serious tone but due to its budget and hammy acting for the most part its a great watch for fans of low budget cinema.

Its movies like this that keep me wanting to watch this trash cinema. I had a blast watching it. The music choices had me in stitches and things like the school being deserted except for the one class room the actors were in had me lol.

That was an hour and a half that I'll never get back. By the way, for a small town, that's one huge community centre. I was confused whether it was a school or community centre or a combination of both. Don't those kids belong in school?

This movie tried to be a combination of The Terminator, Firestarter and Starman, but woefully fell short of the level of intensity.

If you have nothing better to watch, or do, then sit back and watch, but don't expect to be thrilled. There's a reason this movie went straight to video. Mark-Paul must have been short of cash, because this role was beneath his talent.