Specimen

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.

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.

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.

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. :)