Xenogenesis (film)

Xenogenesis is a 1978 Canadian-American science fiction short film that was the directorial debut of James Cameron. It stars William Wisher Jr. and Margaret Umbel.

Xenogenesis
Directed by
Produced by
  • James Cameron
  • Randall Frakes
  • Alvin J. Weinberg
Written by
  • James Cameron
  • Randall Frakes
Starring
Music byBernard Herrmann
Release date
  • 1978 (1978)
Running time
12 minutes
Country
  • United States
  • Canada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20,000

Premise

A woman and an engineered man are sent in a gigantic sentient starship to search space for a place to start a new life cycle. The man, Raj decides to take a look around the ship. He comes across a gigantic robotic cleaner. Combat ensues as Laurie must battle the robot. using a ship with four legs.

Cast

Production/Reception

Cameron raised $20,000 from local dentist to fund the movie. Most of the film was shot in his living room and the methods he used were self taught.[1][2] Learning as they went, Cameron said he felt like a doctor doing his first surgical procedure.

It was noted in A Critical Companion to James Cameron that the scene from Aliens where Ripley yells at the Queen Alien was similar to a scene in this movie. It was also noted that many of the themes that would appear in later Cameron movies, included a strong female character, can be first found here.[3]

The dentist pulled out of the project based on the screened demo, but the work was seen as advanced by Roger Corman enough to get Cameron work on Piranha II and Battle Beyond the Stars [4]

Home Release

The film is available on YouTube [5]

gollark: There are lots of different ones and you can reduce your interaction with the worse ones.
gollark: The problems of our current system are probably better than the problems of merging everything into a giant apioid of doom.
gollark: I'm saying that your idea would worsen a lot of problems.
gollark: No.
gollark: How do you coordinate that?! They can't do that in countries with comparatively bad tech and much less land area/cultural variation/whatever.

References
  1. https://indiefilmhustle.com/xenogenesis-short-film-james-cameron/
  2. "James Cameron and his unmade films". Den of Geek. February 4, 2015. Archived from the original on October 19, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  3. Barkman, A. (2018) Critical Companion to James Cameron. Lexington Books
  4. https://www.slashfilm.com/bdsf-james-camerons-xenogenesis/
  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KpZRJ4HE4Q


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