Deleted Scenes from Species II: A Deeper Dive into the Alien Saga
Species II, released in 1998, is a science fiction horror film directed by Peter Lock and written by Lock and Dennis Feldman. The film is a sequel to the 1995 film Species, which introduced the world to Sil, an alien humanoid with incredible abilities and a mission to reproduce. The sequel follows a similar plot with a new alien, Gen, but includes several deleted scenes that provide additional context and depth to the story. Here, we'll explore some of these deleted scenes and their significance to the Species II narrative.
2. The "Blow-up Doll" Scene
Perhaps the most bizarre and talked-about deleted moment is a brief but haunting shot during the climax. As the military storms the barn where the alien nest is located, soldiers encounter the failed offspring and hybrid experiments.
In the theatrical cut, these are mostly screaming blobs of flesh. In the unrated/deleted footage, there is a specific shot of a creature that looks eerily like a deflated, melting blow-up doll, yet it is clearly alive and in pain. This image is purely nightmarish and leans heavily into the grotesque. It was likely cut not just for gore, but for the sheer uncomfortable uncanniness of the imagery.
Where to find them
Deleted scenes for Species II have circulated among fans in low-quality bootlegs and occasionally as extras on later DVD/Blu-ray releases, depending on region and edition. Check special edition releases or archival bonus features for the most complete restorations.
SCENE 42C: "EVE’S ELEGY" (EXT. CRATER – DAWN)
Original context: After Eve kills Ross (absorbing his alien DNA) and spares the human hero, Press Lenox (Michael Madsen). The theatrical cut ends with a quip. This deleted scene provides a coda.
EXT. CRATER – DAWN (DIRECTOR’S ASSEMBLY ONLY)
Eve stands over Ross’s dissolving corpse. The human–alien hybrid matter bubbles into a black tar. Press approaches, gun lowered.
She looks at her hands. They flicker – human, then scaled, then human again. The absorbed DNA is destabilizing.
EVE (CONT'D): “He wanted to infect the world. I just wanted a family. Which one of us is more dangerous?”
PRESS: “You’re still standing. That’s a start.”
EVE: “No. That’s a sentence.”
She turns and walks toward the crater’s edge. Press raises his gun.
EVE (CONT'D) (without looking back): “Don’t. I’ve seen the inside of your genetic memory, Press. You have the same hunger I do. You just hide it under a badge.”
She steps into the rising sun. A beat. Then she collapses – not dead, but molting. Her human skin splits open. What emerges is smaller, pale, almost fetal. It has no gender. It has no eyes. Just a mouth that whispers one word: “Three.”
Reason for deletion: Test audiences found the ending “too abstract” and “not heroic.” The studio mandated the upbeat final line (“I guess there’s hope for us all”) and Eve’s unambiguous survival as a sexy antiheroine. The molting sequence was deemed “body-horror overkill.”
SCENE 12A: "FIRST BLOOD" (EXT. MARS HABITAT – NIGHT)
Original context: After astronaut Patrick Ross (Justin Lazard) touches the alien goo on Mars, we cut to him back on Earth. This deleted scene bridges the infection.
EXT. MARS HABITAT – NIGHT (WORKPRINT TIMECODE: 00:21:03)
The camera holds on Ross’s gloved hand. The black, viscous fluid seeps through a microscopic tear in the fabric. Ross stares, mesmerized. He doesn’t pull away.
INT. MARS HABITAT – AIRLOCK – CONTINUOUS
Ross removes the glove. His palm is slick with the ooze. It pulses faintly, like a heartbeat. He whispers to himself: “It’s warm.”
The fluid contracts, then burrows – not through his skin, but into his pores. Ross gasps, but doesn’t scream. His veins darken from blue to charcoal. He looks into a reflective metal panel. For a split second, his pupils become vertical slits.
CUT TO: Mission Control audio log, later classified. Ross’s voice, calm: “The specimen has accepted me. I am not infected. I am… completed.”
Reason for deletion: Test audiences found the slow transformation “too erotic” and “not explosive enough.” The studio requested the immediate jump to Ross’s return to Earth. SCENE 12A: "FIRST BLOOD" (EXT
Close on an ashtray. A cigarette burns, untouched. A hand – old, scarred, human – reaches in and stubs it out.
VOICE (whisper, identifiable as Dr. Baker):“You can’t kill an idea. You can only breed with it.”
The camera pulls back. On a wall behind her: photographs of Eve, Ross, Press, and three new faces – crossed out, circled, labeled GEN 3 – SUBJECTS ALPHA, BETA, GAMMA.
Baker takes a long drag from a new cigarette.
SMASH CUT TO BLACK. A single heartbeat sound. Then: “SPECIES III” fades in, then disappears.
Reason for deletion: The studio had not yet greenlit Species III (which was released in 2004). The scene was cut to avoid “confusing audiences with sequel teases that might not pay off.”
END OF DELETED SCENES TRANSCRIPT
Total runtime if restored: approx. 11 minutes.Tone: More psychological body-horror, less action-slasher.Unrated cut status: Rumored to exist on a damaged VHS master in a private collector’s storage unit in Burbank.