Neill Blomkamp’s Oats Studios continues to churn out amazing sci-fi short films directly to fans on YouTube, and his newest effort is the scariest thing the filmmaker has ever done.
Zygote is a 20-minute short film starring Dakota Fanning as the ultimate final girl. She’s led through an asteroid mining facility in the Arctic Circle by her blinded superior (Jose Pablo Cantillo) after every other member of the operation has been killed and absorbed by a truly terrifying monster. The creature is made of dozens of human bodies molded together in grotesque fashion, and its scream will seriously haunt your nightmares.
Blomkamp apparently first got the idea for the film when he thought of a “monster made out of men,” and then just went from there. I think it’s safe to say he achieved what he was looking to accomplish. The short never attempts to explain too much about the monster, but it doesn’t have to. The suspense is thrilling and terrifying, and the design of the creature is absolutely fantastic. Fanning gives a tremendous performance, and I’m already wishing this short — which Blomkamp admits is a bit of a tribute to The Thing — were a full-length feature.
You can watch the other releases from Oats Studios Volume 1, Rakka and Firebase, now, and there’s one more to be released in the near future, with a “modern thriller” called Lima up next. Neill, if you want to just keep making these forever, that’d be just fine by me.
