‘Alien: Covenant In Utero’ Lets Fans Experience Violent Chest Bursting Birth As Neomorph Alien

For fans of Alien movies, scenes of those parasitical aliens bursting out from chests of their unlucky hosts’ bodies define the particular brand of terror offered by the long-running franchise. Now, fans can make the terrifying experience even more realistic with the recent release of Alien: Covenant In Utero.

Thanks to the latest developments in virtual reality technology, fans can finally experience the horrors caused by those acid-producing monsters in the virtual world. The recently released Alien: Covenant in Utero is a 360-degree video available for the Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift, Variety reported.

But the team behind Alien: Covenant in Utero has a totally new horror experience in store for lovers of the science fiction and horror genre. This time, the new two-minute, 360-degree movie lets its viewers experience the birthing process, more commonly known among fans as a chest burst, through the eyes of these young parasitic aliens.

“With the In Utero experience, audience participation is taken to a whole new level,” Ridley Scott, director of the numerous Alien movies was quoted by Mashable. The director then went on to explain how the new VR experience differs from the previous fan experiences with the Alien films. As explained by Scott, “You get to be a Neomorph, exploring what’s happening around you and within you.”

Indeed, the VR experience one gets from the Alien: Covenant in Utero can only be described as violent, gross, and horrible. Yet, this is one experience that fans of the franchise will definitely enjoy with the guilty pleasure of seeing the world through the eyes of the monster for the first time.

It is definitely not for the faint of heart, and the experience is the stuff nightmares are probably made out of. But then again, sci-fi horror fans are probably a different breed of viewers.

As Scott hinted, one could do some exploring while still inside the unfortunate victim’s body. As the parasitic alien, also known as neomorph, players will hear the panicky screams of their human host after realizing that something is trying to get out of his body. After one successfully bursts out through the victim’s chest, the next order of business is to chase some prey.

10 years after the Prometheus expedition, Shaw & David journey to discover our origins. Watch The Crossing, an #AlienCovenant prologue. pic.twitter.com/e6ZtJ0VQbG

— Alien: Covenant (@AlienAnthology) April 26, 2017

The feeling of satisfaction one gets from the VR experience in Alien: Covenant in Utero is most likely due to the role reversal. As explained by the brief 360-movie’s director, David Karlak, “it was about giving the audience an element of wish fulfillment.” In previous Alien films, audiences, by empathizing with the lead human character, have “always been on the receiving end of violence.”

The brief VR video is part of Fox’s strategy of drumming up interest for the upcoming movie Alien Covenant. Said to be inspired by a scene from the movie, In Utero was done using CGI effects created by VFX house, MPC, in partnership with Ridley Scott’s RSA Films.

In Utero is actually Fox’s third foray into the use of VR to promote their big screen offerings. For instance, Fox first used VR as a selling tool with Wild – The Experience, the 360-degree short for Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon, which was released in 2015. A second virtual reality project followed which was an interactive VR experience inspired by another Ridley Scott film, The Martian, which proved the new technology is slowly gaining momentum as an effective marketing tool.

The Alien: Covenant in Utero VR film was released last April 26. Initially exclusive only for the Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR, it will arrive for free on Facebook 360, HTC Vive, Google Daydream View, and PlayStation VR on May 10.

Meanwhile, the upcoming Alien Covenant movie will arrive in theaters this coming May 12 for the United Kingdom and May 19 for the United States.

[Featured Image by Fox]