10 Horror Movie Scenes You Didn't See (Thanks To Test Audiences)
9. Newt's Graphic Autopsy - Alien 3
If you know anything about Alien 3, you'll be aware that the film's production was a massive headache, as director David Fincher went to war with Fox executives over the final cut, causing him to eventually disown it outright.
Fincher's original version of Alien 3 was much longer than what was released theatrically, including numerous scenes which were cut either due to pacing or because test audiences complained about the graphic violence.
One such scene is the full, gory autopsy of young Newt. While we do see Clemens (Charles Dance) conducting Newt's autopsy in the theatrical cut, it has been edited to remove most up-close glimpses of Newt's dead body, as was deemed unpalatable during test screenings.
The scene was filmed with a gelatin double of Newt actress Carrie Henn, including realistic fake organs which Clemens is shown removing from her body cavity during the scene.
According to visual effects artist Alec Gillis, who received an Oscar nomination for his work on the film, Fincher very intently wanted to make the scene graphic to let audiences know what they were in for:
"It's one thing to kill Newt's character... and it's even more disturbing to dissect her. But that scene is part of David Fincher's brutal world, it's been cut down with each preview, he uses that autopsy to show audiences that Alien 3 isn't going to be a fun experience."
Makeup artist Greg Cannom also confirmed how even he found the original iteration of the scene utterly nauseating:
"There was an autopsy scene on the girl that I... I like certain gore in films, I do it, and it made me sick. It really grossed me out and I remember that people got up and left, walked out of the theater at the time. And I was just thinking, this'll never be in the film. They can't show this stuff. It was just too much."
While mainstream audiences absolutely wouldn't have abided such a scene, it goes without saying that many Alien fans would still love to see Fincher's hard-R, full-throttle vision one day.
Though many of his original scenes were restored in the so-called Assembly Cut - which Fincher had no official involvement with - this one has never been released.