Item #: SCP-1955

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: At the time of this writing, twelve copies of SCP-1955 (consisting of three original 35mm film reels, five home VHS tapes, and four pirated DVDs) have been secured by Foundation forces. Agents shall monitor Internet filesharing sites in the event that another copy is leaked onto the Internet; Mobile Task Force 36-Epsilon Beta ("MPAA Martyrs") will track the IP addresses of any uploaders of SCP-1955 and administer amnestics as deemed appropriate. As SCP-1955 is out of copyright, Foundation forces embedded into public domain preservation groups shall ensure that SCP-1955 is not discovered and archived for public viewing.

Description: SCP-1955 is Spleen Eaters From Venus!, a 19██ science fiction film released by ███████ Pictures, a defunct Hollywood production company. The plot centers around the eponymous organ-consuming aliens and the efforts of American suburbanite Buck Johnson to stop them. SCP-1955 is similar to many low-budget science fiction films from the 1950s, with viewers generally criticizing the action, special effects, and sets as being of low quality.

SCP-1955's anomalous properties manifest whenever any subjects view at least thirty minutes of footage of SCP-1955 continuously.1 After the effect is triggered, viewers suffer from a permanent perception disorder: any fictional narrative viewed2 is perceived to be a low-budget science fiction film from the late 1940s to early 1960s. Original actors and plot elements remain, but are altered in such a way that the following are consistent:

-Acting performances are generally lower in quality, with line delivery described as "melodramatic" or "hokey".

-Special effects utilized in the film are altered so that they are on a similar production scale of films from the 1950s; CGI is replaced with actors in costumes, high-scale 3D effects replaced with Technicolor light tricks, and so forth.

-Plot elements of the film are altered so that they fit a science fiction narrative (e.g., a romantic comedy will be altered to include aliens, cryptids, or similar elements).

-██% of films set outside the United States are altered so that their location is changed to the United States, usually in a suburban setting. Films in languages other than English are translated into English.

Animated films and non-fictional narratives (such as news reports and documentaries) are not affected. Thus far, researchers have not discovered a way to reverse the effects of SCP-1955.

Addendum: On 30 Aug 1999, the Foundation located ████ ██████, one of the actors in SCP-1955 and a close friend of the director, ██████ ████████████ (who had passed away in 1980). Agent █████ conducted an interview, transcribed below.

Agent █████: Could you describe how you first become involved with the production of Spleen Eaters From Venus!?

████ ██████: The same way everyone got involved in movies back then. My uncle gave him 40 grand to make the movie, so I got cast in the lead role. I hadn't acted since high school, but I was so excited to be in a movie that I didn't care.

Agent █████: How did ██████ ████████████ behave during the production?

████ ██████: Umm…"oddly", would be one way to put it. He barely said two words to anyone the whole time we were filming the movie, except to give us the most bare-bones directions possible. Kept mumbling to himself about how this was his "masterpiece", always drifting off into space… it was pretty disconcerting. As soon as we finished up production, everyone left the studio and stayed as far away from him as possible.

Agent █████: The film did not do well financially…

████ ██████: Hah! It was a complete flop. I'd be surprised if more than a hundred people saw it. The head of the production company, I think his name was ████ ██████, threatened to cut ██████'s head off if he ever saw him again. I never acted again after that, and as far as I know, he never directed another film.

Agent █████: How did he react to the film's financial failure?

████ ██████: Somethin' snapped inside him, I think. I only saw him once after that; it was a few weeks after the premiere. I went over to his house to give him some consolation wine I'd bought him, and when he answered the door, he looked like a train hit him. Eyes bloodshot red, clothes hadn't been washed in days, the works.

Agent █████: What did he say to you?

████ ██████: Not much. Thanked me for the wine, said he was going to invite me to see his "Director's Cut" once he finished it. Said it was going to "change the world of cinema."

Agent █████: You never saw his new version…?

████ ██████: Nope. Anyone with eyes like he had wasn't doing anything I wanted to be part of.

Footnotes

1. Research has determined that brief lapses of attention, such as looking at a wristwatch or reaching for a beverage, do not interrupt the continuous flow necessary to activate SCP-1955's anomalous effect.

2. "Fictional narrative", in this context, has been determined to be any story of at least 30 minutes in length in which participants are clearly acting out parts.