Species: Films (1995-2007)

Species (1995)

Dir. Roger Donaldson

The premise of Species is the kind that's simple but exciting and full of potential.

A transmission from an unknown source originating somewhere in the deep, dark corners of space contains DNA information for creating an alien/human hybrid. Scientists, unsurprisingly, carry out the process. Hands up who thinks that's going to end well...

The film itself could've been really amazing. It's a sci-fi with horror elements and a creature design by artist extraordinaire HR Giger, whose mind gave birth to the terrifying creation that provided Alien (1979) with much of its dark allure. The creature in Species is reminiscent of the xenomorph, but with the added sexy/deadly aesthetic provided by actress Natasha Henstridge.

The first half hour of the feature is arguably pretty great. The creature design, as previously mentioned, is memorable, Natasha Henstridge is surprisingly good, and Forest Whitaker is his usual great self. Alas, everyone else is wooden, the pacing is clumsy, the CGI is (at best) bad, and the finale is utterly abysmal. In the end, it's a film that's more shit than shine, but has a few moments that'll please at least some fans of the sci-fi/horror genre.

Species II (1998)

Dir. Peter Medak

A poorly received sequel to the poorly executed original that completely ignores the ending of the first film, which is something that I've often wished I could also do.

It brings back two of the lamest characters from before (namely Lenox and Baker) and attempts to offset their blankness by spicing things up with a returning Natasha Henstridge in various states of undress.

There's more depth to the story this time, but the bulk of it is essentially a rewrite of the original, which is not what was needed to carry the series forward. It's mostly terrible, but has some good creature effects - the kind that the first film should've had in its arsenal.

Species III (2004)

Dir. Brad Turner

Did someone have a burning need to tie up the loose ends of Species II? Or did they simply decide that sci-fi and horror fans are easy prey for this kind of shit? Given how frequently we get such garbage dumped onto supermarket shelves, I'd put my money on the second option being the most likely scenario.

Either way, the turd that is Species III picks up the story from the exact point that part II ended. It stumbles along just fine for a while, but then begins to resemble a Buffy the Vampire Slayer script that didn't make the grade. We're in teen horror movie territory.

Bloody hell. Why?

I want to go back home to adult world.

Species: The Awakening (2007)

Dir. Nick Lyon

Because three bad films wasn't enough...

Fans of crap sequels, crap sci-fi, crap horror, tits, and jumping alien Mexican nuns rejoice, for The Awakening delivers all of those things in one convenient shit-sandwich.

To be fair, if the Species connection had been eliminated and the entire thing had been recast with real actors, things maybe could've been different because there's a workable central theme that would be a solid basis for a tense and violent sci-fi thriller.

In spite of everything, and against all the odds (it's a SyFy original movie), it manages to trump the abominable Species III.