Species (1995) Review

This film started life as a project titled The Message in 1987 and was inspired by Arthur C. Clarke's comments about an alien arriving to earth through a spacecraft being unlikely, so screenwriter Dennis Feldman decided the extraterrestrial would arrive through information. The concept was changed and spiced up with a female alien-human hybrid who turns more animal-like and after several rewrites we got the 1995 horror thriller directed by Roger Donaldson we know today. 

Species starred Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Alfred Molina, Forest Whitaker, Marg Helgenberger, and Natasha Henstridge as the sexy alien lady. It’s often considered to be top tier 90's trashy horror, featuring some intriguing concepts handled in a rather vulgar way. What could have been a serious alien contact film turned into a strange freakshow blend of sensual chills and action. It's hard to contradict the critics when the concept is about a female alien looking for men to breed with. Having said that, I do believe it's a rather interesting story that not only delivers the sex and violence it promises but also packages it in a nice and round sci-fi adventure.

This is the basic gist: Aliens contact earth and send out instructions for a communication device as well as instructions on how to mix human DNA with alien DNA. The government then decides to create a program with the objective of constructing a human-alien hybrid. The result is Sil, a girl with superhuman abilities. Sil develops at a faster rate than normal humans, going from a baby to a 12-year-old-looking girl in record time. She turns violent and escapes the lab she was created in. Outside, she speedily grows into an adult woman, played by Natasha Henstridge (Ghosts of Mars, She Spies), and looks for a partner to procreate with.

Charming, thrilling, action-packed, deranged and visually appealing, Species is one of the most memorable creature features of its decade. Featuring a captivating performance by Natasha Henstridge as the main lead, the film becomes a wild and unpredictable ride that isn't afraid to turn the tables on you. It's a well told story of  mankind's careless experimentation and ignorance.  

There's lot's of adrenaline fueled action, with impressive practical effects that could have only been done in the 90's before CGI completely took over. There are some rather dated computer effects but nothing too distracting. I think the film still stands to this day in the special effects department.   

H. R. Giger's psychosexual and biomechanical designs are present here as he worked on the film as a concept artist, particularly on Sil's design. I also noticed a lot of elements seen in Alien (1979) that were incorporated into this film's she-creature. Giger also served as a consultant, which explains why the film, while not amazing, manages to have small touches of brilliance. 

I love a fish out of water story, so the first two acts with Sil entering our world were actually very fun to me. You also feel quite bad for the creature, she never wanted to do harm, she mostly acted on instinct and wanted to belong to the world but you do understand why her nature is dangerous to mankind. At first you believe Sil is going to get the E.T treatment and become the heroine, but as the movie progresses she increasingly becomes more vicious and monstrous. It's surprising because they really make you feel for her and suddenly she loses whatever humanity she had left. 

Sil's arc reminds me of not only a typical alien invader movie, but it’s also very similar to Frankenstein, being created in a lab, looking for a mate and being unleashed into a world that doesn't like her and doesn't understand her only to be hunted down. The monster was originally going to die by fire like Frankenstein in its 1931 movie but it was changed to a bullet in the head. Damn. Sil is a solid new interpretation of the Frankenstein story.

It’s also funny seeing how usually supernatural women who hold a sort of power and are aggressive (usually sexually) are portrayed as villainous and “horrible monsters” as the image of the ghastly beastly female can be seen in movies like She Beast (1966), The She-Creature (1956) or in The Wasp Woman (1959) and its 1995 remake, the same year as Species. This movie follows in that formula but I think it adds more compassion for the creature than in previously seen works. So it is a bit progressive, maybe. As always, it’s a small step forward but at least it’s something.

There's a great moment where Ben Kingsley explains that they made the experimental subject female because then it would be more docile and controllable but Michael Madsen’s character replies “More docile and controllable, eh? You guys don't get out much.” It could be just lampshading but the idea that real life and common sense often deny pseudo-scientific notions about sex stereotypes is a very accurate and transgressive critique. 

A perfectly sleazy exploitation film for the season. Relentlessly entertaining and fascinating with its exploration of sexual power and animalistic desires. Species amuses you with its straight-for-the-jugular approach to its rather crude premise.

Natasha would return to the series as Eve (Sil’s offspring) in Species II (1998) and Species III (2004) but the series would then end with Species: The Awakening in 2007. All of them cheaper and dumber but with some fun stuff, however, far removed from the big budget caliber of this first outing.