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For the best of the Horror/Cult/Exploitation film experience
Species (1995)
After directing “The Getaway” Roger Donaldson went on to make “Species”, a sci-fi/horror thriller with an all star cast comprised of many talents that included Michael Madsen (“Kill Bill Vol.2”), Ben Kingsley (“Suspect Zero”), Alfred Molina (“Spider Man 2), the recent Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker (“Last King of Scotland” and “Ghost Dog Way of the Samurai) and the “CSI” star Marg Helgenberger (“Mr. Brooks). The film also introduced the gorgeous former model Natasha Henstridge as the seductive human/alien hybrid Sil in a role that required much more nudity than dialog but this performance landed her some future roles in John Carpenter’s sci-fi/horror misfire “Ghost of Mars”(although I personally get enjoyment out of the film every time I watch it) and her comedic films with Bruce Willis, “The Whole Nine Yards” and the sequel with an awful name that I refuse to write down.
The
film opens with a young female subject being analyzed while in a bubble
in the middle of a high tech facility. Soon after realizing the bubble
is being filled with cyanide she punch a whole through the glass and
stage dies out of it while demonstrating her super strength. Seem Fitch’s
(Ben Kingsley’s) creation is much more than he bargained for so he
enlists the talents of Dan (Forest Whitaker) a empath that senses
many human emotions and future events, Michael Madsen plays Preston,
a government freelance a.k.a clean up man, Marg Helgenberger plays Laura
the biologist of the group and last Alfred Malina is the cross cultural
expert. This is the group that Fitch comprises in order to capture the
dangerous female that has an impatient biological clock. Natasha Henstridge
spends most of the movie stripped but does a great first time job. Being
that this film was her first acting gig made her clueless character
believable. It’s also believable that all the men that she lures with
her amazing figure fell for her trap.
The
movie is one sequence after another that features all of these experts
just missing their target. She wipes out women that cock block her in
clubs, maids and also men that try to get rough with her. She is a predator
that picks up on things easy so she is able to pass as a regular person.
She also pokes her tongue through the heads of those that force themselves
on her.
The
blend of visual effects and practical make up effects made this film
a fantastic experience. After watching well acted scenes with the bad
boy charm of Michael Madsen flirting with Marg Heldenberger it was great
to see many scenes that include a tied and gagged sweet lady getting
her thumb cut off (this lead to a slick trick that Sil pulls off in
the next scene), a spine getting ripped out of a bar slut’s back,
an H.R Giger Designed Creature and nightmare scene that he actually
financed and many great special effects by Richard Edlund (“Die Hard”
and “Alien 3”) and special make up effects designer Steve Johnson
(“Night of the Demons” and “Dead Heat”) collaborated on with
the goal to successfully combine visual and practical effects and they
succeeded for the most part. During the last sequence I could tell that
Sil was a computer image but only for brief moments and compared to
the shitty CGI today it’s a masterpiece.
Basically
I recommend this film because of the great interactions between great
actors in a film that shows a woman’s breast in about six scenes.
The fact is that the studio and all the filmmakers involved probably
wanted to cash in on the nudity and Natasha Henstridge was young and
took a golden opportunity. Still the nudity had its place in the story
and is the far from skanky. She is just striking and every guy in the
film falls for her and if they take long to mate she without a conscience
cancels them.
To
me this film is the kind that I would watch over and over again for
its easy to follow sci fi story about a male hungry alien trying to
create life while a group is constantly after her only to be outsmarted
by a half breed outsider unfamiliar with the world or Los Angeles for
that matter. She adapts quickly and strips even quicker. The films production
value is great. Viewers get much more than tits and alien creatures.
There’s a brilliant explosion scene, helicopters, stunts and again
some crafty nightmare sequences.
It feels like
Ben Kingsley was either wasted or overshadowed by the more natural Michael
Madsen. The bottom line is that this film had a lot of talent behind
it and Dennis Feldman should be proud of his spec script that went on
to become one of the most visually impressive horror films of the 90’s.
Did Henstridge’s boob a minute performance help? Yes but so did the
entire cast and crew. There’s some far fetched stuff and plot holes
but this is Sci Fi and there is nudity and A list actors. Just enjoy
it!
DVD Features:
Commentary by Natasha Henstridge, Michael Madsen and Roger Donaldson
Commentary by Roger Donaldson with producers and effects creators
Engineering Life Featurette
HR Giger at Work Featurette
The Making of Species: The Origin, The Concept, The Discovery
Designing A Hybrid Featurette
Alternate Ending
***
-Russ Rutter
