With the usual titans of horror on their way out of fashion in the 1990’s studios, still hoping to make a buck on the reliable horror genre, had to find new characters and new stories on which to hitch their wagon. As I highlighted a bit last month, any Stephen King book or short story that hadn’t been explored soon received an adaptation. Other authors like Dean Koontz found Hollywood knocking at their door. Studios found themselves going back to the well for old tried and true ideas, betting that money could still be squeezed from old ideas made new.
Species feels like one of those stories. Science fiction had long ago found its place as a horror subgenre, with films like The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Alien leading the charge, filling the screen with creepies and crawlies from the furthest reaches of our galaxy. The truly successful films managed to find the balance between horror and humanity and made the realization that sometimes humans are just as awful.
Species doesn’t really do that, but I wouldn’t go as far as to call it unsuccessful. For starters, how many other films about humans receiving DNA codes from unknown outer space origins and then choosing to create life from those messages, only to see it go all to hell can brag about having not one, not two, but four Oscar nominees, including two wins. They’ve also got Emmy wins and nominations all over the place.
Gandhi himself, Ben Kingsley, leads the charge as the scientist in charge of the project. Utilizing the alien sent plans, he creates new life, who he names Sil. Played by a young Michelle Williams, she’s supposed to be curious and docile, but her growth rate is staggering. When attempts to kill her prove unsuccessful, she breaks free from the lab and is followed by a rag tag group of scientists, academics, and mercenaries with orders to kill on site.
And what a group we have. Michael Madsen returns as another version of Mr. White, a man who has seen, and killed it all. Marg Helgenberger, in her pre-CSI days is a scientist who always seems to have an answer or an interesting tidbit. Alfred Molina, Doc Ock himself, is a Harvard professor whose expertise usually gets ignored in favor of him staring moon eyed at Marg, only to have him eventually give way to the temptations of Sil herself.
Speaking of Sil, Natasha Henstridge plays the adult form of Michelle Williams, and it works. She plays Sil as wide-eyed and curious, eager to learn more about the world she doesn’t understand but isn’t afraid to gut a man if he challenges her. She appears equally as comfortable completely seducing men in nightclubs as she does while completely nude. The film doesn’t ask much of her and she handles it well.
While rampant Natasha Henstridge nudity is enough to convince almost anyone to watch, the true joy of Species comes from two men who aren’t afraid to get a little weird. First we’ve got Forest Whitaker as an empath who’s capable of getting in Sil’s head (sometimes that power gets a little ill defined) and his wet basset hound eyes convince you every step of the way. He doesn’t always know how to react to everything around him, but he understands everyone in his path. Whitaker is excellent, as he always is.
But the true star of Species is the character design of Sil. Created from the mind of H.R. Geiger (who also gave us the alien from Alien), Sil’s creature form is humanoid, but horrific, with beaming yellow eyes, a near metallic skin, and honestly, the creepiest nipples you’ll ever see. When shown in brief flashes, the design works.
However, the film still has its flaws and most of them come in the third act. There is far too much reliance on CGI during the climactic battle, which sadly takes place in an underground set which hardly inspires. A film that had shown itself to be rather unique for a majority of its runtime crumbles and finds itself with a rather ordinary conclusion.
Species might not have been as great as it could have been, but it did give MGM a much needed horror franchise, spawning a few sequels of less merit. It’s well worth your time to watch and honestly could probably do well with a modern remake.
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
