Species (1995)
48%RT Audience Score: 31%
Awards & Nominations: 3 wins & 8 nominations
Species shows flashes of the potential to blend exploitation and sci-fi horror in ingenious ways, but is ultimately mainly interested in flashing star Natasha Henstridge’s skin
Species’ is the perfect movie for those who love a good B-movie with a side of erotic thriller. The stacked cast and interesting premise make it worth the watch, even if the humans are a bit useless compared to the fascinating alien Sil. Plus, at just over ninety minutes, it never overstays its welcome. Just don’t expect anything too original or groundbreaking, unless you count upping the degrees of both alien violence and sex as groundbreaking.
Production Company(ies)
Bandai Visual Company, Cine Qua Non Films, Engine Film
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Arecibo Observatory, Arecibo, Puerto Rico
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for sci-fi violence, strong sexuality and some language
Year of Release
1995
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:DTS Dolby SRDTS-Stereo
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Jul 17, 2001
Genre(s)
Sci-fi
Keyword(s)
starring Natasha Henstridge, Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Alfred Molina, Forest Whitaker, Marg Helgenberger, directed by Roger Donaldson, written by Dennis Feldman, sci-fi, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Sheila Johnston, David Stratton, Michael Phillips, Jami Bernard, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Ian Nathan, Yasser Medina, Wayne Broadway, Joe Lipsett, Quentin Crisp, Mike Massie, produced by Frank Mancuso Jr., Dennis Feldman, R rating, alien life form, genetic sequence, hybrid, violent quest, top assassin, government scientist, laboratory, suitable male human, impregnate, exploitation, horror, Natasha Henstridge’s skin, misogyny, biological and sexual anxieties, B-movies, evil scientists, government cover-up, creature feature, erotic thriller, stacked cast, alien violence, sex, tautly directed, imaginatively cast, timeworn plotline
Worldwide gross: $113,374,103
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $222,934,284
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 639
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 24,311,263
US/Canada gross: $60,074,103
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $118,127,304
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 644
US/Canada opening weekend: $17,161,943
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $33,746,556
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 392
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $35,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $68,822,595
Production budget ranking: 612
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $37,060,967
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $117,050,722
ROI to date (est.): 111%
ROI ranking: 899
Michael Madsen – Preston Lennox
Alfred Molina – Dr. Stephen Arden
Forest Whitaker – Dan Smithson, Empath
Marg Helgenberger – Dr. Laura Baker
Natasha Henstridge – Sil
Director(s)
Roger Donaldson
Writer(s)
Dennis Feldman
Producer(s)
Frank Mancuso Jr., Dennis Feldman
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
3 wins & 8 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (70) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (40)
It would be comforting to think that the genus Cinema Americana were guided by the principal of natural selection, but cloning and reversion seem, rather, to be the norm.
December 3, 2018
Sheila Johnston
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
It’s a lot of fun. It’s certainly well directed. We’ve seen it all before, but I enjoyed it.
December 3, 2018 | Rating: 3.5/5
David Stratton
At the Movies (Australia)
TOP CRITIC
It’s a sex horror-fantasy without laughs or life, a nightmare without sense, a casual pickup that should have been left at the disco.
December 3, 2018 | Rating: 2/4
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
Despite its silly excesses of misogyny — watch out for female sexuality, it’ll kill ya! — this absurdly exploitative sci-fi movie is not unpleasant to watch.
December 3, 2018 | Rating: 2/4
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News
TOP CRITIC
In spite of all its unexplained and semiridiculous plot premises it works surprisingly well as a genre exercise, perhaps because, like Alien, it knows how to exploit misogynist biological and sexual anxieties for all they’re worth.
December 3, 2018
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Despite the ridiculous premise and casting this is still a pacey little sci-thriller.
December 3, 2018 | Rating: 3/5
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
As a sci-fi horror film, it has an interesting premise that looks like an eroticized clone of ‘Alien’, but traverses overly predictable terrain that only makes its alien hunt boring and silly conventional. [Full review in Spanish]
June 5, 2022 | Rating: 5/10
Yasser Medina
Cinemaficionados
It’s bad, but it’s not terrible. It has everything you love about B-movies including the evil scientists, a government cover-up, and a stoic badass with an impossible name (Preston Lennox?). At over ninety minutes, ‘Species’ never overstays its welcome.
May 20, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/5
Wayne Broadway
Black Girl Nerds
An entertaining creature feature crossed with an erotic thriller, featuring a stacked cast. The film seems to understand that Natasha Henstridge’s Sil is more interesting than the humans, who putter around uselessly for most of the film.
April 26, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/5
Joe Lipsett
Anatomy of a Scream Podcast Network
If you want to find out what a mistake it is to send messages into outer space, see Species, but I’m warning you: It’s kids’ stuff — horrid kids, not a bit like Mr. Bunny’s adventures, and we’ve all forgotten how violent his cartoons were.
April 21, 2022
Quentin Crisp
Christopher Street
It’s not original to mix alien violence with sex, but this latest endeavor certainly ups the degrees of both of those components.
January 2, 2022 | Rating: 5/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
An imaginatively cast and tautly directed sci-fi/horror hybrid that doesn’t quite escape the timeworn dictates of its plotline.
November 7, 2021 | Rating: 2.5/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy…
Plot
In 1993, a search for extraterrestrial life, a transmission’s received, detailing an alien DNA structure, along with instructions on how to splice it with human DNA. The result is Sil, a sensual but deadly creature who can change from a beautiful woman to an armor-plated killing machine in the blink of an eye. Government agent Xavier Fitch assembles a team of scientists and mercenaries to locate and destroy Sil before she manages to find a mate and breed.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The cast of Species includes Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Alfred Molina, Forest Whitaker, and Marg Helgenberger.
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