Rants, Raves, & Reviews

Species I-IV Reviews
Directed by Roger Donaldson, Peter Medak, Brad Turner, and Nick Lyon
Starring Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Alfred Molina, Forest Whitaker, Marg Helgenberger, Michelle Williams, Natasha Henstridge, Sunny Mabrey, Helena Mattson, and Marlene Favela

Ive been wanting to review a horror series for awhile but I wanted it to meet the following qualifications: 1. Didnt want a totally shitty series (sorry Howling series) 2. Didnt want too long of a series (bye bye Hellraiser, Witchcraft) and 3. Didnt want a popular series (i.e. Friday the 13th, Halloween, Saw,etc...) So the only one that met those qualifications for me was the Species series. Plus I have never seen part 2-4 so I wanted to check those out. I remember when Species first came out the big buzz on the movie was that it had Natasha Henstridge naked in it. Being a young horn dog at the time and plus liking horror I had to see it. I remember walking out the theater super disappointed. Yes she was fine and I got to see some nice titties but it was the rest that bored me. Enough of my back story. Lets get to it!

Species 1
I wont get too detailed with the story but basically it involves an alien species that inhabits the body and looks for other humans to mate with. They only like humans that dont have any diseases, cuz their immune systems cant fight it off. Species starts off with a government experiment gone wrong. Their hottie test subject (Natasha Henstridge) escapes and is off on a killing spree until she finds her "man" to mate with. Hot on her trail is government agent Ben Kingsley and his crew of merry men, a scientist (Marg Helgenberger), a psychic (Forest Whitaker), a strong arm (Michael Madsen), and Alfred Molina who doesnt really do shit but die.
After rewatching, It wasnt quite as bad as I remembered it but it was not really that good either. The action scenes were pretty lame and it had some terrible cgi, especially the final battle. The titties were still pretty nice though.

Species 2
This one was overall my favorite of the series. The budget looked bigger and the cgi and practical effects were pretty damn good. This one started off with an American mission to Mars. The astronauts bring back with them another species virus that attaches itself to one of the male astronauts and takes over his body. Back on Earth the army made a clone of the original Species chick from the first movie so they can study her. Marg Helgenberger is the lead scientist heading the project. She took the job so she can oversee the project and make sure that the species chick is not mistreated. The male astronaut which is now fully fused together with the species alien goes on a killing and mating spree. He is attracted to the female species chick and wants to hook up with her so they can make a master race. Natasha escapes again and goes to find the male species. Michael Madsen is once again hired to track down and destroy the aliens. At the end there is a final battle between the male and female species right after they finish fucking. The costumes and practical effects of this scene were pretty good. Of course the bad alien dies and the movie is over.

Species 3
This picks up immediately after the second one ends. After the alien battle the female alien is being transported back to the base. Apparently she got knocked up before the big battle battle. Natasha has an alien baby and dies while giving birth. The truck is being driven by an evil agent that decides to kidnap and raise the child for experiments. I honesty dont remember much of this one besides that it was shitty. Sunny Mabry was the new species chick and I didnt think she was even that hot. All I remember is in the finale they established that the species can now jump super high. Very forgettable shitty sequel.

Species 4
Probably the best directed of the bunch. The cinematography, production and effects were all top notch. The transfer of the other 3 movies were grainy and terrible but this one looked great. This is the first sequel thats pretty much a stand alone movie. The main species chick is raised by her uncle which was really a scientist that made her. She was really an experiment in the beginning but he decided what he was doing was ethically wrong and decided to run away with her so he could raise her. Now that she's older her Species powers are manifesting and shes becoming sick. She goes into a rage and kills a lot of innocent people at a hospital. The uncle flees with her to Mexico to escape the police and to find his old scientist buddy that was on the Species project with him from the beginning. When he arrives he finds out that his old buddy is infecting a lot of the people with the virus so he can use them as his personal slaves. One of them is a sex slave (Marlen Favela) who is by far the finest of all the Species chicks from any of the movies. So basically at the end of the movie there is another battle between the two species chicks. This one I enjoyed quite a bit and thought it was watchable as a stand alone movie.
To wrap up the series is not great by any means but I thought it was watchable. The plots are pretty cheesy and ridiculous but lets be honest the series is made to show some hotties and some gory kills. For the most part it succeeds in that attmept. Part 2 was my favorite but It probably wouldnt make much sense unless you saw the original. Part 3 was just cheap and shitty and not worth recommending. Part 4 had some hot chicks and a few cool kills and worth checking out. Not worth really seeking out but if they are on cable someday then I probably wouldnt touch the remote either. Seeing them all back to back blurred a lot of the details and I might have got a few of them confused. If i did, then I apologize and you can kiss my ass.
Ratings: Species 1- 5.0 Species 2- 7.0 Species 3- 2.7 and Species 4- 6.5