You take some X-Files, blend it with Splash, add a dash of The Terminator, and you got yourself a cocktail designed to get you tipsy enough to overlook its baser instincts. Director Roger Donaldson (who also made Cocktail, appropriately enough) knew exactly how to shake it.
The A-list credentials were all in place to legitimize the, shall we say, more exploitative aspects. You get Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, Forest Whitaker, Michael Madsen, Marg Helgenberger and Natasha Henstridge making her film debut as Sil, the alien-human hybrid who just wants to find a nice guy, settle down, and spawn the end of the human race. And who can blame her?
And the sexy is what pre-sold this one. Before anyone saw a frame of film, the tabloids were already running stories about the edgy naughtiness. That, plus the promise of more H.R. Giger biomechanics on screen, was enough to make Species MGM’s biggest opening weekend to date. It cost 35 million and grossed 113 million worldwide. Even by Hollywood accounting standards, this was a proper hit.
The success greenlit Species II in 1998, which bombed so hard it nearly sank MGM. Again. Same $35 million budget, barely $27 million back worldwide. Audiences got what they wanted out of the first date and ghosted the sequel. The remaining installments got exiled to Syfy and straight-to-video, which is where the franchise probably belonged all along.
Let’s not kid ourselves, it comes on strong. Species was rubber monster B-movie exploitation dressed up in high-concept sci-fi clothes, and everybody was okay with it. I sure was.
This was late night rental material for when you want something slick, expensive looking, and slightly trashy. You knew exactly what kind of hot mess you were in for when you held the box in your hands, and you took it home anyway.
-Pop