Deadly Species

The plot of "Deadly Species" is fairly simple:an expedition to Everglades in search of a lost native tribe The Calusa turns out to be really a search for the mythical fountain of youth.The expedition consists of two university professors,a bunch of nubile students and a photographer as well as the backer who insists he goes along with his muscled security man.Soon some of them start to die killed by mysterious creatures hidden in the Everglades.Surprisingly dull and badly-acted monster movie which lacks gore and scares.The scenery is quite lush and atmospheric plus there are some shots of naked boobs.The climax is hysterical and pretty stupid.Don't waste your time with "Deadly Species".4 tribes out of 10.

I rented this today assuming it would fall into the "so bad that it's good" category (a personal favorite of mine). After having watched it, I can tell you that it doesn't fall anywhere near it; Deadly Species is just bad.

After laughing at the amateurish acting gets old, the movie loses what little bit of entertainment value it may have once held. The plodding pace, predictable twists, and lack of anything in particular happening most of the time will leave you yawning as you wait for Deadly Species to finally, mercifully end. After a lame pseudo-cliffhanger finale which seems tacked on at the last moment, you'll scarcely believe that it was a mere 88 minutes.

The bottom line is that whether you're watching this because you want to see something worthwhile or whether you're looking for some B-grade trash to have a good laugh at, Deadly Species will disappoint.

This low-budget monster movie tries to cash in on the old terror-in-the-woods creature feature formula, but tries way too hard for its own good. It's mostly annoying for taking itself too seriously. By the time you reach the climax, you're bored, even with a less-than-ninety-minute running time. Most of the bad parts are way worse than the rubber-suited monster harassing our protagonists; in fact, the creatures are amusing enough in a 50's sci-fi kind of way. The acting is soap-opera caliber, but the female lead is particularly homely and shrewish, which is a big mistake in a cheap thriller like this. The worse thing of all though, is an outdoor make-out session by a couple of disposable co-eds during which they feel up each other's blue jeans. While there is some throwaway, gratuitous nudity, it's not milked to the point of satisfaction and undercut by the constant and witless bantering between the cast. I'll reiterate, the women in this are all unappealing, a major mistake for this kind of flick. Unforgivable!

To say that 'Deadly species' struggles with authenticity is a critical understatement. The actor in the major role of the wealthy "big game hunter" looks and acts like a junior computer technology major at a state college who was begrudgingly convinced to participate in the class project of some friends. While his is the most dire portrayal, he is crudely joined in that ham-handedness by all others on hand. The outfits of the expeditionary team are assembled with at best a partial sense of attentiveness and realism. Why, in kindness I'll assume that most aspects of the feature were deeply constrained by a low budget - there's nothing here that doesn't suffer from a terrible lack of genuineness: wardrobe, props, makeup, production design, camerawork and editing, sound design, acting; I assume even the screenplay was chopped into mincemeat by the limited resources available to realize the concept.

I will generously assume that everyone contributing to the feature did what they could with what they had to work with, including not least of all the FX crew behind the creature design. Moreover, in fairness, it seems that literally everyone involved have few if any additional credits to their name, or that this is generally a film very early in their careers. (As a minor example - probably the most recognizable name of all in attendance, this is only the second listed credit of Amber Midthunder, who was then only 5 years old at the time and has less than a bit part.) Still - I can operate on all the presuppositions I like, yet that does not fundamentally change the fact that 'Deadly species' is a bit of a chore to watch.

I've never seen nudity this plainly gratuitous. Dialogue is contrived beyond all belief, and characters are so thin they're little more than set pieces. Scene writing is as unbothered (and sometimes downright unintelligent) as Daniel Springen's direction (including guidance of his cast), and the overall narrative as it presents is perhaps best described as functional. Jon Greathouse's score sounds like a collection of rough sketches that were never developed further, and effects including blood and gore break suspension of disbelief. Meanwhile, the actors' delivery, expressions, body language, and basic movement and actions in each scene feel forced and unnatural on the most basic level. Can their inadequacy be chalked up simply to a lack of ability? To the utmost fruitlessness of the material, and the direction? Both?

True, I can't say I expected anything different. And 'Deadly species' certainly doesn't pretend to be anything it's not - it works, as well as it could, on its level. Unfortunately, that level requires astounding magnanimity as a viewer to refrain from holding it in utter contempt. Though I may be disappointed, I'd be keen on reading a history of this production - just how, exactly, did it come into being? Even the best ideas herein are rendered with incredible gracelessness - and there are not many good ideas in the first place. Amazingly, there are still worse movies out there (and I've definitely seen some of them), but that doesn't say much. Frankly, there's no real reason to watch this, except perhaps for extreme curiosity or desperate boredom - and even at that, your time would be better spent doing something else.

Now, this most definitely is some sort of "Predator" rip-off. Only, it should have been called "Deadly Chattings (in the Everglades)". Because all the characters in this movie do, is bore you to death by talking and walking around in some jungle. It lasts more than 45 minutes before we finally see a good look at the Predator-like creature. I must admit, this movie at least was better made than the hilariously abominable "Unseen Evil 2 (aka Alien 3000)" and "Alien 51". It even looked a little bit better (more bland & polished) and the cast more or less tried to act this time. The story at least tried to be a bit more serious (though still extremely clichéd and tedious). In the first 10 minutes we already see not one, but two different pairs of naked breasts. And even though the first 80 minutes are pretty much a waste of time, the conclusion during the last 5 minutes was amusing and the best part of the whole movie. The creature-suit and make-up was decent, even though its facial expression looked as dumb as your average Neanderthal. There, at least I did my best to give you some positives about this film.