User reviews

MGM's Species franchise, like Wishmaster and The Crow, is a perfect example of the law of diminishing returns. Roger Donaldson's 1995 hit Species was a stylish, self-consciously trashy homage to B-movies. One that has had its scenario rehashed three times now.

One would expect a low-budget sequel to revel in sleaze and gore, but since 2004, when the concept was resurrected, 6 years after the cinema release of the disastrous Species 2 (1998), for the direct-to-DVD market, there has been a surprising resistance to the gratuitous ingredients of sex and violence. Species 3 paid little more than lip service to the desires of the target audience and the same is true here.

Deviating from the plot line established by the first three films, which featured Natasha Henstridge, The Awakening is a standalone feature that references and reimagines the ideas of the first film. It posits an alternative scenario; what if the scientist played by Sir Ben Kingsley in the original had not kept the young girl like a rat in cage? What if he'd raised her like his own?

This could have made for an intriguing exploration of nature versus nurture. Had Henstridge's Sil been allowed to develop in a more normal way could her dangerous, alien side have been suppressed? Alas there is little such depth to this cheap cash-in.

Kingsley's role is reinterpreted by fellow British thespian Ben Cross, while Swede Helena Mattsson (who looks a bit like Nicole Kidman) takes over where Henstridge and Sunny Mabrey left off. With only four key cast members and no sign of even Michael Madsen, The Awakening is the weakest of exploitation films. Only the audience is being exploited.

A studio like MGM isn't short of cash, so the explanation for the cheapness of this film is clear; they knew they can get away with it and turn an easy profit. Studios like The Asylum have their desperately limited resources to explain their crass and dissatisfactory efforts, but there's simply no excuse for a Species film to be as unspectacular as this.

Feeling more like a cross between a vampire movie and a retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein than a sexy sci-fi movie, Nick Lyon's film merely coasts on tenuous links to its predecessors. There are the HR Giger-inspired creature costumes and the promise of flesh is vaguely satisfied but there's not much effort or imagination. Were it not for a few gratuitous moments and aggressive curse words this could have been made for mainstream TV.

Lyons does well to pay homage to the original film and its subtext but seems to have forgotten how tongue-in-cheek it all was. Species 4 should have taken things to a cartoonish extreme. Instead what could have been knowingly amusing is just po-faced and embarrassing. From Dominic Keating's terrible Aussie accent to the fact that the alien hybrids use their tongues as weapons, at one point they shoot icicle-like spears from their mouths in bullet-time, the experience is one of contradiction.

The original Species really went for it. Utterly shameless titillation. The sequel went further, but in a misjudged, sleazy and misogynistic direction. Perhaps this is why the following two instalments have been so tame. The Awakening, as evidenced by its 15 rating, delivers the bare minimum that one could expect from a film with the Species title. Cautiously exploitative.

Like its heroine, The Awakening is in denial, trying its best not to give in to its primitive instincts. There's the potential for a wild ride in its concept and its plot, but Lyons takes it so seriously that the only laughs come unintentionally. This is a film in which a back alley scientist creates sex-crazed human/alien hybrids that run around Mexico! One of them dresses as demonic nun and leaps between rooftops, lassoing potential prey with its tongue; this is potentially hilarious stuff! But it's stripped bare, like its heroine in the final act, devoid of emotion. This is a film of wasted opportunities.

If you're gonna watch schlock, make sure it's got a hottie or two and a large tub of goo. CGI is remedial but better than the Alien franchises 3rd and 4th installments. Plot obviously rehashed wherein the protagonist isn't aware of the bug under her rug so to speak but acting all around is decent.

The only way for Miranda to go on, is to do what sexy bugs from space do, and that is invade what we got and snatch it like most aliens are want to do.

The film has a new take on chest bursting, that is if you consider Miranda's heaving bosom taught and riddled with curdling blue veins.

Ironically most of the aliens are found in Mexico where they get off on what they call "harvesting." Tentacles and boobs gone wild.

Like her lab daddy says halfway through, "I'm truly sorry." Nuff said.

I didn't mind the original Species movie, I loved Gigers influence and it had a cast that enabled it to really stand out from other similar sci-fi movies at the time.

The second was passable affair and followed on nicely, but it already felt a bit like it was treading water.

The third starred the excellent Robert Knepper and though just about watchable really come across as a cash grab.

Alas with the fourth here the "Feel" of cash grab isn't a feeling anymore, it's very blatant. Straight to DVD nonsense with enough of a budget (Ish) to pull off the sfx but delivers very little else.

Starring veteran actor Ben Cross it's another erotic sci-fi outing that sadly brings little to the Species lore, delivers a rather underwhelming and rather rushed story and is decidedly average at its best.

Maybe Species should have stopped at the first movie, some films just don't need to become a franchise and this is a great example.

Should Species be rebooted? Absolutely not as the first movie delivered, want your Species fix go watch that.

The Good:

SFX are good for a straight to DVD sequel

The Bad:

"Alien" cutaways are a tad pointless

Brings nothing to the franchise

Feels rushed

I was expecting it to be a bit cheesy and low-budget-looking, but I wasn't expecting to be insulted.

This "film" has similar production values and acting caliber as you will find in an average daytime soap.

It's as if the crew of "Days of Our Lives" borrowed the studio's gear for a weekend and went and shot a "Sci-Fi/Thriller" because those are popular these days, so we should be able to make some cash with it.

It wasn't scary, wasn't thrilling, wasn't even sci-fi-y, just boring and predictable. No plot, bad lighting, laughable critters, wooden acting, no reason at all to force yourself to sit through a turd like this one.

The rave reviews here have to be from people associated with the production, or else who haven't actually seen the "film".

Avoid at all cost.

it was a pity that IMDb didn't have the ability to rate movies as 0 because that is exactly what i would have given it. however, i have had to give it 1 out of 10, but i mean 0......

plot was very poor, movie was too confusing and the poor plot didn't make me feel a connection, like or dislike anyone in the movie.

seemed like random things happening with no explanation or leading up to any event in particular.

acting was a bit wooden, and the accent from Dominic Keating was probably the most entertaining of any of the script.

please avoid this movie, as you can never get the 90 minutes of your life back that you waste on this.

One day, college professor(yeah, right... she's about as convincing as a dummy) Miranda falls ill. She is then told by her "uncle"(who now admits that he is not related to her) that she was a science experiment of his, of combining alien and human DNA. Yes, like in the original. Only no cocooning, seemingly no sped-up growth, and she had no idea until she suddenly transformed... apparently because she was dying. Which makes it kinda strange that she's still powerful. This takes several good ideas, including that of someone's memories being a lie repeated until they accepted it and themes straight out of the story of Dr. Frankenstein and utterly *wastes* all this potential. The acting and production values are the level of a soap opera, as another reviewer notes. Locations are dull, lighting is poor, and the camera is constantly trying to fake tension(of which there is none to be found in the entirety of this) by shaking/excessively moving and using close-ups(something that only renders these horrendous performances even less tolerable). The dialog is just plain bad, and flat like the great plains. We get additional instances of "learning without opening the book", something that was idiotic when it was introduced in the third(that this does not, by the way, follow up on the sequel-baiting ending of). There are countless questions raised by the cheese(Swiss, by the way) that is the plot, and none of them are attempted answered. As if all of that wasn't enough, the creatures in this pose. They attack with no reason, and usually with their tongue(what a lack of creativity). One of them initially appears dressed as a nun. I'll let that sink in. We see them too much, for long periods of time, and the guy who's making them in this isn't worried about them in the least(so why should we be?). Oh, and he earns a living cloning dead pets(and apparently people, as well? And combining them with the extra-terrestrial genetic material, in spite of the fact that that's probably tougher to do than simply making a direct copy), so surely no one will be suspicious of him when bodies are found murdered under strange circumstances(and this seems to be a common occurrence, based on what takes place during the events of this). The characters are bland, stereotypical, and/or completely uninteresting. I couldn't care about anyone in this, at all. Hollander is inconsistently written. FX are cheap. There is slow-motion during a fight sequence. In a monster flick! There's hardly any nudity(granted, the chicks are hot... still, when they strip, it tends to be covered or they shoot around it), sex, bloody, gory violence or strong language. This is the stupidest and worst of the Species series, and it is also the only that doesn't lend itself easily to being followed by another entry, so perhaps it can end here. Let's be honest, only the '95 one was worth the time. I recommend this solely to those who won't heed the warning. 2/10

Being a fan of the "Species" films, especially loving Species II, I watched this with open arms. I did not think it worked. Partly because the storyline seemed so short-lived. The trailer did look a tad on the positive side though but that, is how trailers are designed. But this is nothing at all like the previous ones, except for the Alien DNA etc etc.

This has awful acting, one hell of a bad bad accent and an OK blond playing the Alien femme fatal, but not worth the 90 or so minutes that it ended up as. If the species films are ever going to work and be believable they need to be serious, with serious (good, well-known) actors. That alone would help the publicity! But no, they go for the opposite.

I even wished afterwards that I had been a director doing this film. Oh my god would I have made some CHANGES! Should have mixed the DNA with sense instead of aliens LOL

big no no no no no, cannot emphasize that enough.

Just saw the entire Species collection over two days, and i was very disappointed over the fourth in the line.

After watching the first 15 minutes i sat the player to double time, and i sure didn't regret it. This movie doesn't have anything to offer, beside nude chicks and brainless "horror". Compared to the three other species movies, this is fare worst. If you have seen the movie "From Dusk Till Dawn" you sure don't need to see this one.

Lets all hope the line will end here.

blah. blah.

blah.

I watched a screener of this film and have to say I was positively surprised. I was expecting a really bad movie, which it wasn't. I thoroughly enjoyed it and think that Helena Mattsson will be a new star after people see her in this. As a Enterprise fan, I also have to admit that I have a soft spot for Dominic Keating. He is so entertaining. I don't know much of Ben Cross's work, but he seems very good and I want to see him in more Sci-fi movies. The plot wasn't bad either, but it was at times a bit underdeveloped. But as a woman, I thought this would be a big booby fest but it wasn't. It was a good movie. I give it a thumbs up and hope that more films come out like it.

This movie su**ed. I did wanted to see it because i saw the other tow, but sadly i should have known that it will not be better then the second part. The plot was terrible and the happenings were so flat that i almost felt asleep. It was like they wanted to put something together but they only had $100. The acting wasn't that good and i was the one how felt ashamed of how terrible the events were. The first two parts had more too say. The first part was really the one which had it in it and think they though that people will see this one because of it. I really really hope that it will not be so. If you value your life, please don't waste it on this one. I truly have nothing else to say about it. It was just awful.

And so we reach the fourth, and final part of a series that never deserved a first sequel, let alone three of them. The slim storyline was told in its entirely in the first movie, and the next three have just been poorly thought-out remakes, redos or continuations of the same situations. This one follows straight-to-video B-movie territory from beginning to end, bringing everything down to its lowest common denominator. There's a misguided but decent scientist hero – Ben Cross, looking embarrassed to be here, a pretty young and nubile actress, Helena Mattsson, whose acting skills are extremely limited, some monster suits and some very bad CGI effects.

The storyline kind of meanders from place to place without ever progressing. There's some experimental stuff in a laboratory, more scenes of the alien women on the prowl searching for a mate, and other aliens besides who kill people with their long CGI tongues. The script is very poor and the performances poorer, and there's no decent action or gore to speak of. Just nudity, and even that gets boring after a while, so I really do hope this is the last we'll see of the Species films

This title sums the movie up for me.

This is singularly, by far the worst movie I have ever sat right through. Start with a handful of no-name actors who surprisingly can't act to save their lives. Then throw in a storyline that a primary school child could do better than, and weave some budget SFX through the mix for good measure.

The stereotypical cowboy sounds like he comes from blazing saddles, and the "Australian" guy who can't work out if he's from Sydney or London all lend lack of credibility to this complete mess.

Please, please don't waste the hour & a half.

For starters, the Species franchise was never that great to begin with, but even THIS is undeserving of a recognisable name in the title. It's a WHOLE mess up in here.

The cast are terrible, even for a Direct-to-DVD movie, and to be completely honest they'd probably be below the bar for Hallmark movies. Hell, I'd even venture a guess that the acting in the Birdemic movies is Oscar-worthy compared to this mess.

Then there's the aliens...the only commonality between the ones in this movie and the previous three is that they look kinda similar? I guess? So much else about them has been changed, though, that this REALLY doesn't deserve the recognition of a known name in the title.

Seriously, only watch this if you're a masochist, or if you just HAVE to see some titty. If not for the titty I wouldn't have rated this at all.

If you were around during the late 90's, you would of known species wasn't a "big" name in the sci-fi horror genre, but more a niche love letter to the works of H. R Giger and an ode to the likes of alien, based off the same designs. The series took quite a noticeable dive from sequel to sequel, but ultimately each entry in the trilogy could stand on its own two legs... until this one.

To say that this is bad, is an understatement. The only reason this has been seen as many times as it has, is because of the IP it is attached to. Actors try their hardest to perform well, but is let down by directors vision and blatant cash grab that this film is.

To most fans of Species, this isn't part of series, and more of a fan film.

Don't waste your time, but if you do, run til tik on the side, because that will probably save you from brain damage in the long run.

They just totally ruined that amazing SIL design by H.R.Giger...I really expected that "Species" series could be at least as good as Alien series but the ruined it. After being disappointed by Species 3, I felt absolutely wreck with Species IV...I mean I am a big fan of 1st species, and the alien-creature in species IV was like a puppet rather than being realistic. SIL design and special effects were good for 1995 situations...But now for 2007 movie (I think its all about the budget I don't know) I didn't expect that...It was utterly, awful..I wish I could give "0"... If they gonna make any other 5th one and if its going to be like this one, please No..Its will be a waste of time...Remember the 1st one please...

....but I'm basing my rating as much on the DVD transfer as I am on the quality of the movie itself. IMDB doesn't mention this, but the film was originally released as a TV movie. It was not a theatrical release. Then it went to DVD. The DVD transfer is abysmal, making the movie virtually unwatchable. Everything is either dark or light; there is no detail in the image. Plus it appears the aspect ratio was altered.

As an example of the contrast problem, there are shots of characters against light backgrounds. The characters show as silhouettes; no detail at all. This is constant throughout the film, not just with characters and backgrounds. Scenes show no detail at all if they are the least bit dark. They are just black.

IMDB shows the aspect ratio as "1.85 : 1 (intended ratio)". I don't know what "intended ratio" means, and I didn't see the original TV release of the movie. But it appears to have been shot in full screen (4:3) format, then transferred to DVD in widescreen (16:9) format. This means parts of the top and bottom of the image were cut off to turn full screen to widescreen. It is most obvious in scenes where there are close-ups of characters. They look unnatural, and the tops and bottoms of people's heads have been cut off. I seriously doubt if this was intentional on the part of the director; it was due to the alteration of the aspect ratio in the DVD transfer. This same effect is seen throughout the movie. It just does not look right. It appears parts of the image were cut off through the entire movie. So we aren't seeing the movie as it was shot. Unless it really was shot in widescreen format, in which case the director and cameramen just messed up the framing of the shots.

I know this was a cheap production, but geez, I would rather have seen the original 4:3 version (if that was the case) than the mutilated one on the DVD. I would hope they could have fixed the contrast problem, too.

As for the movie, eh, just another monster movie. Nothing special, nothing unique or original. It deserves the 3 stars I gave it as much as the DVD transfer does. We've seen elements of the same plot in a bunch of other movies (the "Blade Runner" influence was the most obvious). It was very formulaic, and showed no originality at all. It was downright boring, truth be told.

I think Helena Mattsson is just drop-dead gorgeous. But, in spite of a few gratuitous nude shots, they didn't show off her beauty very much at all. There were a few close-ups of her face, but her long legs and overall perfect body were not given the attention they should have. Does that reflect more on me than the movie? Maybe. But still, very disappointing.

I also felt sorry for Ben Cross. How far he has fallen, to have to take a role in a movie this unexceptional. He did well with the material he was given, but he didn't have much to work with.

I'm not sure if there are ways to watch this movie other than on DVD, but I would avoid that completely. A less-than-mediocre movie was made worse by that horrid transfer.

OK I was hoping that the fourth Species installment would be good, but I was truly surprised that it was this good. After seeing the second and third one, I thought I was convinced that they couldn't make another one that would match up to the original with Natasha Henstridge but I was wrong because this one came very close. The story is very entertaining and there are some good sequences of violence too unlike number 3. I was really entertained by this one because I watched it at like 3 in the morning and I watched it all. Overall I give it an 8 out of 10 because it was the best since the original and it is a great thriller. I would recommend it to all fans of the Species movies and of course to all the sci-fi fans out there like me.

i can't say this is an awful movie.it's just that it is so slow.until the last 15 minutes,nothing much happens.there is very little excitement,and i didn't find the storyline compelling.nor were there any great characters.there is some nudity,which doesn't really bother me.i am a guy,after all.and though there isn't a lot of profanity,what profanity there was,i felt was unnecessary and did not have any context in the movie.i don't mind profanity,but there should be a purpose or reason for it.but there is some good news.the special makeup and creature effects were pretty good overall.the acting was OK.and this movie is certainly better than the unfortunate Species 2.i don't think it's as good as the original Species,and it's certainly nowhere near as good as Species 3,which to me,is the best of the series.to me,this movie is somewhere in the middle.i give Species:The Awakening 5/10

This picture results to be the fourth outing to ¨Species¨ series that began with a friendly galactic message packing a recipe on how to combine extraterrestrial DNA with human is sent to genetic scientifics on Earth. As scientists undergoing the weird experiment resulting in a sexy half alien, half human , she is called Sil . The tale begins with Miranda as a young woman, not a little girl like Sil in the first and second film, or Sara in the third film . In this entry Miranda Hollander (Helena Mattsson) is a beautiful and smart young woman. She is a college professor and lives with her "uncle", Tom Hollander (Ben Cross) who works in a museum; he adopted her after a car crash killed her parents. Miranda can read books just by touching them, without even needing to open them. Miranda believes that she has lived with her "uncle" ever since her parents were killed in an accident while she was a baby , but the protagonist doesn't know she is half alien . Tom tells Miranda that she is the result of an experiment that combined human and alien DNA, an experiment conducted with an old friend . Then Dr. Hollander, takes his niece, Miranda to Mexico, to meet another scientist , Forbes (Dominic Keating) , in an attempt to reverse the effects of the alien DNA he used to create her. But she becomes into Sil , a killing machine who escapes from the investigation laboratory while attempting to hunt down especially nubile prey to procreate her alien race . However , the treatment goes horribly wrong, and it sets Miranda on a killing spree as she sets out to find a mate. As she seduces young people into mating to produce a baby to expand her descendants on Earth .Irresistible beauty !. Unstoppable instincts !. Genetic perfection is no longer a dream ! . It's a nightmare !. Beauty is only skin deep . For three million years, the human race has been at the top of the evolutionary ladder . Nothing lasts forever . Men cannot resist her. Mankind may not survive her. Two decades ago scientists sent a message to space...This... is the reply. Our time is up. This December, the mating game turns deadly .If you build it , they will come .

Inferior Sci-fi movie with noisy action , stomach-churning thrills , chills, tension , intrigue , violence , state-of-art FX , strong sexual scenes , nudism and lots of gore and guts . Director Nick Lyon shows some ability to create a sense of dread and unease, using lighting, sound design, and camera angles to build suspense and keep audiences on the edge of their seats. It is an entertaining but ordinary thriller with no much sense , but it results to be a so-so story , following in the distinct wake of the Science Fiction movies of the Fifties . The prolific and recently deceased main and secondary actor Ben Cross gives an acceptable acting as the brilliant scientist who raised his beautiful niece , while Dominic Keating plays Forbes who now lives with his recent experiment named Azura : Marlene Favela , another human/alien DNA hybrid who also serves as his assistant and lover-she is sterile to prevent offspring. Along with the extremely gorgeous starring Helena Mattsson who gives some spicy bare scenes. Trio starring are passable , but with no appearance by Natasha Henstridge , who played Sil in the first film as well as Eve in the sequels . Decent special effects but inferior than previous entry made by great technicians and based on the famous creature created by artist-designer H. R. Giger , while the former movies heavily used 3D computer generator effects and animatronic puppets , the alien creatures are completely portrayed by actual stand-ins and all of them making fantastic and strange monsters .

It contains a mysterious and thrilling musical score , as well as colorful but functional cinematography . This direct to video film was regularly directed by Nick Lyon . The film was commercially successful and helped to establish Lyon as a director to watch in the horror genre. Lyon's work is characterized by its intense, atmospheric style and emphasis on suspense and tension but in Species the Awakening resulting in a mediocre film . Following the uneven success of "Species: The Awakening", Lyon went on to direct several more horror and thriller films, including "Zombie Apocalypse", which premiered on the Syfy channel in 2011 starred by Ving Rhames and Taryn Manning, followed a group of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies. His most recent film "On Fire" which Nick wrote, directed and produced, starred by Peter Facinelli , Lance Henricksen and he continues to be a respected and influential figure in the world of horror, disaster and thriller filmmaking. This filmmaker is a fine craftsman usually working for Television , directing telefilms, B-movies and episodes from known TV series, such as : Z Nation , Bullet , La La Land, Bermuda-Dreieck Nordsee , They found hell, Hercules Reborn, Rise of the zombies, Bermuda Tentacles, among others.

The quartet is formed by the original Species I followed by three inferior sequels : the first entry , ¨Species¨ 1995 , by Roger Donaldson with Natasha Hensridge ,Michael Madsen, Forest Whitaker , Alfred Molina, Michelle Williams , Ben Kinsley ,Marg Helgenberger , concerning a group of scientific carry out an unenviable and relentless task of catching Sil . ¨Species 2¨ with Justin Lazard, George Dzunza, Marg Helgenberg , James Cromwell, in which scientists create a clone from the monster of the original film. And ¨Species III¨, 2001 by Brad Turner with Robin Dunne, Robert Knepper and the gorgeous Sunny Mabrey.

It just didn't work.

Alien nun? WTF? Alien taxi driver? And he tries to kill his passenger for what reason? They live in Mexico? Where where they the rest of the time? So why are they suddenly just killing people when Ben Cross and the Blonde chick come into town? Wasn't good...wasn't scary, wasn't science fiction...just wasn't workable.

The writers could have come up with something more creative for the paycheck...and the locations could have been chosen better too.

Basically, it all could have been better.

Yeah...as far as sequels go...it should be written by the same people - especially if the script was big enough to have a sequel.