For the small fanbase that loves the “Species” series, they’ll be interested to see where the studio takes the original 1995 hyper sexual science fiction thriller. Set directly after “Species II,” Brad Turner attempts to connect the dots and further the mythos of the alien clone Sil. After her experience with her male alien counterpart and dying at his hands in an awfully weird manner in the ein of hentai, she is revealed to be pregnant. What happened to his millions of offspring, one only knows, but this time as Sil is being transported, she produces two female offspring of her own.
Now it becomes the battle of the female descendants of Sil, as both alien femmes struggle to find a way to adapt in society and inevitably clash as one offspring takes a path of evil, as another seeks to stop her. The insanely gorgeous Sunny Mabrey is Sara, the more chaste and heroic of the pair, while Amelia Cooke does a bang up job as a more devilish and dangerous of the pair of sisters. Robin Dunne, who is apparently always waiting by the phone to play the lead in direct to video sequels of bigger films, plays a scientist tasked with protecting and helping Sara to stop her sister Amelia who, like her mother and father plans to populate the world with her own offspring, leaving a trail of bodies in her deadly and sexy wake. The main appeal of “Species III” is the absolutely sexy pairing of Amelia Cooke and Sunny Mabry, both of whom are wonderful successors to the absolutely sexy Natasha Henstridge.
If anyone can carry on her legacy, it’s these two absolutely buxom actresses who also manage to convey the deadly task of their mother, whose instinct to procreate resulted in a lot of hapless male victims. The effects are much worse this time around, opting instead for a man in suit effect with stunt women battling in alien costumes, rather than the more convincing CGI and slicker effects. “Species III” is a solid science fiction entry in an otherwise mediocre series of alien films. The hyper sexuality is dialed down considerably in “The Awakening,” where the series has now been reduced to more TV movie and direct to DVD fodder, this time around. “The Awakenin” seems like an attempt at a TV series, but it could never quite work considering the expensive effects that would be required.
Rather than feature Natasha Henstridge yet again, or consider the original storyline from parts II or III, this time we meet Helena Mattsson, a young beautiful college girl who slowly begins to realize that she’s an alien predator with a hunger for sex and a need to procreate. While the original alien species’ were very aware of their instincts and she suddenly has no idea what she is because she’s been injected with human hormones? In either case, “The Awakening” is a blatant effort to concoct a science fiction series for cable television by completely rebooting the series out of the roots of the first film. It’s a rather sub-par film that rethinks the original film’s rules and ideas. If you can accept it as a potential TV pilot, it’s just sub-par. Plus Helena Mattsson is quite gorgeous.
For Species III, we get an audio commentary with director Brad Turner, writer Ben Ripley, and actor Robin Dunne al of whom provide a commentary that explore a lot of details about the movie and the production. They discuss the process of making the film, the creation, and the inevitable release. “Alien Odyssey: Evolution” is a thirteen minute featurette that explores the casting and the shift in filming to appeal to a younger audience. “Alien Odyssey: Species DNA” is a six minute look at the production design, “Alien Odyssey: Alien Technology” is a fiveminute look at the way the director mixed digital and CGI effects for the film.
There’s “Alien Odyssey: Intelligent Lifeforms” is a nearly ten minute exploration of how the film strayed from the original designs from HR Giger but still manage to seem very like sequels to the original alien films. “Species III Genesis” is an eight minute basic featurette with interviews and footage, and finally there’s a trailer. For “Species: The Awakening” there’s “Miranda’s Memories,” a ten minute look at Helena Mattsson’s experience working on the movie, and why she started acting originally. Finally, “Alien Awakening” is a fifteen minute look at Director Nick Lyons’ experience shooting the movie, and how he managed the creature effects with the small budget.