Species III (Uncut)

 

Picture: C     Sound: B-     Extras: B     Film: B-

 

 

The Species franchise has two things going for it that undoubtedly keep it afloat - H.R. Giger designed creatures, and, really hot naked chicks.  The makers of the film show no shame in admitting that these draws are their bread and butter, and it’s a combination guaranteed to get the younger audience to watch - no problem.  But oddly enough, most other modern horror films have abandoned the lure of sex entirely, and have greatly diminished their gore.  Since the 70’s, when the genre peaked in the sex coupled with blood department, horror films have been consistently losing their shock value.  It’s comforting to me that there is at least one franchise still holding onto these “values” when everyone else has gone soft.  The one thing that this series doesn’t have is the edginess of those older films - there’s still the modern gloss that looms over everything, and makes the clichés as noticeable as they ever could be.  Going in to this movie, you’ll see it actually does do a few interesting things; and while I’m opposed to CG effects, they seem to be well handled here.  They’re at least comparable to those found within the terrible, big budget Alien vs. Predator, which I’ve reviewed elsewhere on this site.  Considering the ultra low budget (in Hollywood terms) of this film, it’s quite impressive that they were able to cobble together a film good as this.

 

While the first two films focused more on the adult characters, this third one shifts the focus to a college-aged demographic.  Amazingly enough, these actors don’t come off as overly annoying or unbelievable.  And I’ll have it be known that I’d take a cast of unknown college kids in a slasher flick over the recent trend of sticking dry, overly serious adult actors into dry, overly serious horror movies.  Even the way-annoying children that are thrown into the mix act just like the adults.  What I would give for the critics and movie audiences to come to their senses and see that these pretentious horror films aren’t scary, nor are they original.  Maybe after they see the same movie with a different title for the 50th time, they’ll start coming to their right frame of mind.  Until then, half-decent movies like this will be shafted into the direct to video market.

 

The extras here were really good for a title like this, and I think that the producers of this DVD know what horror fans really want to see.  I especially liked getting to see the behind the scenes stuff with the creature - it’s great getting to see all these manmade effects carried out after seeing them onscreen.  There are also interviews with the director and much of the core cast that helped me to appreciate this film a little bit more.  When you hear how much their budget was reduced from that of the first two films, you’ll wonder how they were able to pull it off and make it seem like they were working with the big bucks.  On top of this stuff, there is a commentary track with the director, writer and one of the lead actors.

 

The picture is good for being shot on HD, and goes to show how much the cameras are improving all the time.  It’s still not a replacement for film, but someday I’m sure it will be indistinguishable.  For the time being, though, film is still preferred and digital has a while to go before it can totally surpass it.  The image is in widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, enhanced for 16x9 TVs.  Sound quality here is decent, and while there is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, there’s no DTS to be found.  This is still weak as compared to the solid sound mixes for the previous feature films.

 

It seems that director Brad Turner has an extensive background in genre-related TV shows, and hopefully this will be a jumping point into features for him, as it seems like he has an understanding and respect for what he does within this area.  I’m hoping that more people check this movie out and don’t just write it off because it didn’t receive theatrical release, but it was never intended to.  It’s less sci-fi than you’d expect, and is more closely related to the hack and slash films of the 80’s and early 90’s than anything else.  Be open-minded and don’t look for believability, but see it as just a fun way to spend a couple hours resting your brain.

 

 

-   David Milchick