FAQ

When Dr Tom Hollander's (Ben Cross) niece, college professor Miranda Hollander (Helena Mattsson), awakens in a hospital after going on a killing spree, "Uncle" Tom admits to her that she is the product of a laboratory experiment that combined human and alien DNA. Tom and Miranda head for Mexico in hopes of finding Forbes McGuire (Dominic Keating), Tom's previous lab partner, who may hold a cure for Miranda's condition.

Species: The Awakening is the fourth movie in the Species series, which began with a screenplay written by filmmaker Dennis Feldman. Species: The Awakening was preceded by Species (1995), Species II (1998), and Species III (2004). The screenplay for Species IV was written by American screenwriter Ben Ripley who also wrote the screenplay for Species III.

Tom alludes to the first movie in which scientists spliced human DNA with the DNA strands transmitted by the 'friendly' alien species and produced numerous experimental ova, one of which resulted in the creation of Sil (Natasha Henstridge). Tom further explains to Miranda that he and Forbes, his college lab partner, conducted experiments on some of the frozen embryos and created Miranda.

Collette (Cynthia Francesconi) was first impregnated with alien DNA. After the fertilization process was complete, Forbes then harvested the stem cells from her fetus and injected them into a cell in Miranda's body, which by then was cocooned. The stem cells infused the cells all over her body. In effect, they "revitalized" her dying body with the stem cells, hoping that the new human DNA (from Collette) would dominate. Unfortunately, the alien DNA is stronger.

Tom takes Miranda back to Forbes' lab where he performs an ultrasound and finds that she is pregnant. Miranda informs him that her human side is dying and reminds him what he must do. Before Tom can do anything, the lights suddenly go out and he is attacked by Azura (Marlene Favela). Miranda transforms into alien form and stops Azura by coughing up three tentacle darts that pierce Azura's chest. However, Azura retaliates by stabbing Miranda through the back with her wrist tentacles. Tom finally kills Azura with a shotgun blast. As Miranda, back in human form, lies dying on the floor, she says to Tom, "Thanks for giving me life." In the final scene, Tom releases several canisters of gas and lights a Bunsen burner. He is then shown walking away from the building as it explodes into flames.

For the broadcast on the SyFy Channel, only a reasonable amount of violent scenes were put in Species: The Awakening. Moreover there mustn't be any explicit nudity scenes and no bad language either, which is quite unsuitable with this franchise. As a result of that, almost anything was modified/censored: apart from some tightened plot for commercials, many scenes were shortened, contained alternate, more harmless footage plus digital image and dialog modifications. Nevertheless the shorter version was edited with care—as usual. It's pretty nice to watch even though a lot of visual appeal is missing.