Soft-porn '90s sci-fi that noggins up a few sharp themes - - spacemailed DNA, sex-as-death AIDS awareness, puberty crisis - - before bungling them into a derivative horror-thriller.

Busting clear of a gooey cocoon, lanky model Natasha Henstridge debuts as Sil, an alien-human hybrid who's soon out shagging half of LA to death. From here on, it's more splat than story. But quite bafflingly, the cast's a cracker, with Sir Ben Kingsley's grumpy scientist, Michael Madsen's hired killer, Alfred Molina's anthropologist and Forest Whitaker's "empathist" all in on the hunt. Plus, if you get bored waiting to perv-pause Henstridge's hot-tub moments, keep an eye out for Dawson's Creek's Jen, aka Michelle Williams, as little Sil.

DVD Extras:

Director Roger Donaldson takes part in two chatty commentaries: first he's joined by Henstridge and Madsen, then by his effects team and producer Frank Mancuso. Plenty of info here, although there's a lot of overlap with this double-discer's four Making Of featurettes. That said, they do a surprisingly comprehensive job, packing in generous interviews with cast and crew plus behind-the-scenes footage. Kingsley's intellectualising of the material is a hoot, especially when he's caught earnestly telling Donaldson he'd like to "privately share grief with the camera". Fortunately, Madsen's frequently on hand to bring things back to earth. (""I show my butt in that film"," he remembers proudly. ""That was my idea".") Dennis Feldman talks about penning the screenplay, production designer John Muto examines the sets and the special-effects whizzes show how they based Sil's alien incarnations on HR Giger's work. The mad Swiss artist also appears, knocking up a twisted creation in his workshop while mumbling randomly. The filler? A pointless alternate ending and a backstage peek at Species III. Which looks bloody awful.