Tokyo Species (2012) Online

Tokyo Species, as the title may suggest is about an alien parasite taking over freshly dead corps of human beings. But somehow, all the dead corpses seems to be young girls which brings in the erotic angle to the movie.

A girl commits suicide. Her body washes ashore. An alien creature takes over her body. She goes home, and nobody suspects what's going on. She goes to school, and her classmates doesn't suspect what's going on either. She then starts to covertly kill victims using the tentacles that seem to come out of any parts of her body. She uses sex to lure the victims. Then a strange transfer student shows up at her class. She's chasing the alien who took over the girl's body.

Thighs seems to be the visual theme of this movie. In the beginning, the girl's face isn't even shown. Only her thighs when she walks around indicates that it's "her". Furthermore, she doesn't speak a word, and no one thinks that's suspicious. Two other girls who are co starring in the movie has their thighs prominently featured throughout the movie. Maria Ozawa has great looking thighs, so she was the right choice for this role.

Aliens, girls, and serial killing, punctuated with sexual scenes is what this movie is about. Don't expect much content in this movie, but it's made very well considering its low budget. Japanese seems to have worked out the formula for these low budget direct to video erotic movies. They know how to put in the eroticism in the right way, and compared to their American counterpart, light years ahead in production quality.

Let me preface this review by saying that I consider myself a fan of the original Species and have varying opinions on the sequels. Basically, I view the original as a fun little bit of 90s schlock with a great cast and fantastic practical effects. It's not a classic but I enjoy it for what it is. So seeing this was definitely an odd experience. Also, I was only able to see this movie without subtitles or dubbing, so forgive me if this rundown is pretty vague with the details.

The movie opens with a young woman in a school girl outfit committing suicide via bridge jump (it appears she was teased over some risqué photos being spread around school). Almost immediately after, something possesses her body and takes over her life. She starts seducing men and killing them immediately after having sex. A new student arrives at school shortly after, adding more suspicions to the possessed girl's friend. This friend soon stumbles upon her friend's cache of dead mates and what appears to be eggs. Soon the new student shows up to kill the possessed girl and the friend gets caught up in their fight. After a confrontation, the friend is killed and the alien inside the new student uses her body to confront the alien possessed girl in a final showdown. They fight to the death and the movie ends on a close up of some of the surviving alien eggs.

Calling this a remake of the original isn't entirely accurate, as it incorporates elements found in all four movies. I actually found it to have the most in common with part 2, as the main character is actually controlled by an alien, mates multiple times, kills all their mates, and has a number of offspring. I got the impression that the idea for this movie came after some people had a marathon of the original four and decided to make their own version using whatever funds they had. And someone clearly had a lot of school girl outfits lying around.

As a movie on it's own merits... it's OK. They certainly don't waste any time getting right to business and the brisk run time keeps the movie from overstaying it's welcome. The few special effects are what you would expect from a low budget film but they are used sparingly, which helps. The acting is exactly what it needs to be. I think the only big downside to the movie is that every moment that might have been surprising or interesting is given away in the trailer.

Do I recommend this? I suppose if you are a fan of the original Species movies or you like low budget movies. I can't really give a ringing endorsement but there's nothing egregiously wrong with it. I say watch the trailer and if it looks interesting, track it down.