Splice (C+ or 2.5/4 stars)
'Splice', a French-Canadian horror film directed by Vincenzo Natali, takes your basic Frankenstein formula & adds a yucky sex element to it that ... I actually kinda dug. The film begins by introducing us to 2 genius scientists working in a lab: Clive (Adrien Brody, busy man this year) & his girlfriend, Elsa (Sarah Polley). They are the superstars behind a genetic splicing project that has big time pharmaceutical implications. Ignoring moral & legal boundaries, Elsa & Clive go beyond the creation of a pair of slug-like creatures (that have caught the attention of their corporate sponsors) ... they'd like to make creatures with human DNA! This groundbreaking possibility is turned down by their boss, but that doesn't stop the stubborn Elsa from playing God, followed by Clive (though, he's reluctant).
Before long, using a high-tech womb (so to speak), Clive & Elsa have given 'birth' to Dren (Delphine Chaneac, as scary as she is gorgeous), a hybrid of human DNA & various other animals who walks on 2 kangaroo-like legs, has a long tail, has amphibian-like lungs, can sprout wings, & communicates (when not screeching) by spelling out words with scrabble letters. They try to keep her existence quiet by bringing her to an abandoned family farm of Elsa's. Things go fine, at first. But as she gets older, Dren starts becoming both sexy & sexual. Clive starts to notice. And Dren develops a crush on him - which Elsa notices. Dren's final - and most appaling - ability rears its head in the film's final 10-15 minutes or so. Incestuous betrayals, chaos, & tragedy ensue.
'Splice' is inherently interesting due to its combination of horror flick, psycho-thriller, & bio-tech melodrama. Think The Fly, just not as good. The gore & special effects are stellar, but nothing groundbreaking. There's a lot going on in the story, but isn't as controversial (or as ethically edgy) as it could be; needed more depth. Adrien Brody & Sarah Polley are quite good as the alternately winning/testy mad scientists. Polley, in particular, brings some level of intelligence to the role. But the clear star of the movie IS Dren. She's an abomination by the end of the movie, but starts out creepily adorable in infancy; and oddly sexy as she matures. I mean, if her 'mother' & 'father' can see it, you know we can. And as I said above, the sexual component to 'Splice' pushes the story into wonderfully provocative areas. I know this movie is R-rated, but there is a NC17-like sex scene in here that had my eyes bugging out of my head.
'Splice' is an unsettling, smarter-than-your-average-horror movie. But better developed characters would have helped. The 2 leads characters start doing & saying things that don't make sense with respect to how they were earlier in proceedings. Also, the film should have left me with more to chew on, philosophically. Questions like: how involved should corporate-sponsored science be? How responsible should a creator be to his/her creation once it begins to grow/learn/evolve? What does it mean if the creator has sexual interest in their subject, & vice-versa? The questions become more loaded when it considers actual DNA of mother/father/child intermingling. And all those questions are broached, but not fully answered; neglecting such thoughts for the crazy-ass 15 min. conclusion (after the big sex scene) that descends into weird plot points, botched effects, gore galore, & a 'head roll' of a certain death. Still, I'll never forget this movie - one that showcases the strangest triangle relationship I've seen yet.
Before long, using a high-tech womb (so to speak), Clive & Elsa have given 'birth' to Dren (Delphine Chaneac, as scary as she is gorgeous), a hybrid of human DNA & various other animals who walks on 2 kangaroo-like legs, has a long tail, has amphibian-like lungs, can sprout wings, & communicates (when not screeching) by spelling out words with scrabble letters. They try to keep her existence quiet by bringing her to an abandoned family farm of Elsa's. Things go fine, at first. But as she gets older, Dren starts becoming both sexy & sexual. Clive starts to notice. And Dren develops a crush on him - which Elsa notices. Dren's final - and most appaling - ability rears its head in the film's final 10-15 minutes or so. Incestuous betrayals, chaos, & tragedy ensue.
'Splice' is inherently interesting due to its combination of horror flick, psycho-thriller, & bio-tech melodrama. Think The Fly, just not as good. The gore & special effects are stellar, but nothing groundbreaking. There's a lot going on in the story, but isn't as controversial (or as ethically edgy) as it could be; needed more depth. Adrien Brody & Sarah Polley are quite good as the alternately winning/testy mad scientists. Polley, in particular, brings some level of intelligence to the role. But the clear star of the movie IS Dren. She's an abomination by the end of the movie, but starts out creepily adorable in infancy; and oddly sexy as she matures. I mean, if her 'mother' & 'father' can see it, you know we can. And as I said above, the sexual component to 'Splice' pushes the story into wonderfully provocative areas. I know this movie is R-rated, but there is a NC17-like sex scene in here that had my eyes bugging out of my head.
'Splice' is an unsettling, smarter-than-your-average-horror movie. But better developed characters would have helped. The 2 leads characters start doing & saying things that don't make sense with respect to how they were earlier in proceedings. Also, the film should have left me with more to chew on, philosophically. Questions like: how involved should corporate-sponsored science be? How responsible should a creator be to his/her creation once it begins to grow/learn/evolve? What does it mean if the creator has sexual interest in their subject, & vice-versa? The questions become more loaded when it considers actual DNA of mother/father/child intermingling. And all those questions are broached, but not fully answered; neglecting such thoughts for the crazy-ass 15 min. conclusion (after the big sex scene) that descends into weird plot points, botched effects, gore galore, & a 'head roll' of a certain death. Still, I'll never forget this movie - one that showcases the strangest triangle relationship I've seen yet.