Splice

Splice Review
SPLICE

STARRING: Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chaneac and Brandon McGibbon

WRITTEN BY: Vincenzo Natali

DIRECTED BY: Vincenzo Natali

Rated: R
Genre: Science Fiction / Thriller
Release Date: 04 June 2010
Review Date: 12 July 2010

I'm not exactly sure why I liked Splice, but I did. Even so, I won't be recommending it to anyone I don't know closely, because it's out there and isn't what most people will be expecting - especially based on its trailer.

If you're envisioning Species, you may be let down. If you're thinking Alien; you could be disappointed. It does however; lie somewhat in-between those two great films. And it's also sprinkled with a hint of the sort of family drama you'd find in The Jerry Springer show. I know - I just lost half of you there, didn't I? Still interested? Okay, keep reading.

Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley play Clive and Elsa; scientists as well as lovers. We...

Modern Day Frankenstein?
When I saw the preview for Splice, the first thing that came to my mind was that the movie looked like kind of a rip-off of that 1995 movie Species that Natasha Henstridge walks around in half naked. And while there are indeed some major similarities between Splice and Species, I think that Splice Director Vincenzo Natali actually had another movie in mind when he wrote this movie.

Back in the early 1930s if you were to play God and try to create life how would you do it? We'll, you'd do some grave robbing and try to bring back the dead with a little lightening, right? How else? Because cloning and gene splicing in the 30s was a concept as distant as an iPhone. It's so much easier today. Just take some animal DNA and mix it with a little human DNA, throw it in a Petri dish, incubate, let sit then voilà. It's alive....It's alive!!!

Splice's Dr. Frankensteins are Adrian Brody and Sarah...

Hubris
The best horror films don't merely provide lots of gore and bloodletting, but tap into the primal fears of human beings, as well as the darkest parts of human nature. "Splice" does just that.

Audience reactions seem to be mixed to "Splice", and it's easy to see why. "Splice" is really more of an art film that has more in common with David Cronenberg's films than mainstream horror fare like the "Saw" franchise. The film even stars Sarah Polley, an indie film fixture.

Polley plays Elsa, who, along with her husband and fellow geneticist Clive (Adrian Brody), create a human/animal hybrid in secret, who they later name Dren ("nerd" spelled backwards, a cute way of the two embracing their science geek status). As in all horror films, playing with mother nature turns out to have disastrious consequences.

Although films have long been using this basic plot that goes all the way back to "Frankenstein," what elevates "Splice" is its great script and acting. Elsa...

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