A scientist couple (Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley) creates new organisms for a living, by splicing the genomes of all different kinds of already existing animals together. They're on the way to finding new vaccines previously thought impossible, but their corporation decides to go a different way. Secretly and without permission (of course), they bring human genes into the game, and the result is Dren: The answer to all their problems! ...right?
What Sets Splice Apart from Other Recent Horror Films?
Who would have thought, that there's anyone in Hollywood who actually cares to have a decent story in a horror movie? But Natali certainly does, having given us Cube several years ago, and even if he loses sight of this around the ending, Splice is still definitely a huge improvement over most horror films these days. It dares to go places other studios and directors don't have the guts to go, and it doesn't treat its audiences like pre-adolescent teens.
Before we even get the first scene, we're given a good sign of what's to come: Opening credits. That may seem like a weird thing to say, but think about it: When was the last time you saw a movie that actually had opening credits? These days, 95% of movies simply say the studio, the movie title, and then the movie starts. It leaps into things very quickly, almost like it's anxious. And sometimes, because the audience is equally anxious (The Dark Knight), that's fine. But in this case, the movie is basically taking its time. Its telling you it wants to take its time to build up to what you're about to experience. Slow and steady wins the race, they say. It also speaks to Natali not wanting to conform and do what everyone else is doing.
Brody and Polley do very well, especially when they are together. Their work relationship and personal relationship never seems to blur, and it's all very believable. The other characters are just ok, nothing worth mentioning; The one everyone will remember after this movie is the creature Dren, brought to life on screen (literally) through CGI, puppetry and prosthetics, and Delphine Chaneac. For quite some time, the creature is treated much like a child, which is something audiences can connect with immediately. Dren's first words, first steps, feeding it, all of these interactions and more make you realize that the movie is just as much about the immorality of human genome testing, as it is about proper parenting and the damage that improper parenting can leave on a child. Dren is really the star of the show, because she's the one audiences connect with.
It's also because once Dren enters the picture, we like our two lead scientists less and less. Scene after scene, at least one of them does something to get the audience to hate them just a little more. Splice shares a lot with Frankenstein and the other classic horror monsters that followed, but the key difference is that: in Splice, it's not a tragedy because we don't care about our main characters. It almost feels like so much effort and work was put into Dren, that they used all the creative juice they had on her but had nothing left for any of the human characters. By the third act, so much distance has been put between the humans and the audience, that no one cares what happens to them anymore. It ceases to be a tragic tale of misunderstanding and a poor creature caught in the middle of it all, it's just a science toy gone wrong again. It has nothing to do with the actors themselves; it's the characters and what they do that is lacking.
So Why Should Any One Bother?
Because horror movies now make you jump for a split second, and then you forget that adrenaline rush. You move in with your life. You go to school, you work out, feed your fish, and fall asleep in front of the TV. Splice is disturbing and unsettling, not BOO!-scary. It makes you squirm because you're genuinely and morally uncomfortable, not because there's fake blood and guts as far as the eye can see. It reaches down your throat, into your eyes and will burn images and moments into your mind, that will stick with you for days. And they'll randomly spring back to memory at the most random times, but when it does, for some reason you won't be able to get it out of your head. Because chances are, you haven't seen anything like what this movie does: it takes chances, risks, and goes places Freddy and Jason movies don't dare touch.
All these symptoms are very similar of what foreign horror films like Audition and Ichi the Killer pass on to their own respective audiences. And rightfully so, Splice feels like a foreign horror film in the guise of the US splatterflick. Because of that, recommending this film can be difficult, as many US audiences will be turned off from things they don't understand or don't "get". However, this is a rare specimen. If people walk out saying how awful Splice was, it's because something in the movie got to them. In ways that they're not used to, because this movie wasn't spoonfed to them. Something in this movie made them squirm and cry inside. That, is a rare achievement. And each time someone leaves disgusted, Dren is laughing that clicking laugh of hers.
Splice is a 4 out of 5.
- Released June 4, 2010
- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Directed by Vincenzo Natali
- Starring Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chaneac
- Rated R for disturbing elements including strong sexuality, nudity, sci-fi violence and language
Caleb Laulusa - I began writing video game reviews for an international website that sadly, went under before any of my work was published. I also found ...
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