Splice (2009)

Canada, France, United States of America

Horror, Science Fiction

Gaumont, Dark Castle Entertainment, Copperheart Entertainment, Senator Entertainment, Warner Bros. Pictures, Canal+, Silver Pictures, TPS Star, Téléfilm Canada

Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chanéac, David Hewlett, Abigail Chu, Stephanie Baird

Vincenzo Natali

Vincenzo Natali, Vincenzo Natali, Doug Taylor, Antoinette Terry Bryant

Taglines: She's not human...not entirely.

experiment, genetics, dna, gene manipulation, genetic engineering, genetically modified organism

Elsa and Clive, two young rebellious scientists, defy legal and ethical boundaries and forge ahead with a dangerous experiment: splicing together human and animal DNA to create a new organism. Named "Dren", the creature rapidly develops from a deformed female infant into a beautiful but dangerous winged human-chimera, who forges a bond with both of her creators - only to have that bond turn deadly.

Reviews:

Author: John Chard
Brundledren! Splice is a tricky picture to evaluate, for its ideas are superb. One could argue that it brings a new petri dish full of meddling scientists facing the consequences of their actions, while conversely it justifiably feels like a Cronenberg knock-off. Psychological discord is in abundance, with its slants on skew-whiff parenting giving the pic a dark fascination, and as unpleasant as the male fantasy angle is, it does hold a morbid interest factor. Yet come the final third the makers let things run away from them, the bonkers dangers of tampering with science giving way to daft schlock, even managing to be distasteful in the process - while the finale is a weak attempt at a "TBC" cliff hanger. Lead cast members are turning in good perfs. Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley as the meddling science couple hold court well, and Delphine Chaneac as the Chimera splicer of the piece really nails all the various emotional strands required for a tricky role. Director Vincenzo Natali has shown with Cube and Cypher he has something to offer the horror/sci-fi splinters of film, but this is a mixed bag. A film of great ideas let down by overheating the plot for shock values, while the levity inserted into the play is misguided and damaging for dramatic worth. 6/10