Splice
Movie Review
Splice
by Eric D. Snider
Grade: B+
Released: June 4, 2010
Directed by:
Cast:
I've often wondered what Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" would have been like if it had been rewritten by Charles Darwin and turned into a movie by David Cronenberg. Now I do not have to wonder! It would probably be a lot like "Splice," a delightfully twisted horror thriller from Vincenzo Natali, director of 1997's sci-fi nightmare "Cube."
Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley play Clive and Elsa, brilliant biochemists who have led the way in creating a new organism culled from the DNA of several existing species. This new animal produces nutrients that can be used to treat illnesses in livestock; if some human DNA were thrown into the mix, perhaps the resultant creature's proteins could cure human diseases.
But it would be illegal, not to mention unethical, to use human DNA in this fashion. That is why Clive and Elsa -- who are partners in romance as well as in the lab -- do it secretly. "What's the worst that could happen?" Elsa asks, practically daring us to tell her.
Sure enough, a new organism is produced, one with human and animal characteristics. It ages rapidly, allowing a horrified yet curious Clive and Elsa to learn about its entire life span. Oh, and "it" is actually a "she." The monster baby has a gender. Elsa, who has never wanted to have a real child the normal way, treats this lab-manufactured aberration first as a pet and then almost as a daughter.
Part of the fun in a film like this is seeing what the characters do not see, i.e., that this cannot possibly end well for them. What they're doing is outrageously stupid -- but that's OK, because we enjoy seeing what happens next. Like the ambitious but misguided scientists in the monster movies of yesteryear, Clive and Elsa have tampered in God's domain, and for this there must be consequences.
I cannot begin to describe the creepy, giddy, squirm-inducing madness that Natali has conceived with co-screenwriters Antoinette Terry Bryant and Doug Taylor. There are certain things you would expect in a story like this, and most of those happen. But then there are other developments that I'm pleased to say my imagination is not demented enough to have conceived. (There is also an unfortunate tangent about Elsa's unhappy childhood, which adds nothing and is under-explored.)
Through it all Natali maintains a gleeful tone, clearly enjoying the experience of telling a story that gets crazier and crazier as it goes. Even as events become more shocking, there's the sense that that's the point -- that by defying the laws of nature from the very start, Clive and Elsa have put themselves outside the normal bounds of what's "taboo." In a world like that, no plot device is too grotesque. As viewers, we just have to embrace the insanity and enjoy the wild ride.
Grade: B+
Rated R, some harsh profanity, some strong sexuality, some nudity, some intense violence
1 hr., 40 min.
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
This work may not be transmitted via the Internet, nor reproduced in any other way, without written consent from Eric D. Snider.
This item has 15 comments
June 9, 2010 at 10:15 pm
I found this movie to be brilliant. Its so rare to see a film that easily equal the best horror novels I've ever read. Most big horror films these days, in an attempt to gain as much money as possible, avoid the imaginative and try to be as conventional and mainstream as they can, thereby completely missing the point of what horror is.
This film however, for whatever reasons, was allowed to be, as you put it, demented and thankfully, also original.
June 11, 2010 at 9:09 am
I don't usually post comments, but this movie is a special case. I went last night with a female friend (I'm also a woman), and we were both utterly disturbed by the film's contents. We both agreed that, had we known what we were in for, we never would have gone to see this movie. I think it's extremely strange that very few reviews address the scenes I am referring to. Most of of them talk about how much "fun" the movie is, and, though Eric gives us hints by saying the film is "grotesque," he also calls the tone "gleeful," which I just can't agree with. So here goes, if graphic depictions of rape and incest are too rich for your blood, then stay home. I strongly suggest that women read the very minimal spoiling I have done, [MODERATOR'S NOTE: When she says "very minimal spoiling," she means "huge spoiling"] but I hate to think that at least some men wouldn't be put off by the content as well. The rest of the movie isn't good enough to drown out the awful, sick feeling you'll come away with.
June 13, 2010 at 9:30 pm
This movie is terribly uncomfortable to watch. It's good, it's deeper than your average flick, it's just uncomfortable. The bits that G mentions are definitely part of that, but the entire plot and appearance of Dren contribute as well. To be clear, the bits that G mentions are foreshadowed like mad; they may as well overlay a synopsis titlecard on the screen 15 minutes before each happens.
If the movie were actually being publicized anywhere, I'd worry about it being used politically. "See! This is -exactly- why America shouldn't do science!" It took me a while to stop worrying about politics and start enjoying the movie.
June 13, 2010 at 9:31 pm
This is the first time I have ever taken the time to write a review after seeing a movie, but I felt I had to let anyone know how bad this movie is before you WASTE your money. Completely predictable, average at best acting, and not all that interesting. After seeing the previews, I was intrigued, thinking "wow, this could actually happen", disappointment is the best word I can think of when describing this movie.
June 14, 2010 at 3:07 am
This film is an absolute gem! A real grade “AAA” creepy gem, but a gem none the less. During this movie I kept hearing my Ninth Grade English Literature Teacher, Mrs. Kraft, describing the works of Edgar Allen Poe and H. P. Lovecraft to 37 of us Montana farm kids. We’d say something like: “I’d never go near that castle. Or After the first ghastly murder-I’d be gone.” And she would look at us with her stern gaze and say: “NO! NO! NO! That’s the point! Poe wants you to assume you are in this real bizarre set-up and given that set-up, how do you logically behave?” We would (like most practical farm kids) never do anything like the Poe or Lovecraft protagonists. But we were not constrained by the law of verisimilitude (verisimilitude, the semblance of truth or reality in literary works; or the literary principle that requires a consistent illusion of truth to life. The term covers both the exclusion of improbabilities (as in realism and naturalism) and the careful disguising of improbabilities in non?realistic works. As a critical principle, it originates in Aristotle's concept of mimesis or imitation of nature. It was invoked by French critics (as vraisemblance) to enforce the dramatic unities in the 17th and 18th centuries, on the grounds that changes of scene or time would break the illusion of truth to life for the audience.) In other words-we didn’t want to play along with Poe and Lovecraft and we lost out on a bunch of real scary fun because we wouldn’t play along. If you play along with this movie, I guarantee you will get “creeped out” [nine-ways from Friday creeped-out] and scared to death at the same time. If you are sensitive and can’t separate movie-real, from real-real->don’t go to this movie. But if you are the type of person who couldn’t stop laughing at “American Werewolf in London” this movie is for you! If you went to “Looking for Mr. Goodbar” and left mad, upset and shaken->I urge you to skip this movie. But if you can take the rough, crude, tough, bizarre world of the mind of a truly twisted writer, director and the great [but gruesome] acting…then you have found your movie! If you can’t play along with a rough plot-DO NOT SEE THIS FILM! If you can employ the verisimilitude rule, you will love this movie!
June 14, 2010 at 9:05 am
I haven't seen the movie and really don't plan to (horror/gore isn't my thing), but I wanted to comment.
It seems that the real push here is the "this could happen" warning. However, I have to say I'm surprised at the gullibility of people.
Nuclear radiation has NEVER produced a monster like Godzilla. Explorations into robotics and artificial intelligence have NEVER produced a killing machine (literally) like the Terminator. Archaeologists have NEVER uncovered a supernatural monster like the Mummy.
Why do we continue to think that "it could happen"? It hasn't yet and my prediction for the next century is "it won't."
Oh, and for the record, if what G revealed is a "huge spoiler" to the plot, then that's a twisted plot that has less to do with science-gone-bad and more to do with perverted sexual fantasies. It would be like going to see Iron Man 2 only to find the plot was really about the politics of abortion. "Shocking!" Yeah, but stupid because that's not what movie-goers went to see.
June 15, 2010 at 9:48 am
I did not know what i was in for when i went to see Splice. This is the most disturbing and uncomforatbale movie out there. I am usually a fan of horror and sci-fi movies but this was just DISGUSTING. The two intimate scences left a scaring imagine in my head and in the head of my friend who accomponied me. Do not go see Splice. its gross and disturbing. I am very dissapointed and do not reccomend it to anyone.
June 15, 2010 at 8:38 pm
This is my first review I ever wrote. I just want to warn you how bad this movies is. I never feel so sick after seeing a movie. I don't even know why they want to produce this movie at the first place. DON'T SEE THIS ONE.
June 17, 2010 at 10:23 pm
This movie was terrible. We only stayed 20 minutes, and got our money back. It was all gore and shock and awe. No acting, and really gross graphics and "squishy" sounds. Yuck. They spent no time setting the plot line, and went straight to gore. It was predictable, yet stressful.
Bad times and a waste of money for the gas it took to drive there...
June 18, 2010 at 7:12 pm
I saw this film at the Seattle International Film festival, and liked it very much. But it isn't for everyone, and definitely not a date movie, especially for a first date.
I found it wonderfully imaginative and twisted, and didn't worry about if this *could* happen. It's fiction, and I am willing to suspend disbelief for 90 minutes so that I can be entertained.
Yes, it can be disturbing, but I don't think that counts for the average horror fan. It is also very funny, especially in the way it treats some of the conventions of films of this genre. My favorite line, from Adrian Brody's character: "We can handle this! We're biochemists!"
June 19, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Disappointing. More like a Friday the 13th than Aliens. Frankly, I would have preferred a little more realism and serious treatment of the ethical dilemmas scientists face as this technology advances, and of the motivations that might lead a research team or corporation to go too far. Then as the "creature" grows and matures, a more personal portrayal of the struggle between parental affection versus ethical responsibility would have given the movie depth and believability. All these elements are present to be sure, but are cheapened by the on-again, off-again flippant attitude and adolescent lapses of the main characters, and by the cheap devices used to generate suspense and thrills. The story's ending is completely foreshadowed and concludes without a single twist, save for the obligatory false deaths.
June 20, 2010 at 9:26 pm
Its Scary, Gory, Gross, And Disgusting.....Everything a horror movie needs if you ask me..
June 21, 2010 at 9:47 am
I have no idea what some of the other people on here are talking about when they say that they found this movie to be original and scary. I am a huge film and theatre lover, and I have to say this is without a doubt one of the WORST films I have seen in theaters in the past 10 years. I happen to favor the horror and suspense genre, but this movie lacked in every category possible. There was NO gore, despite what others have said. (Maybe I have a higher tolerance than others.) The movie was simply a trainwreck from start to finish. If you have seen enough movies in your lifetime, 10 minutes after this movie starts you will be able to predict the ending as I was able to do. The plot made no sense and the acting was painful. I personally feel insulted by the lack of originality and moronic plots that Hollywood has been churning out recently. Someone has to write the script for these movies, and this movie has the feel of a novice writer at best. The information was provided, but nothing was ever really explained. The biggest unanswered question: where did the aliens come from??? I had no sympathy for the characters, ESPECIALLY the female lead, and was actually hoping they would die at some point. All of the supposed scary parts received nothing but uproarious laughter at my movie theater. This movie literally is a joke. The most disturbing parts about this movie are the sex scenes (yet again, another obligatory move by Hollywood).
SPOILER ALERT: See if you can follow me on how asinine and disgusting this is - Elsa puts her DNA into the female alien thereby making it like her child. Clive, who is Elsa's boyfriend, later has sex with the alien, ie. his girlfriend's daughter. The alien turns into a man and rapes Elsa, his mother, with his deadly stinger that oddly never kills her, but instead (here comes the "original" part) impregnates her. So I guess now she's off to have a bunch of jacked-up hillbilly alien/human babies. Now go ahead. Laugh and throw up. I hope to goodness that there isn't a sequel. If there is, you will surely be hearing more from me.
June 22, 2010 at 2:15 am
Hands down the funniest thing since "the hangover". If you folks want disturbing just turn on the news or better yet watch "hard candy" now that is disturbing. Splice followed its premise very closely with "what's the worst that could happen" the phrase was repeated 3 times. Our italian friend ran with the idea and gave us yet another gem of a cult classic much like "Cube".
-kuddos
June 23, 2010 at 7:00 am
@Eva
Oh Dear, For a huge film and theater lover you missed the entire plot of the movie. First of all the are NO ALIENS. The "ALIENS" that you refer to were created in the lab by Clive and Elsa through genetic experiments. Not alien, but rather genetically created lab creatures. They (Fred and Ginger) were created from a combination of different animal species. The idea of this movie is to make you think about human cloning and genetic research for scientific cures of disease...ie, stem cells. Clive and Elsa go too far by mixing human DNA.
DREN is the result of mixing human DNA with various animal DNA (NOT ALIENS). Therefore you can stop wondering where the aliens came from. Hope you can rest a little better now that the "big unanswered question" has been answered lol.
Oh, and I loved the movie. I'm not creeped out by any of it. I think genetic research needs to be pushed and I'd bet all the money in the world that stuff is going on in labs that we can't even fathom...well, maybe we can since a movie was made about "stuff" like that lol. Ok, sex with a chicken-girl thingy was a little creepy, but were we really shocked? Wrong yes, but shocked no.