No prizes for guessing the key inspirations for the most intelligent horror movie of the summer. The prominent use of character names Elsa & Clive, the contemporary mad-science that dominates the story and the moment in which leading lady Sarah Polley utters the immortal line “It’s alive” all display co-writer / director Vincenzo Natali’s enjoyment in homaging James Whale’s classic 1930’s FRANKENSTEIN movies. His return to horror, however, owes just as much to the genre oeuvre of David Cronenberg, with its themes of perverted motherhood, warped sexual triangles and emphasis on body mutation…not to mention an evocatively chilly Canadian backdrop. If you wanted a throwaway poster-quote, you might call it the thinking man’s SPECIES.
SPLICE is one of the stronger horror movies of the year, managing that rare feat of being emotionally engaging rather than mindlessly visceral. Natali never comes off as pretentious but is smart enough to freak us out without resort to cheap jump scares or extraneous gore. This approach means that the few gruesome or overtly horrific moments (notably a bloody fight to the death between the specimens “Fred” and “Ginger” at a swanky exhibition) really hit home.
The movie is built around a neat, involving post-cloning riff on the man-playing-God themes of the various interpretations of Frankenstein. Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley are ambitious young scientists at their self-named “N.E.R.D.” facility, where they decide to disregard the wishes of their boss and continue gene-splicing experiments with human DNA, with the ultimate aim of curing various devastating illnesses. The end result of their latest dabbling is a rapidly growing hybrid of animal and human, to which Polley warms to in a maternal fashion while Brody is tortured over the moral dilemma and even calls for the evolving “Dren” (as she is named) to be destroyed.
Polley, always good, is terrific here as one of two complex, often unsympathetic protagonists ; in a bold choice for a mainstream, Oscar-winning actor, (yep, even bolder than his thigh-slapping dual role in GIALLO) Brody is just as good. The one performer you may remember the most, however, is the astonishing Delphine Chaneac in a silent portrayal of the unique Dren – a remarkably sexy, haunting and feral presence that effortlessly (and believably) flits between being erotic, child-like and predatory. Her acting combines with subtle CG and the make-up work of Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero to make this hairless, amphibious, multi-jointed, winged, tailed creation truly memorable.
SPLICE is the best production to date from the erratic Dark Castle and it bravely ventures into dark, boundary-crossing areas for a studio-made horror. One sex scene between a momentarily weak Brody and the seductive Dren (a rare example of inter-species intercourse in the mainstream) is suitably uncomfortable, as is an unsettling rape scene that follows Dren’s change of sex and sets up a telegraphed but potent punch line.
SPLICE is directed with restraint but is thought-provoking, intense when it wants to be, tightly paced and has a rich, wholly effective score by Cyrille Aufort. Largely a three-hander (there’s only half a dozen speaking parts in the whole film) it’s a rare gem in the 2010 genre calendar.
-Steven West
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
