SPLICE: Some Folks Really Get Into Their Work...Literally

SPLICE (Blu-ray)

2009 / 104 min.

Warner Bros

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Vincenzo Natali’s weird, wild and slightly pervy variation of the Frankenstein concept is the closest the he ever came to directing a film as great as his first, 1997’s Cube. Even then, Splice runs a very distant second. It's interesting and sometimes a lot of fun, but often wavers between darkly provocative and unintentionally funny.

Elsa and Clive (Sarah Polley and Adrian Brody) are a couple engaged in cutting-edge gene splicing experiments, combining the DNA of different animals to create new species. The company they work for - Nucleic Exchange Research and Development (N.E.R.D….ha-ha) - sees profit potential in their work. But these two have loftier ideas, namely splicing together human and animal DNA, which Elsa initiates even though she’s directed not to. Despite the moral and legal implications, Clive reluctantly assists her.

The experiment results in a rapidly growing humanoid creature, which Elsa names Dren (Delphine Chanéac). Once they can no longer keep her hidden at the lab, they move Dren to Elsa’s old family farmhouse, keeping her in the barn. Already pretty unlikable from the get-go, Elsa develops maternal instincts, but they tend to be of the abusive variety. Meanwhile, Dren’s hodge-podge of DNA endows her with a venomous stinger, as well as the ability to breathe underwater and sprout wings at will. She also matures sexually and gets the hots for Clive, and if one erotic/horrifying/chuckleworthy scene, the feeling is mutual. Exacerbated by Elsa’s cruelty and the prisonlike environment, Dren soon becomes dangerous.

"Shake! Oh, wait...sorry."

There’s a lot to like about Splice. It’s a neat premise that creatively borrows from Shelley while incorporating elements of genetics-gone-wrong films like The Fly. The CG and practical special effects used to create Dren are generally pretty impressive, as are the overall performances. On the other hand, the main characters are unsympathetic and generally unpleasant to be around. Elsa, in particular, is almost hilariously self-absorbed. Speaking of humorous, while I appreciate Natali’s efforts to create something a bit edgier than the usual sci-fi/horror hybrid, the sexually charged scenes approach a level of camp that I don’t believe is intentional.

Splice mostly favors sensationalism over themes related to ethical questions raised by genetic tampering, but we won’t hold that against it. As big budget exploitation, there’s some nasty fun to be had here, and depending on the viewer’s frame of mind, a few laughs. As for this writer, I’m still waiting for Natali to live up to the potential he demonstrated with Cube.

This is a re-issue of a Blu-ray first released in 2010.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTE - A Director’s Playground: Vincenzo Natali on the Set of Splice is a good 35 minute behind-the-scenes documentary.