Director: Vincenzo Natali
Starring: Sarah Polley, Adrien Brody & Delphine Chaneac
An entertaining genre piece that is often effective and exploits fear of the unknown quite well though it descends to less satisfying, more typical scares by the finale.
Written and directed by Vincenzo Natali, Splice was originally intended to be the project to follow Natali’s debut, Cube. However, neither the budget nor the technology was available to Natali at the time. Now, 13 years later, Natali finally brings Splice to the big screen to mostly positive reviews. The film, while entertaining, does have some flaws. There are comparisons that can be made to the 1995 Sci-Fi Horror Species, though Splice is frequently more effective, and the ending unfortunately descends into something more generic going for somewhat cheaper, monster movie scares. Splice is still an enjoyable horror film that touches upon some relevant real world fears and ideas.
Clive (Brody) and Else (Polley) are two pioneering genetic engineers who have just succeeded in creating a new life form from splicing the DNA of several Earth species. Wanting to take the research further to include human DNA, they find themselves obstructed by their financiers who wish to avoid the controversy of using human DNA and focus upon exploiting the life form they have developed to produce a new protein that can be sold to aid in medicine. Unwilling to let this stop her, Elsa proceeds with experimenting with human DNA, pressuring Clive into supporting her and the result is a strange new hybrid that Elsa names Dren (Chaneac). Trying to keep their discovery a secret, Else and Clive come into conflict over the ethics of what they have done whilst Clive is ever fearful of how dangerous Dren could become. When they are forced to take Dren out of the lab and hide her on a farm that belonged to Elsa’s mother, they have further troubles as Dren becomes attracted to Clive whilst her rebellious behavior begins to turn Elsa against her, all the while Dren continues to go through more strange and frightening transformations.
Like most horror films, Splice exploits real world, often irrational, fears. In the case of Splice it is fears over science, particularly over the progressions within the field of genetic engineering. Taking two scientists whose ambition is at odds with some moral standards, they end up creating a being that could be exciting but could also be a great threat to themselves and to those around them. There is some interesting drama to be found over the film’s question of ethics as seen in the differing opinions of its lead characters though most favor, conservatively, to support the argument that experimenting with human DNA is wrong. More interesting than the moral dilemma is the creature Dren herself, Dren is an interesting character and creature than bears many human traits and as he grows, she appears to undergo a kind of adolescence which means struggling with many new, often strong, emotions which given some of the character’s more animalistic attribute, notably her tail with poisonous stinger, makes her frightening more out what she may do almost innocently. The teenage rebellion angle on Dren’s behavior also makes her a sympathetic creature too as many of her actions, particularly in response to her treatment by Elsa, are those of a child. Despite some interesting ideas and themes in Splice, there is also a lot that feels derivative of other horrors. The similarities between Splice and Species are sometimes obvious such as the splicing of human DNA with non-human DNA to create a new, female, creature that could be dangerous and a sex scene that is similarly laughable rather than disturbing. The ending of Splice also disappoints as it descends into a generic, run from/fights the monster conclusion with characters picked off too quickly to care.
Leading the cast of Splice is Sarah Polley and Adrien Brody as the two scientists, Elsa and Clive. Polley has the more interesting character and gives the most interesting performance portraying Elsa as a character, not so much oblivious to making ethical decisions, but rather driven by issues of parenting instilled from her relationship with her mother and also her sense of ambition. Polley’s performance portrays Elsa as a character that is sometimes ruthless yet sometimes driven by a need to love something, like a mother, that also makes her sympathetic. Brody gives the more sympathetic performance as the member who is initially against the experiment, but then develops concern for Dren effectively switching places with Polley’s character in relation to their attitude to Dren. In the role of Dren, Delphine Chaneac gives an interesting performance having to convey the character’s emotions, its childlike attitudes through body language rather than be delivering dialogue and does so effectively. The remainder of the cast, Clive’s brothers, Clive and Elsa’s bosses are generally two-dimensional and forgettable.
Overall, Splice is an interesting horror film, more so for the relationships between its three lead characters and the performances of Polley and Chaneac than over some of the scares which, while effective in the first half of the film, become too much like any other monster movie by the finale. An interesting film but one not as original as might be expected.
Rating: 3/5
