Splice

Lol... Seriously, what did I just watch?? I can't decide if this movie is brilliant, cheezy, profound, juvenile, disgusting or the biggest turn-on since "I Spit On Your Grave". I'm not sure if you'll love or hate this flick, but if you will definitely NOT forget it.

As you can guess from the movie posters, the story is about an artificially-engineered humanoid who's pretty hot. Let your imagination take it from there. What makes this story so memorable is that the writers aren't afraid to take it wherever it needs to go. And then some. Like if you thought "Species" was perverse, it looks like "The Flying Nun" compared to this.

Just to throw some words out there: incest, bestiality, rape, science, incest. And yes, I know I said it twice.

I found myself, in the depths of my twisted mind, thinking "woah, wouldn't it be crazy if (such and such) happens..." and sure enough it does, only to be followed by "oh but they wouldn't dare let (such and such) happen..." and sure enough it does again. Normally I would say predictability is a flaw, but in this case it's thrilling. The whole experience is like a voyeuristic romp, testing the limits of how screwed-up the writers' (and your own) imagination can get. The point being, I'm sure, to show just how morally wrong it is for scientists to engage in vivisection & the creation of life. This is like Frankenstein on steroids.

Like seriously, my hippie brethren, put down your picket signs and just show this movie on street corners... You'll see an end to vivisection overnight.

Parts of this story seemed ridiculous & comic booky, but just when I'm about to write it off as childish tosh it introduces some incredibly complex themes like a Greek play. You think Oedipus had problems? Hahaha Oedipus never saw SPLICE. It would make him go crying to his momma.

The more I think of it, I think this film is brilliant. Much like "Starship Troopers" was a deep socio-political satire disguised as a campy action flick, I think SPLICE gives us a techno-moral satire disguised as a thriller. But like I said, I have no clue if this is masterpiece material or just plain cheese. Most likely the filmmakers deliberately used elements of both.

If you like scifi satires like "Starship Troopers", "District 9", or scifi morality plays about the creation of new lifeforms as in "Solaris", "Moon", "Alien Resurrection", or the one that started them all, "Frankenstein" (2004 miniseries, the best version), maybe with a bit of "Species" eroticism & "Rosemary's Baby" & "The Omen" & "Mommy Dearest" & "Flowers in the Attic" thrown in, then this is for you. I think...

By the way, y'ever notice how aliens & evolved humanoids always look just like Bjork? Just sayin...

Three fourths of these reviews hate the movie and whine about the idiot decisions of the scientists. Well of COURSE they made idiotic decisions! Where's the film if they made perfectly sane decisions? What kind of film is that?

I actually thought the film was effing brilliant. I think it took a familiar premise and retooled it. The performances of Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley were exemplary, as always. I saw it for Sarah Polley as she is one of my favorite actors and one of the most underrated ones out there today. The actress that played Dren was also strong and had the perfect mix of human, alien, and innocence.

The film addresses many scientific issues, but does so with a moral and emotional center. I like that the film doesn't pull punches and I like that there are consequences for the actions of the scientists. I thought the complex relationship of the couple and their creation was skillfully rendered and and excellently acted.

Was it flawed? Sure. But it was also really kick ass and I'd see it again in a heartbeat.

If you want your horror sci-fi movies neat and tidy and pedestrian this probably isn't for you.

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

James Whale's 1931 adaptation of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" was one of the earliest films to chronicle man's quest (via science and nature, and in notably strict defiance of God) to literally create life by transgressing human reproduction; granted, the result was the hideous, hulking visage of Boris Karloff, but one couldn't help but be in awe of the sheer gumption of Victor Frankenstein and his accomplices. Roman Polanski evolved this idea (via adaptation of Ira Levin's novel) in "Rosemary's Baby," which took the notion of creating something truly awful (the son of Satan) and using it as a metaphor for a woman's self-destruction and paranoia during pregnancy. Larry Cohen's "It's Alive" took contemporary paranoias of a carcinogen-engulfed atmosphere and nuclear proliferation and applied it to his own murderous, bloodthirsty infant. And rounding out this prolific bunch is David Lynch's "Eraserhead," a hauntingly surreal horror film that not only presents parenthood with fearful uncertainty, but treats acts of sexuality and procreation with a metaphorically clinical (but never explicit) disgust.

Vincenzo Natali's "Splice" falls somewhere within this noteworthy pantheon of mad science, moral/ethical conundrums, and icky special effects. Many have already drawn comparisons (both positive and negative) to the early, mutation-informed works of Canadian auteur David Cronenberg, but Natali is just as interested in exploring the questions under the surface as he is showing an astutely creative visual eye. For a while, the film plays like something closer to an art-house feature (especially given the presence of character actors like Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley) with intriguing ideas and a solid FX budget. There are missteps along the way, but for the most part, this is a solid little sleeper.

Clive (Brody) and Elsa (Polley) are young scientists who have made a breakthrough in artificial life: two blob-like creatures (one male, one female) with the ability to manufacture an artificial protein for the purpose of nourishing livestock. In typical, business-first fashion, their corporate overlords marvel at the notion of mass-manufacturing it, and promptly reject Elsa's proposition of human experimentation (to cure genetic disorders). Driven by curiosity, the duo wind up creating Dren (Delphine Chaneac), a creature whose accelerated life cycle prompts the creepily maternal Elsa to keep her as part of a more personal "experiment." "Splice" contains subtle, well-played allusions to bad childhoods, long-term psychoses, and the shifting roles of parents in the eyes of children (Clive starts off as vehemently oppositional; later, he becomes a reluctant accomplice who ultimately develops a bizarre affection for the creation), not to mention the tension between parents amid the child-rearing process; watching this trio interact supplies most of the film's compelling, hypnotic moments. This deliberate pace and focus on character may prove off-putting to horror fans sold on the ADHD weirdness of the trailer, but those with open minds will find much to gorge themselves on.

Despite all the admirably creative spins on familiar concepts, Natali (or perhaps the producers, action aficionado Joel Silver being one) run out of fresh material by the climax, which takes chase clichés and overdone monster effects down a road that exists solely to patch up some character arcs and drum up excitement in a blandly conventional way. That being said, the first 3/4 of "Splice" is such a surprisingly effective slow burn of suspense and dread (culled from universal hopes and fears), played out by actors who know the fine line between camp and creep, that its later machinations are pretty easy to forgive.

6.5 out of 10

The cinematography is good, the CGI is good enough to believe in the story, the acting is also good.

But in the end, I didn't like much the story. Simple as that. Is not that the characters make stupid decisions, like I've read in other reviews, the characters make cense, but I just didn't like them and didn't care about them.

It's definitely not a bad movie.