Closer to God

"This is just the beginning, isn't it ? …."

This being a kind of modern version of "Frankenstein", is the least you can say. Even the name of the doctor in question is identical with that of Frankenstein. The only difference with the classic movie is that new life isn't created by sewing together human body parts, but by making use of modern day technology. Cloning a human being is the central topic in this low-budget sci-fi horror. Don't expect an alien looking creature as in "Splice". This cloned human being looks perfectly normal and healthy.

It's not extremely creepy and intense at all. It's the aspect of cloning and the controversy arising on this subject which are developed the most. The fuss, the media attention and the protest groups who are opposed to these practices and consider this more as a blasphemy than scientific progress, demand the most attention. The angry mob at the immense gate of Dr. Reed's residence, is more terrifying than the additional secret that Victor is hiding on his domain. The movie fades from hight-tech SF to social drama. And ultimately it ends as a kind of psychopathic slasher. At first this surprises you, but eventually it looks rather routinely and not really innovative.

What remains is a not so original low-budget monster story, embellished with high-tech-looking situations. A highly motivated geneticist who puts more energy into his work than in his family life, resulting in a wife who feels abandoned. The secret that painstakingly is separated from the outside world, is hidden from sight for a considerable time or displayed as a hazy shape in the background. It felt like an attempt to keep the suspense alive and postpone the disclosure as long as possible.

Perhaps there should be restrictions and guidelines when it comes to cloning, so that we don't end up with an uncontrollable process where superior specimen are being created. Or an illegal trade is being initiated, producing organs on demand. That a religious aspect also comes with it, is quite evident. Though it's more of a dogmatic religious plea that no one should acquire the authority to create something. God has the exclusive rights for that, so they say. But then one must be able to admit that there are also advantages. Improving the quality of human life and removing those terrible diseases from the world. And there are also disadvantages. What to do with the failures ? And who's going to pass judgment on that matter ? This diversity of views is the heart and essence of this rather modest SF horror story.

The whole movie feels like a creation out of the 70's. The decor and presentation, the style of interactions, the overall atmosphere and the meager horror elements. Eventually, it all feels like a typical movie that you can see on Syfy. In the 80s it would fit in between "The Entity" and "Critters" during a VHS marathon at the weekend. The only similarity between Jeremy Childs and the Frankenstein monster, is his imposing stature. A walking wardrobe with a facial expression that shows no emotion. Not even while handling the cloned baby. It's all done on automatic pilot without much feelings. The subject of this movie and the reaction of the community comes across as being weighty. However, the film on itself, is nothing but a lightweight.

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Closer to God is a modern revamp of Frankenstein, and it somewhat straddles the genres of science-fiction and horror, or at least tries to. While there's a large attempt of things that seem scientific, I really feel like that area was so underdeveloped that I just didn't find that at all convincing, even for suspending disbelief for the purposes of a film. It's what comes of a film trying to make some pretty broad claims about science without really exploring or addressing them. The horror film aspect of it has its moments, and while I think it did a very good job of building up tension, it really seemed to fall apart when it came time to cash in on that by being a bit blunt about it, after doing a fairly good job of building up the unease and mystery.

There certainly are some other interesting questions that are at least mentioned about what represents humanity and how cloning factors in, and it acknowledges a lot of issues with the ethics, philosophy, and spirituality of cloning, but it doesn't really explore or discuss those issues much. It opens the door to them, and I do give it some credit for not pushing a particular answer to those questions, but I feel like more could have been fleshed out with them.

An overall slow pacing, I think it could've been made up for with stronger points, both conceptually and thematically, instead it fizzles out a bit at the end.

It's quite a shame, that such a good story was rushed and unfinished.

At the start of the movie, you're thrown into this expecting a random jump scare at any moment, because this is a horror movie, apparently.

The story was amazing and original, but quite a shame it was really rushed. The movie felt too short, in the way that the ending felt rushed, but got the story across within the designated time-frame. The acting was amazing, they really added to the dark atmosphere of the whole movie, and your left on watch, because of that.

Not really that scary, but i admit. I went "NOPE, NOPE, NOPE" at a certain scene.

An interesting story, that is not really a "horror", but some kind of deep dark atmosphere type of movie. If you like this sort of creepy, morbid, dark, satanic type of film, than its worth a watch, i guess?

Certainly not a drama, & not very sci-fi either, but kinda uses that idea as a vehicle for a good horror story. Got a taste of an ethical social controversy holding the story together, adding some complexity of flavors, almost like 2 stories in 1. But it's a full-on horror in my horror lover's opinion.

Seems old-school as nothing annoyed me like all the actors looking alike, borrowing ideas that have been done, bad audio or lighting. No visuals really, but the way it's pieced together is masterful, especially for the mixture of components. The bread trail of clues are perfectly timed. And it's pretty original.

Definitely not something children should see, or probably even those overly sensitive to cloning or abortion issues. For the rest of us though, enjoy!

Not sure what the 'bad production' 'low budget' comments are about. I thought it was a well shot, well acted movie, an interesting premise, overall a solid 7...

I always enjoy a movie that has some social commentary, and this one seems to give a few viewpoints and some believable depictions of human behavior.