Movie Reviews  |  R  |  View Trailer  |  Jun 4, 2010

The trailers for the upcoming sci-fi horror epic would have you think “Splice” is nothing more than a monster movie with a merciless creature hunts down and kills its creators. While the third act may indeed be a generic creature feature, the first two acts are where “Splice” really shines with originality.

Clive (Adrian Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) are geneticists. They also happen to be married. They’re working on creating a protein that will be beneficial for cattle, keeping them alive longer. The only way this can be achieved is if the two successfully combine different DNA strands together from various species, essentially making a new organism that produces said protein. The new organism is blob-like in structure, docile, and harmless or so they thought.

After the project is shut down due to an accident with the new organism that needs to be seen, because on one hand it’s oddly hilarious, and on the other hand, sort of frightening.

Elsa is crushed that the program has been scrapped, but has a plan to keep it going. Secretively she creates her own species, this time adding human DNA. Isn’t that how these sorts of movies always begin? Adding human DNA to anything is just a flat out bad idea.

As the previews of the movie completely give away, the new species created by Elsa grows and matures into a humanoid, womanly figure. The rest of the film is about posing the philosophical question: Should we, just because we can?

It’s an interesting question to ask when it comes to cloning, and the infinite possibilities that come along with genetics. “Jurassic Park” was another film that posed such a question. Just because we have, or could possibly have the technology, should we use it?

“Splice” isn’t so much a gory horror film filled with blood, guts, and people running around screaming. Rather, it’s a tongue-in-cheek look at the world of genetic science and the possibilities that may face us one day. And when we are faced with those options, how will we react.

Much of the movie is spent with Elsa as she nurtures her new creation, which she names Dren, from her infant stage to adulthood. It is true that the third act sort of ruins the first two acts which were so perfectly constructed trying to answer the philosophical conundrum. The third act is full of all the blood and gore that was absent from most of the movie, satisfying the hardcore horror fanboys that are sure to flock to the movie after the previews shown on TV.

Sadly this movie is being wrongly marketed as a horror movie. I caught it at Sundance this past January knowing nothing about it. I came out pleasantly surprised. Word on the street was this was a creature feature horror film. It only partly is. There’s something here for everyone. Sci-fi fans will love the science, and questions posed, while horror fans will love the blood-filled final act. Whatever your pleasure you may find something in “Splice” that will satisfy your movie-going appetite.