Greetings fellow movie goers from around the globe. Halloween Month is nearly over. I’ve been posting selective horror movies during October. Today’s review will mark the final review of October 2021 before Awards Season commence on November to March 2022. I gotta set my priorities straight for upcoming movies that may or may not be Oscar contenders. I’m currently busy replaying the video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order as a sign to prepare for the upcoming Disney Plus series, “The Book Of Boba Fett.” Before Halloween Month is over, I want to introduce some of you movie goers about a criminally underrated horror movie titled, “Splice.” The story is about two scientists illegally create a human-hybrid in order to push scientific boundaries as the next step in humanity. As the creature grows, things go horribly wrong.
Splice was premiered in 2009 (same year Watchmen came out) at “The Sitges Film Festival” and released worldwide in 2010. It received positive reviews from critics and movie goers alike. Despite good reception, the film failed to break-even at the box office. Overtime, Splice gained a cult following.
Adrien Brody’s latest movie with Wes Anderson known as “The French Dispatch” is currently out in theaters. Electronic Arts (EA for short) is currently working on a remake of “Dead Space” scheduled to come out in late 2022. One more thing, Guillermo Del Toro’s upcoming film “Nightmare Alley” starring Bradley Cooper & Cate Blanchett, will be released during Christmas Month.
Today’s review contains no SPOILERS. I’ll give some of you a chance to see Splice. Is it an underrated masterpiece? Let’s find out shall we?
Healthy & Unhealthy Aspects
Healthy: Adrien Brody & Sara Polley both did a decent job for their respective performances.
Vincenzo Natali (Cube) did a great job directing the film. He also wrote the script.
Guillermo Del Toro & Joel Silver served as executive producers.
Cinematography never suffered from a bad case of technical problems.
Visual Effects brought Dren to life in various ages.
A combination of Prosthetic Makeup and Computer Animation visually translates adult Dren.
Chemistry between Clive, Elsa & Dren serve as the main highlight. As the film progresses, tensions escalate.
Death Scenes can be a bit messy. If you have a weak stomach, bring a barf bag.
Recurring line is “What’s the worse that could happen?” Translation… foreshadowing things yet to come.
The film is influenced by David Cronenberg’s “The Fly” & “Species.”
According to Vincenzo, the inspiration of Dren comes from a photo of a mouse with a human ear growing on the back.
Although labeled as a horror movie, Splice is an unconventional unique take on the genre. Building up the relationship between Clive, Elsa & Dren. What I’m trying to say is in fact, the movie’s structure takes cues from The Fly balancing tragedy and horror together.
We learn about Elsa’s troubled backstory prior to becoming a scientist.
Two slug like creatures Fred & Ginger are named after acting/dance duo Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers.
Dren’s human donor is brought up. Can’t tell you who it is, you’re gonna have to see for yourself.
Primary Themes are Consequence, Experimentation, Curiosity, Parenting & Science. Each theme is handled maturely.
A Plot Twist is revealed. Much better than M. Night Shyamalan’s lackluster twist from “The Happening.”
Without giving too much away, The Ending leaves the viewer to interpret it as I would describe it, “Choose your own path.”
The moral of the story is, if you’re gonna experiment with human DNA splicing animals, consequences will ensue.
Unhealthy: If you’ve already seen Splice, a disgusting shocking moment occurred. I find it utterly repulsive.
The Final Verdict: A-
From my perspective, Splice is an unconventional criminally underrated sci-fi horror masterpiece. A guilty pleasure. I actually enjoyed the movie from start to finish. A significant improvement of Species and its underwhelming sequel. Such a darn shame a sequel is not in the works. As most people say, “This is why we can’t have nice things.” If you’re curious to see Splice, I highly recommend it.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 