Thanks for Four Years of Awesome
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Blogged Around Philly: Farewell Edition
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Forget it, we can't even pretend to stand on formality for our review of Splice. So here's our straight-up, no bull-shit assessment of the creeptastic thriller: This shit is BANANAS.
Director Vincenzo Natali was at our screening and we had a chance to ask his thoughts on the horror as a tool for social commentary. Natali lit up at our question, answering that horror is more equipped than any other genre to handle social commentary. From the original Frankenstein to alien invasion flicks of the Cold War era to Splice here and now, horror can most clearly mirror the fears of an era. Splice rolls your "Could this really happen?" fear of genetic manipulation into the standard horror rules cited in Wes Craven's Scream to create a Frankenstein of modern proportions.
Dren (that's "nerd" backwards) is a stunning monster with double-hinged bird legs, a tail (with poisoned stinger), a scarred skull and a strange beauty (French actress, go figure), created by bio-science power couple Sarah Polley and Adrien Brody. "What's the worst that could happen?" is the perennial question as the two push the bounds of gene-splicing to the point of "what the fuck?" The most terrifying aspect might just be the complete lack of self-restraint shown by the two human leads. Each time you think, "they can't possibly continue on with this"—they do. Their ill-advised experiment (not to mention their out-of-control egos) rapidly consume the pair.
With slick cinematography, well thought-out sets, and fantastic creature design, we'll forgive Brody and Polley for not exactly acting their best. Delphine Chanéac, on the other hand, is exquisite as the mute Dren, expressing everything through her face and body movement.
Our verdict: We're not sure it's a "good film" but Splice certainly is technically well-executed. Plot-wise, and visually as well, it's exactly as outrageous as it should be (Warning: even if you have a strong squirm tolerance, you're still in for two of the most uncomfortable sex scenes we've seen). Despite some flaws, Natali's got something here. Something twisted and creepy and fantastically disturbing. Certainly worth a watch if you're a horror connoisseur, but perhaps not suggested those film-goers with an inability to separate reality from crazy.
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