Splice

Splice Directed by Vincenzo Natali, starring Adrian Brody, Sarah Polley

I could'nt watch this movie without thinking of Frankenstein or the Bride of Frankenstein. The two main characters are named Clive and Elsa after the actors who portrayed Dr. Frankenstein ( Colin Clive) and The Bride ( Elsa Lanchester). Clive and Elsa are genetic scientists who are very much in love with their work and each other. But Elsa insists she's not ready for a baby of their own quite yet.
The two researchers are in the middle of an important experiment that could better mankind, when they get sidetracked by their own curiosity of bringing a hybrid creation of bird, reptile, fish and human to term in their mechanical womb.
Elsa immediately becomes a mother like figure to Dren as the hybrid creature is affectionately named. Clive on the other hand, being the professional scientist , considering the ethics involved wants to terminate the experiment.

Dren is a fast learner, and her body is aging at an accelerated speed. The researchers decide to study her, since they believe she will die shortly of old age anyways.

Things change for the worse, when Dren becomes violent and attacks Elsa. Fearing for her life Elsa maims Dren by removing her defensive weapon from her tail. Clive now on the other side of the coin is becoming attracted to the test tube babe. After putting a record on the turntable and inviting Dren to dance with him. This scene also reminded me of the part from Bride of Frankenstein when the monster hears the music of the blind beggers violin for the first time.

Things turn awkward for everyone involved when Clive becomes "Too Close" to their offspring.
The two lead actors bring credibility to this other wise low budget film. But the acting of Adrian Brody( King Kong) and Sarah Polley ( Zach Snider's Dawn of the Dead)is right on and very convincing for the situation they bring onto themselves.

The film basically consists of three settings to tell this modernization of the Frankenstein story. The laboratory, an interior of a barn and the couples apartment. But all is used to good effect, I beleive the budget was around twenty million dollars if I remember correctly. That is big money for a Canadian production, but is peanuts for a Hollywood production. But it dosn't matter , it looks nice and polished, low budget or not.

I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who has'nt seen Splice , but as we all know , you don't want to fuck with Mother nature.

My thoughts: This was a very entertaining movie with a simple story of two people playing God. The acting is top notch by all involved. The special effects was done quite well and didn't take me out of the world Director Vincenzo Natali was trying to create.There were many scenes of the struggle with ethics and moral issues between the two main characters. There was one WTF moments when Clive decides to do the old in/out with Dren.

My Rating : 3.5 Go Go Girls oout of 5