Cinema: Don’t bother getting a Splice of this action

Jul 23 2010 Liverpool Daily Post

SPLICE (15)Rating: ll

DIRECTOR Vicenzo Natali considers the horrific consequences of mankind's meddling in his stylish thriller, co-written by Antoinette Terry Bryant and Doug Taylor.

Splice opens with a birthing sequence from the point of view of a newborn, emerging from its mother’s womb. The umbilical cord is cut and doctors Clive Nicoli (Adrien Brody) and Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley) stare down proudly at the new delivery.

But the infant in the crib isn’t human. Clive and Elsa have been splicing DNA from different animals to create new hybrids, whose complex genetic structure could provide numerous medical breakthroughs.

The next step is to introduce human DNA, but medical ethics forbid it. However, the couple risk their careers by creating a human animal hybrid.

While Splice’s strong opening hour has echoes of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the lacklustre finale will be disappointingly familiar to fans of low-budget monster movies.