Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Good start, but then it gets ruined

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Not as sexy as "Species". In fact I really didn't find the hairless human hybrid, even when naked, sexy at all. A couple splices genes and creates a new species of globs they call Fred and Ginger. The globs are created to produce proteins etc. to enhance animal livestock. The inventive couple discovers they could splice human DNA and create a new species in order to cure human genetic diseases. The corporation forbids them from such an experiment so they go underground to do it. The woman, Elsa (Sarah Polly, slightly mentally unstable) uses her own DNA to create a creature which in the interest of time develops very rapidly. The infant looks like something out of Lynch's "Eraserhead". Eventually they have to move the human hybrid to a farm where it is cared for by Elsa and her boyfriend Clive (Adrian Brody).The movie is intellectually interesting, but at the same time has poor characters. I thought I was going to adore this movie from reading the box, but alas, I did not as the stupidity of the characters got in the way.The F-bomb is dropped a few times. Human hybrid nudity and sex including one rape.Worth a view, if you keep your expectations low.

As hinted at via the lead characters' names (inspired by Colin CLIVE and ELSA Lanchester), "Splice" is basically just a 21st century update of the legendary "Frankenstein" tale. It's about scientists playing God and attempting to create new life without thinking about the possible consequences. The difference is of course that science and laboratories have evolved quite tremendously since Mary Shelley invented the immortal premise, and thus Boris Karloff's corpse has been replaced by microscopic bits of DNA and the resurrection process via lighting & thunderstorms has been replaced with a complicated splicing process that I don't even bother to understand. Call me old-fashioned, but this advanced and pseudo-intellectual kind of Sci-Fi is quite unappealing, pretentious and mostly boring. Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley – their mediocre performances are undoubtedly still the best thing about the whole film – form a brilliant couple of scientists specialized in DNA research. For their employer, a massive pharmaceutical company called N.E.R.D (ha ha!), they are supposed to mix and merge DNA from various animal species and create a brand new organism. They do this quite successfully; with the creation of a pair of blobby critters they name Fred and Ginger, But Elsa wants to go even further. She persuades Clive to continue their experiments and even add human DNA into the cocktail, with as result the "birth" of a humanoid that looks like a rodent with amphibious lungs and a split forehead. Dren, as they name her, rapidly grows into a curious female and it soon becomes very difficult to keep her under control and hidden for the outside world. In spite of the intellectual and relevant subject matter, "Splice" is a surprisingly dumb and highly implausible film. The first half is still absorbing and eventful, with a disastrous press conference as gory highlight, but then it suddenly turns into a stupid, tedious and inconceivable mess. I fail to believe that a vivid and boisterous creature like Dren can possibly be kept hidden in the basement of a mastodon company without being noticed, and that's just the least annoying thing of everything that doesn't make sense! The script suddenly comes up with a sub plot about Elsa's troubled childhood, but that remains vague and random. The couple also constantly changes their minds and roles. At first Clive is reluctant and wants to destroy Dren while Elsa treats her lovingly like she nurtured it in her own womb. Later on, however, it's Clive who protects Dren from Elsa who wants to kill it with a shovel. Make up your damn minds! If all this isn't laughable enough yet, Clive naturally also copulates with his hamster-faced abomination. Pretty much like Dren herself, "Splice" is quite an abomination and I can't say I'm too surprised because even his more acclaimed movies "Cube" and "Cypher" were terribly overrated.

I've just watched 'Splice' for the second time. The first time I saw it, I hired it on DVD. After that viewing, I bought it and have now seen it again. So, basically, I do think it's a good enough film to watch more than once. However, now I've decided to write a review, no sooner have I logged on to see what other people thought, did I read another review's title saying something like, 'Good beginning, not so good end.' That pretty much sums up my thoughts on the film.I enjoyed the first two thirds, but I didn't feel that it fell apart towards the end. I would definitely say that it's worth watching for the most part. Adrian Broody and Sarah Polley play a couple of scientists who create a creature in a lab, but, in the tradition of all mad scientists, they take things a little too far. In this case they even take their creation home with them and it grows into quite an interesting beast.You can probably guess that their new 'addition' to their family is hardly a glowing success (otherwise it would be a pretty dull film!), so I won't say too much. It's a sort of sci-fi/horror film that does its best to throw in a few moral dilemmas that scientists have to face when it comes to how far they take their work in the lab.What makes it worth watching are the two leads. In what could have been just another B-movie the cast elevates it to something a little more. They have good chemistry and their acting talent certainly makes the script better than your average slasher flick. Then you have the creature itself. Yes, for its infancy it is computer generated. And you probably would be forgiven for thinking that the effects might look a bit ropey. Actually, they're pretty good. And, once the creature is fully-grown it gets replaced by a live actor (in make-up) who is equally as 'interesting' (for use of a better word) to look at.Like I say, 'Splice' has a lot going for it. The first two thirds are up there with the best of them when it comes to creepy horror. The final act does tend to degenerate into something a little more clichéd that doesn't do the build-up justice. But the first two thirds were good enough for me to invest in the film. And I'll probably watch it a few more times, too.

(Note: I'm feeling lazy and its 3 AM so I'm just gonna repost my thoughts from the message board.) This film is, well it's a sci-fi psychological/body horror drama film with heavy ("beating you over the head with it" some of the more critical might say) Freudian overtones and a "playing God" storyline. But it feels like a Cronenberg film to me in subject matter.Sarah Polley is very good in it. (I wish she'd act in more films) and Adrian Brody also puts in a good performance.The CGI is quite good. By mainstream cinema standards, it's a very weird film. For that reason I wouldn't recommend the film to just Joe Six Pack down the block. It's also best watched alone...because a few scenes would just be really awkward to watch with other people.