Perfect cast and a good story

I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Don't listen to the negative reviews

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It starts saying its set in 2008 and Global Warming has flooded London. Well needless to say one more movie where the global warming cult got it wrong. The movie has a certain charm especially if you like shoot em up movies. Just remember to get a bigger f**king gun when you go hunting the almost indestructible mutant monster.

Rutger Hauer plays a slightly psychotic cop in a futuristic London facing a supernatural threat. Awesome snappy dialogue and great acting makes this b-grade sci-fi rise above a lot of big budget a-grade movies. The setting for this movie is very dark similar to Blade Runner and Rutger Hauer delivers another great performance. A few interesting actors in this movie that you will recognise from well-known British movies and American series. After Blade Runner and Lady Hawk this is my favourite Rutger Hauer movie, and one of my favourite sci-fi horrors.This movie has everything to be a true cult movie and Rutger Hauer must be the most under rated actor. Watch this movie and enjoy it.

I remember Split Second being a rather popular rental title in the early 90s and everyone seemed to have seen it but me. Even the reviews I read at the time were generally favorable despite the dubious plot synopsis. Now, all this time later when I had all but completely forgotten that the movie even exists, I gave it a go. It's not good.Set in a future 2008 London this is not a city permanently haloed by TV choppers circling the HSBC building capturing footage to illustrate the recent banking crisis to half-witted viewers. No, this is a gloomier alternate London that has no financial district and has been flooded by global warming and torrential rain. Rats thrive in the shadows, decay and despair have stained every backdrop, and a serial killer is stalking the streets. Tough cop Harley Stone (Rutger Hauer, slumming it as usual) has a vendetta with said killer after the death of his partner but uses a new-found psychic connection to his advantage. His new, goofball partner immerses himself in occult research and tries to deliver expository dialogue on the nature of the killer but it's all a load of codswallop. Split Second tries to present itself as a low-budget hybrid of Blade Runner and Predator 2 but instead is more like Friday the 13th crossed with Alien. The final "reveal" of the killer is very disappointing and makes no sense whatsoever. Not only does it look like it was made out of bin liners and paste but its physicality does not fit with anything that it has done throughout the movie. And why is it wearing a helmet? Even the tagline makes no sense. "He's seen the future and now he has to kill it." Say what???The filmmakers have no clue what this thing is supposed to be. Extra terrestrial? Mutant? Demon? Devil? All of the above and none of the above? It's never defined, it doesn't add up. They chuck a smearing of hokum into the exposition hoping that some of it will work but it simply doesn't. Fast and Furious creator Gary Scott Thompson is the man behind the script but it's obvious that London was not the original location (perhaps New York as it is liable to flooding in the future) and has merely but cut- and-pasted despite localisation issues (UK cops are not armed with guns).The movie has some satisfyingly rough edges, particularly in the overlit and grainy cinematography that will remind of other British horror films of the same vintage such as Hellraiser or Paperhouse. Kim Cattrall shows us her pleasing breasts a few times, and the cheap synth score (by no one you've ever heard of) fits the grimy atmosphere. There are a couple of nice aerial shots of a London long gone but that's it for establishing the location. Since the climax was helmed by a completely different director I can't shake the notion that there was some behind-the-scenes trouble. The ending is so disappointing and rushed but I was still sort of glad that it was over. Split Second squanders the potential of the setting and theme and is never all it could be.

I'm going to say now that I enjoyed 'Split Second.' Partly because, as I alluded to in the title, it's an underrated B-movie, but also because I saw it as a child and I am looking at it with a deep sense of nostalgia. It's probably not as good as I say it is! Back in 1992 pretty much all B-movies/monster-munching fun was set in America, so the sight of London flooded in 2008 (hey – it was a long time in the future when I first saw this!) was quite a novelty, let alone a beastie who runs around ripping people's hearts out and leaving them for the police, or at least one particular police officer – Rutger Hauer. He got attacked by the killer a while back and, even since then, has been experiencing visions and is psychically-connected to it.Now, the monster is in London and Rutger – while totally hooked on coffee, chocolate and pretty much anything else that's bad for you (except alcohol – he quit that!) teams up with squeaky-clean copper called 'Dick Durkin' (*snigger*). Therefore you kind of have a 'buddy cop' movie with the end of the world at stake.You may notice my slight titter of laughter at the character name 'Dick Durkin.' I don't feel too immature for that reaction, as the film is kind of tongue-in-cheek and knows that it's hardly on a par with Shakespeare. It's a B-movie. Therefore, don't expect much in the way of a budget. And, when I say 'budget' I basically mean the monster itself. You don't really see it all the way through, so if that bothers you this might not be your cup of tea (or coffee in Rutger's case). Plus the other downside is the script itself. It really does let the whole thing down. The atmosphere is great – dark and foreboding and the characters are fun, making the film good. It's only some of the lines which sound as if they've been written by a work experience kid that let the whole thing down. That and the lack of visual sight of the monster, obviously.If you've see Split Second before then you'll probably be happy to give it another go. If you haven't and you're into B-movies, then make sure you're in a forgiving mood and don't expect too much in the way of special effects and you mind just find it an undiscovered little gem.