Splice

Fascinating and exciting yet disturbing and potentially upsetting.

I love the character of Dren, which is nerd spelt backwards. I loved the relationship between her and her putative parents: Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley.

It doesn't go the complete distance, but this is a wholly admirable, refreshingly grown-up science-fiction movie: a Frankenstein with a beating, gene-spliced heart and top-of-the-range performances.

This Cronenbergian exploration of the perils of inter-species gene-splicing wrestles with some topical and disturbing ideas, but never quite pins them down.

It's refreshing to see a genre movie that credits its audience with a bit of intelligence, and Splice has got a lot going on under the bonnet.

I cannot recommend Splice because while the concept is genuinely disturbing, it is mostly poorly executed so you may only get a hot fifteen minutes, and I am being generous, of visceral horror.

Gets points for being bizarre and incorporating evocative body-horror elements, though the story itself doesn't offer up anything substantial.

In concept alone, not to mention the first exciting half-hour, the film promises greatness before failing to live up to those promises with a second half that feels emotionally disengaged and a finale that’s rushed.

Splice invents new nightmares with Dren. [Full review in Spanish]