Splice

The FX is OK and the uneasiness and thrill is always there but the script is stereotypical, weak and full of holes.

Brundledren! Splice is a tricky picture to evaluate, for its ideas are superb. One could argue that it brings a new petri dish full of meddling scientists facing the consequences of their actions, while conversely it justifiably feels like a Cronenberg knock-off. Psychological discord is in abundance, with its slants on skew-whiff parenting giving the pic a dark fascination, and as unpleasant as the male fantasy angle is, it does hold a morbid interest factor. Yet come the final third the makers let things run away from them, the bonkers dangers of tampering with science giving way to daft…

"Clive" (Adrien Brody) and "Elsa" (Sarah Polley) are a couple of genetic engineers charged by David Hewlett's "Barlow" with discovering an important gene that could lead to huge advances in medical science. Using a mix of human and animal DNA that have varying degrees of success before the evolution of a creature "Dren" (Delphine Chanéac) that develops more human attributes - as well as a tail with a stinger and the ability to grow wings. As we progress through this frankly rather disturbing story, we discover that "Elsa" quite literally has skin in the game as they must both seek to protect…