10 Canadian Horrors Far More Original Than Those From America
10. Splice
Vincenzo Natali is hardly the first filmmaker to attempt a version of Frankenstein with contemporary settings and thematic resonances. In the post-War era Boris Karloff finally got to play the actual title character in the nuclear themed Frankenstein 1970 (back when 1970 was an excited unrealised future). That, and films like it, were low budget quickies, though. Natali's fourth feature Splice is far more ambitious, telling its own story that references the original sci-fi horror by Mary Shelley and its Universal film adaptations, rather than trying too hard to follow them. Natali's mad scientists are geeky-cool geneticists Clive and Elsa (named for Karloff's Bride of Frankenstein co-stars Colin Clive - Frankenstein - and Elsa Lanchester - the Bride). After their miracle breeding pair of gross slug-worm type creatures, spliced with the DNA of multiple creatures, end up violently killing each other, Clive and Elsa withdraw from the 21st century surroundings of the genetics lab to the more traditionally Gothic setting of an abandoned isolated barn. Having already created one all new life form, these modern Frankensteins continue to play god and develop a genetically spliced humanoid, which later transpires to have utilised Elsa's DNA. This creature, that they name Dren, is hidden and raised in the barn, but soon becomes too much for its unprepared parents to handle. Natali's movie engages with the morality of creating an entirely new life form and with the impossibility of predicting how this will turn out. Dren grows at a rapid rate and develops traits that allow for survival in a confusing world, spouting amphibious abilities in one scene and a tail with a poison stinger in another. However, he also nails the complex interpersonal relationships that grow or fragment between the couple and their "offspring". From design to performance, Dren is a brilliant creation, at once human enough to inspire a protective urge and yet freakish enough to be disturbing. Like Karloff's monster, Dren's curiosity could be as damaging as rage. Realised through a combination of CGI, practical effects and physical performance from French model Delphine Chaneac, Dren is one of the best thought out creatures in recent horror. Even if the rest of the movie runs out of steam after around an hour, it still remains the most intriguing modern take on the Frankenstein motif.
