![]() All of these artists did stunning work that developed my initial ideas into usable designs. Later on I worked with Amro Attia in Toronto and Peter Konig in Berkley CA. ![]() In particular I worked with a New York based artist named Dan Ouellette, who did brilliant work. But there was a point about 10 years ago that it looked like Splice might get made and I was able to hire some artists. Splice at IGN.com IGN: How did you settle on the look of Dren? Natali: The earliest conceptual drawings I did myself. We tried to be subtractive in our design, to pull things away from the human form rather than sticking things on top of it. So from early on the philosophy was always 'less is more'. She is more than a creature, she is a character in the film. But with Dren we tried to scale her down to a human level. The tendency in creature films is to make a creature that is larger than life. ![]() IGN: What early discussions did you have about creature design? Natali: My overriding desire with designing the creatures in Splice was to make them feel believable. And it was such a shocking image that I immediately felt there was a movie in that mouse. Not genetic experiment, but it looked like one. It was a nude mouse (hairless) that looked as though there was human ear growing out of its back. Dren turned male in the end & raped Elsa.IGN: Where did the idea for Dren come from? Vincenzo Natali: I was inspired by a thing called the Vacanti Mouse. At least Trog was a decent underground cave dweller that just kidnapped a kid at the end. What's up? When Clive tried to copulate with the creature, that's when I thought that I'd go back to "Trog" from 1970 with Joan Crawford. Then she goes back to wanting to take care of Dren, then back again toward the end. She starts off wanting to take care of Dren, then after Dren kills the cat, she goes berserk and wants to kill Dren. We no longer have an obligation to the specimen." There is never an explanation.Įlsa does the same thing only in reverse. Near the ending he says "the experiment's over. Clive starts out thinking they need to kill Dren, then waffles back to protecting it. How about we look at how Clive & Elsa erratically changed so quickly without explanation. Natali's film happens to be quite a sizable cut above the rest precisely because it isn't afraid to make an audience uncomfortable. Much to my dismay, I was wrong about my emotional response (not fear) about the film but right about my overall impressions. I'm just saying that, since this has never been tried before on film, it would automatically be considered a bomb by most executives. I'm not at all saying that this was too sick and twisted for the film industry to embrace. I'm pretty sure that this was probably the reason why so many studios could not except this film into their coffers, since it would be dealing with controversially taboo. The sexual tone in this film drove many to squirm as we had to deal with the creature Dren's adolescence and later the gender problem. Many films lack this they are original thought & fearless storytelling. Splice concentrates its effort on doing two things. The two worm-like creatures they originally created has, up until now, given Elsa & Clive scientific clout with ability to secrete these profitable power proteins that could help lead to many world-wide cures for many known diseases. I don't think the screenwriter was really looking here into many morality issues, more than just pushing the envelope of what might be so taboo & warped, it borderlines on heresy.ĭespite a refusal by their company bosses to take the next step in the research project, which might include tampering with human DNA, their secretive ambitions lead them to create a human-animal hybrid by combining human genes with those of the newly created species that has enormous pharmaceutical industry potential. This moral dilemma doesn't necessarily automatically present itself, unless we see the full blown aspects of what creating a new life form from human DNA really represents. The main characters encompass an unlikeable peculiarity by bypassing a normal mindset in morality. The main characters, Elsa (Sarah Polley) & Clive (Adrien Brody), were both likable, yet quite detestable at times. I'll certainly say that he did succeed here. Our director Vincenzo Natali, who may best be known for his eerie sci-fi thriller Cube, had really kept me guessing as to where the film might take you. Take, for instance, the Island of Doctor Moreau & Frankenstein. This supposedly benign creature that was to be somehow genetically engineered, totally fascinated my intellect since I've always been curious about the possibility of certain types of creatures being created brand new in lieu of extremely slim odds. Not knowing what to expect from this film, I was drawn to it at the video store mainly due to the exotic nature of the cover. Splice could have been special but became a bit risque!
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