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SPLICED
 
PLOT
Mary is an awkward teen girl who begins sleepwalking and having disturbing
nightmares. Her parents blame it on her obsession with the horror movies
that flood the local multiplexes. After seeing the latest supernatural
slice 'n' dicer, "The Wisher", Mary's world is turned upside down. She
begins seeing the titular ghoul everywhere she goes and finds that her
own wishes are coming true in a rather gory fashion. No one believes Mary's
claims that the movie is somehow responsible for the "accidents" that
are befalling her family and friends, and it's up to her to find out
what's going on before it's too late.
REVIEW
"Spliced" is the latest effort from Gavin Wilding, the man responsible
for the ultimately disappointing (and not to mention boring) "Christina's
House". That said, I wasn't expecting a whole lot from "Spliced".
Hell, on the surface "Spliced" doesn't look a whole lot different from the
slew of direct-to-video junk that all blurs together after awhile... and
that's even more reason to shy away from it. However, after seeing it,
as much as I wanted to pick apart it's flaws, I can't deny that I was
pleasantly surprised that I truly enjoyed it.
Liane Balaban makes a likeable heroine. In fact, I was pretty amazed that
the cast didn't consist of usual jaded (and overly glamourous) teenagers
trying to act older than they really are. About the only person who seemed
out of place was Drew Lachey (lead singer of 98 Degrees), who more or less
puts in an appearance as the combination heart-throb/love-interest/red-herring.
None of the other performances are stellar, but at least they are in the
realm of being believable and don't descend into stereotypical self-parody.
As for the film-within-the-film concept, let's just say that it serves it's
purpose, no matter how cliche it is. The movie itself isn't afraid to take a
few jabs at the latest fad in slashers and the audience they are being
marketed to. There's one particulary amusing scene where Mary and her
friends arrive at the movie theater to catch "The Wisher" and find that it's
so popular that it's playing on four screens... while "Halloween: Ressurection"
is only featured on one. The scenes shown from "The Wisher" seem pretty
typical and could almost be a clip from a real movie. The villian from the
movie is actually quite eerie, looking like a cross between Freddy Krueger
(shards of glass are attached to his fingers instead of knives) and the
creature from "Jeepers Creepers".
The same "blurring-the-line-between-fantasy-and-reality" angle that makes
"Spliced" interesting also turns out to be it's biggest mistake. I was kept
guessing whether "The Wisher" is real, if it's all in Mary's head, or if
someone she knows is responsible. I was also wondering what kind of
cross-breed of slasher this movie was. Not bad things to have racing through
your mind, as it helped fuel enough suspense to make it through to the end.
Where "Spliced" drops the ball is it's resolution, which seems to be a
wishy-washy response to the prior theatrics... I guess it could be construed
as being a cop-out, or to put it bluntly, a condemnation of the very types
of movies that this movie is.
Aside from the plotting and characters, the movie itself doesn't look bad.
It's obvious that someone spent some time on, despite being muddled in the
story department. There are quite a few thrilling moments and set-ups...
a pool scene, some nightmare sequences, a couple of car crashes... I also
loved how the killer was only shown in quick flashes until the final
showdown with Mary.
GORE
Good opening sequence involving a cake.... a girl has her tongue cut out...
a poolside stalking and slashing... gruesome final showdown. Even though the
weapon of choice bears striking resemblance to Mr Krueger's glove, I thought
that the shards of glass were an interesting touch.
SOUNDTRACK
The musical score kinda flip-flopped between menacing and rolicking... great
opening theme, and some of the songs that made up the soundtrack weren't too
bad... some of it sounded like Mazzy Star, or something of that ilk.
BOTTOM LINE
Not any cause to celebrate, but I think you could do worse with a time waster.
It held my interest, but the ending was a bullshit downer. Check it out just
for kicks (if you've seen enough horror movies, one more notch in your belt
won't hurt), but don't hold your breath for a sequel.
Review
By: The ScareMaker
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