.: Roberts' Reviews - Movie Reviews :.

Clive (Adrian Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) are both expert scientists in genetic engineering. Specializing in splicing DNA from various animals to create one being, they have a breakthrough when they are able to create two larva type creatures of opposite sex.

Not resting on the height of their accomplishment, the over ambitious Elsa convinces Clive to continue secret experiments with the inclusion of female DNA into the mix. Their experiment births H50 - a human hybrid - who may be the key to research for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

H50 isn't much to look at at first. But growing at an accelerated rate, she soon develops into a scientific miracle and is renamed Dren to give her a more human title.

Dren can hardly pass as human. Her characteristics are best described as taking the head of Lt. Llia from Star Trek: the Motion Picture, the legs of the aliens from The Arrival, The tail of the Na'vi in Avatar and the voice - which is a cross between the gopher in Caddyshack and the cockroach creature in Mimic.

As she grows, Clive and Elsa find it more difficult to hide their creation in the lab and eventually smuggle her out of the research facility where she can continue to grow and be studied in an abandoned farm owned by Elsa.

What transpires during Dren's maturation is the stuff of good horror films.

Directed by Vincenzo Natali and a hit at the Sundance Film Festival, Splice is not only a great summer thriller, but it also rises above the mediocrity of the 2010 release schedule to become one of the best films of the year.

Right from the opening credits (which were brilliant), Splice is able to bring us three characters that all evolve in their own ways throughout the 104 minute running time. And although Dren's transformation is the most physical, it is the development of Clive and Elsa that really carry the story forward.

Elsa goes from being the mad scientist to the motherly figure and then eventually, the over aggressive strict parent. Clive is the reluctant hero who at one time attempts to kill Dren calling the creation "a mistake", to becoming a father with an unnatural love for the genetic being.

Natali does just enough with his resources to make Splice work and the believable performances by Brody and Polley are enough to keep things grounded. For instance, scenes of dressing up their creation or dancing with Dren could have been embarrassing laugh-out-loud scenario's if not handled with precision, and Natali, Brody and Polly act with scalpels through extraordinary situations.

For horror fans, there may be some disappointment. There is a soon-to-be-classic scene where Clive's brother stands in the foreground and Dren's tail droops down from the ceiling. The scene is eerily reminiscent of Harry Dean Stanton's scene in Alien - and just as effective. But you have to wait until the 90-minute mark before things develop in more of a horror detail and when the first body is added to the anaemic body count.

Likely to be smothered by blockbuster films such as Shrek Ever After and The A-Team, Splice might not get the credit it deserves, but if you get a chance, seek this one out. It truly is one of the best of the year.