Splice

In "Splice," genetic engineers Clive (Brody) and Elsa (Polley) specialize in splicing DNA from different animals to create incredible new hybrids. Now, in an attempt to revolutionize science and medicine, they're looking for a bigger challenge and want to use human DNA in a hybrid. But when the pharmaceutical company that funded their research pulls out from the project, Clive and Elsa secretly take the experiment underground. The result is Dren (Chaneac), a strangely beautiful creature of uncommon intelligence who exceeds their wildest dreams. But as she grows and learns at an accelerated rate, her existence threatens to become their worst nightmare. (Gary Reber)

Special features include the featurette "A Director's Playground: Vicenzo Natali On The Set Of Splice" (SD 35:21), BD-Live functionality, up-front previews, the SD DVD, and a digital copy of the film.

The 1080p VC-1 picture clinically drab, with a sterile color palette during the laboratory sequences in which pale greens are the prominent hues. When cut to real-world living environments, the palette warms up with rich and vibrant hues. As the lighting and environmental surroundings change, the fleshtone and object hues change in tandem, which appears perfectly natural. Contrast is well balanced with, at times, deep blacks and revealing shadow delineation. This is a dark film, and to optimize picture quality, viewing should be in a darkened environment, preferably a black room, using a display with excellent native contrast ratio performance. The imagery generally appears soft, though, there are instances of impressive sharpness and detail, especially during close-ups. At times the imagery is edgy, with a visible graininess that heightens the cinematic character of the imagery. Overall, though, softness prevails in most scenes, which some viewers may find underwhelming. Still, this is a well-produced visual experience that delivers plenty of excitement and thrills. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack delivers an occasional impressive holosonic® soundfield experience with a multi-dimensional soundscape. There are plenty of atmospheric sound effects and aggressive dimensional surround activity. Dialogue is production sound and ADR but limited in spatial integration and thus, at times, sounds "produced." But then there are moments when dialogue is impressively integrated and natural sounding. Fidelity does suffer at times, with muffling and strident sounds. Foley effects are elaborate and nicely integrated. Sound effects, aided by an eerie music score, create a haunting sonic experience. The music exhibits a wide and deep soundstage presence that extends deep into the surrounds. There are numerous instances of aggressively directionnalized sound effects, which enhances the excitement and dramatics. Bass extension, at times, is deep and energized in the .1 LFE channel. Overall, this is an engaging soundtrack that builds as the film progresses, always haunting and mysterious (Gary Reber)