First word on creature details!
Shock has stumbled upon a wealth of info that peels back the flesh to give us further insight as to what Vincenzo Natali’s upcoming creature feature, Splice, is about. If you recall, we spoke exclusive to the director here about his exploration into deviant genetic, and apparently sexual, experimentation – the story of two scientists who blend human and animal DNA to create an entirely new species. Sifting through this casting site we learned said creature is called “Dren” which “develops from a deformed female infant into a beautiful but dangerous winged human-chimera.”
Furthermore, there’s a breakdown of the two leads.
Elsa Kast: Late 20s-30s, extremely intelligent, attractive. She’s a scientist with a wild streak and a self-assured confidence that comes from being the smartest woman in the room. She and her boyfriend, Clive, are bio-engineers who have put emotional commitments (like having a child) on the backburner while they pursue their cuting-edge work: creating and raising animal hybrids to great scientific acclaim. Elsa sees nothing wrong with chimeras and considers them a signpost of the future; a glimpse into possible evolution. Despite her company’s adamant refusals to allow human cloning, she is determined to create a human/animal hybrid. Once the creature is born, however, Elsa is surprised to find herself developing maternal feelings for it. This proves a huge problem when the rapidly-aging lifeform, named Dren, grows deadly. Elsa’s intentions may have originated in a pure place (she wanted to discover the cure for genetic diseases), but they are replaced with the motives of a protective mother. Forced to hide Dren in a remote farmhouse, soon both Elsa and Clive’s lives are in danger from the creature they’ve created.
Clive Nicoli: Late 20s-30s. He is extremely intelligent, and though a nerd in college, is now effortlessly cool and represents all that is geek chic about bio-engineering and the next frontier of cloning research. His relationship with Elsa is hot and heavy, but he’d like more; specifically, a family. Elsa’s nowhere near ready for that, and though he’s disappointed, he tends to follow her lead. In fact, he’s so intoxicated by her infectious determination that he goes against his better judgment, and with Elsa, designs a human/animal hybrid. Though reluctant during each illegal step, and anxious to destroy the creature once it gets out of hand, he’s ultimately unable to deny Elsa, and his own scientific curiosity of seeing the experiment all the way through. Complications arise when the creature, named Dren, rapidly-ages into young adulthood, growing into an irresistible alien beauty. Clive becomes sexually attracted to her in a way he cannot control or explain. Many lines are crossed in Elsa and Clive’s attempt to improve on nature, ultimately leading everyone involved down a dark path danger from the creature they’ve created.
Natali begins shooting Splice this August in Toronto for Copperheart Entertainment. Guillermo Del Toro is acting as a co-producer.
Source: Ryan Rotten, MEW
