Split Second (1992) - Archive

In loving memory of an immortal icon, Rutger Hauer
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The London of 2008 is buried under much water thanks to man's not fixing the global warming problem. Hauer plays a cop who is after a carnivorous creature who rips out the hearts of victims and eats them believing that it'll possess their souls. Hauer is linked to the creature for it sliced him across the arm after killing his partner. Hauer can sense when the creature is nearby as the viewer watches his agony(not to mention we hear the thudding of heartbeats in the soundtrack). Duncan plays Hauer's partner, a young psychologist who is a college grad well studied in the understanding of psychopaths and their natures. The film also has a sub-ploy concerning Cattral, as Hauer's dead partner's wife who came to visit her late husband's grave stand. Hauer and Cattral had a thing at one time, but his alcoholism and decline in mental health(the obsession in finding his partner's killer)ended that partnership. Though, we see in their meeting(Hauer came also to honor his best friend's tomb)and the fire is rekindled. The creature is often hidden in darkness, with our point of view coming from the shooting of our characters. The camera often camouflages the creature through smoke and often placing the camera right on Hauer and company. The London we see has that cool neo-noir future..wet, damp, and ugly. Hauer plays his cop half-crazed, and pretty unkempt. He drinks bad coffee, chain smokes cigars, and is quite profane. But, he's tough as nails and cagey..a cop that isn't afraid to face the ugliness of evil and does so against the creature. The creature itself is basically a likeness to the essential HR Geiger design. It is about 10 ft tall, black, with a long head and nasty serpentine teeth. The violence is mostly is how we view the creature's aftermath..bloody scenes of the crime where the victim's chest lays open and heart missing. Duncan is a hoot as the much more intelligent, green, and tidy partner who Hauer resists at offset, but accepts once he sees that creature himself. The film does nothing with Cattral who is simply in the film because she's very attractive.

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--April 8, 2006