Split Second

1992 | Rutger Hauer | Pete Postlethwaite | Serial Killers Hooptober Neun: 14/35 1 film set in space or future: 1/1 “Are you telling me there’s some thing running around loose in this city, ripping the hearts out of people and eating them so he can take their souls back to hell?” ”Looks that way.” ”Hallelujah!” ”You’re both fucking nuts!” One of the films I was looking forward to the most this Hooptober. It’s a bit of a disappointment. Not because it is bad, but because it could have been so much better. I see a lot of wasted and unused potential. With a bigger budget and a more coherent script this could have been an all-timer. But it is too crammed with stuff that doesn’t lead to anything and nothing that happens really has enough impact. Some plot parts and story decisions don’t add much or are just confusing and or unnecessary. The editing is that great and there are some tonal problems too. I liked the buddy cop part, the performances are great, the grim, flooded and dystopian London is a great setting, set and costume design are great and the story is too. They go on and on about what the killer does and they have a ton of theories, but nothing amounts to anything as the film just drops all of that in favor of an action packed finale. The creature design and effects are fantastic and heavily inspired by the Xenomorph and maybe even Venom. With effects that good, I don’t quite understand why they literally show next to nothing of the creature until the last couple of minutes. “Split Second” is a good film. A dark and dystopian serial killer story with a lot of great ideas. But over all it falls shorts of its potential. I’d like to see a remake of this film.